Datagov Opendata Platform

The sugar industry railways were built during the Japanese occupation period. Each sugar manufacturing company built railways in various locations in Taiwan to transport sugarcane raw materials and products within their jurisdictions. After the restoration of Taiwan, the Taiwan Sugar Corporation took over all the sugar industry railways for unified management and gradually standardized the equipment. The railway sections of the sugar industry were divided into industrial lines and commercial lines based on their usage. Industrial lines were located in sugarcane raw material areas and were used only for transporting during sugar factory operations. Commercial lines were mostly located in densely populated areas and were closely related to local transportation. After the restoration, for over ten years, they became the main means of transportation in rural areas. However, with the rapid advancement of highway construction and the increasingly developed road transportation, passenger services of sugar industry railways were replaced by road vehicles, leading to the cessation of external passenger transportation services. Following the liberalization of sugar imports and the subsequent closure of sugar factories, the specialized lines transporting sugarcane under the jurisdiction of closed factories were also discontinued. Currently, the Taiwan Sugar Corporation only retains the sugar cane transportation routes for sugar production at the Huwei Sugar Factory and short-distance transportation routes for tourist sightseeing at five cultural parks.