Train tickets to watch first sunrise of 2019 on Taiwan

迎接2019第一道曙光台灣阿里山火車票將於12月10日開賣

Groups of less than 30 and individual travelers must buy tickets at Alishan Station from 12:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Dec. 31


TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – For travelers headed for the Chushan Sunrise Watching Platform (祝山觀日平台) for the first sunrise of 2019, Alishan Forest Railway will begin accepting bookings for New Year’s Day Chushan sunrise trains departing from Alishan Station for groups of more than 30 starting 9 a.m., Dec. 10 according to a news release from the Alishan Forest Railway and Cultural Heritage Office (AFRCHO).

A total of 4,760 tickets for a total of 10 trains departing between 1:50 a.m. and 4:25 a.m. on New Year’s Day, 2019 will be available for group bookings on Dec. 10, with a maximum number of 100 tickets available for each telephone call, the news release said. The number to call is 0800-003-096 ext. 9 for the on-duty station chief.

AFRCHO director Huang Miao-hsiu (黃妙修) said that the daily maximum transportation capacity of the Chushan Line during New Year’s Day 2018 is 7,422 passengers, but as the 2019 New Year's Day holiday is a four-day break, the number of total riders is estimated to increase by 10 percent.

For groups less than 30 and individual travelers, they must directly purchase tickets for the New Year Day’s Chushan sunrise watching trains from Alishan Station between 12:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. on Dec. 31, 2018, with each individual being allowed to purchase a maximum of 10 tickets, Huang said, adding that the remaining tickets will be on sale at Alishan Station from 1:20 a.m. on Jan. 1, 2019.

Huang urged travelers qualified for reduced-price tickets, such as children between the ages of 6 and 11 and elderly people over 65, to have their documents ready while buying the tickets.

The return trains will be divided into two time slots—the A slot from 7:15 a.m. to 8 a.m. and the B slot from 8:20 a.m. to 9:15 a.m.—and the return tickets will be marked according to the slots instead of the train numbers, according to the release.

(The following photos are courtesy of Alishan Forest Railway and Cultural Heritage Office)