A lot of riders might be interested in this information.
For anyone who has tried to find a comprehensive list of bike rules for the Taiwan Railway Administration (TRA), MRT, KRT, and Taiwan High Speed Rail (HSR)… here you go.
taiwanincycles.blogspot.com/2011 … cycle.html
Put those bikes on trains!
Yeah, some of the east-coast trains (maybe 1 or 2 a day) now have half a whole carriage converted for bike-storage only. Had a seat in the other half of the carriage by chance in Dec, and was able to check it out. Very groovy. Good news.
Saw a guy coming out of the Tainan station with a full size bike at 7:30pm. From what I understand it’s a real PITA to take a bike on most trains. Wish it was easier so I could get to more places for leaisurly rides.
Am taking this train today for the first time today, Hualien to Cidu. The deal is that if you want the road bike to travel for free in that #12 carriage, you still have to put it in a bike-bag. Or you can pay extra to have it travel as baggage, and then you don’t need a bag, and it goes on-board without as a whole bike.
Apparantly.
I’m prepared for different once I get to the station.
btw, this is the link for TRA Train-Bike info (first 2 selections in the top drop-down are folding bike & non-folding bike)
http://163.29.3.98/twrail_bicycle/bicycle/index.aspx
That didn’t quite work out. You can send an unbagged bike in those luggage vans BUT only between main stations (so from Hualien, to e.g. Yilan, Songshan or Taipei).
The paperwork is done as 快递 (kuaidi, express delivery), cost me $328.
So the guys at Hualien Stn refused at first to let the bike go to Cidu, but eventually gave in after some steady talking-to by the wife. Not sure I could’ve swung that myself.
Once the paperwork was done though, they let me take the bike to the train myself, and the guy in the luggage van didn’t mind at all that I was getting off at Cidu. Can’t really understand why they have the large station restriction in place.
The bike, as in pic, shared the carriage with a couple of caged dogs - that was all.
Coming back I caught a local train from Fulong to Yilan, then kuaidi-ed the bike again from Yilan back to Hualien.
I once was allowed to bring a bike on a local train inside a plastic trash bag, but YMMV.
Full story: A few years ago I was visiting .tw in mid-August. I went riding, with my uncle in-law, from Taipei and by the time we got to Hsinchu (near Hukou, I think) I was almost fainting because I wasn’t used to the heat. The train required bags, but we didn’t bring any, so we picked up some large trash bags from a nearby store and wrapped them around our bikes. Got a few weird stares on the train, but it worked out.
More train on bike pics.
First pic is Hualien south to Chishang, on a Ju-Guang Express. Only certain trains offer this, so check ahead. But on the east coast (between Hualien and Taidong), you can just turn up with your bike as is. Buy a normal ticket, pay 1/2 again for the bike, and off you go. The pink frame behind mine was nicely pimped.
This is the return journey from Chishang to Hualien, again a Ju-Guang Express. More of a ‘throw your bike on’ train this time, but it gets you there.
A while back I searched all over the Taiwan Railways website for a list of stations that allow you to transport a bike as luggage (as opposed to taking it on the train with you) without success. So the next time I was at the luggage center at Songshan Station, I asked if such a list existed, and the folks there showed me this very helpful board on the wall. I immediately snapped a picture of it with my phone. It doesn’t matter whether you’re sending the bike or picking it up, the list of stations is the same.
This is useful because not all stations accept luggage. One that particularly surprised me a couple months ago was Yangmei: you have to go up to Zhongli or down to Xinfeng if you want to send your bike from that area.
When I ride outside of Taipei, I almost always send my bike there the day before. It’s incredibly cheap (NT$34 basic fee plus NT$1.14 per kilometer), especially if you use the normal luggage train (一般行李車) instead of the express (自強PP車, I think they call it). You don’t have to take your bike apart or put it in a bag, you just have to take off all the stuff that might fall off, like lights, odometers, etc. My experience has been that they take good care of the bikes: I’ve never noticed any damage to mine after a dozen or more trips. You’re supposed to pick up your bike within two days of its arrival, but if you don’t, they only charge you NT$20 a day to leave it there.
For those who don’t read Chinese, here’s the list of stations going counterclockwise from Songshan: Songshan, Wanhua, Shulin, Yingge, Taoyuan, Zhongli, Xinfeng, Hsinchu, [mountain line] Zhunan, Miaoli, Taichung, [ocean line] Yuanli, Dajia, Qingshui, Shalu, [mountain and ocean lines merge] Zhanghua, Yuanlin, Tianzhong, Ershui, Linnei, Douliu, Dounan, Dalin, Jiayi, Xinying, Longtian, Shanhua, Tainan, Luzhu, Gangshan, Nanzi, Fengshan, Pingdong, Chaozhou, Linbian, Fangliao, [huge gap in the southeast], Taidong, Guanshan, Chishang, Yuli, Ruisui, Guangfu, Fenglin, Shoufeng, Ji’an, Hualien, Xincheng, Nan’ao, Dongao, New Suao, Luodong, Yilan, Toucheng, Shuangxi, Ruifang, Keelung, Qidu.
Note that Taipei Main Station does NOT take bikes as luggage. You have to go to Wanhua or Songshan.
Happy traveling!
I neglected to mention that the express baggage train apparently only stops at the stations listed at the bottom of the photo: Songshan, Taipei (interesting–haven’t tried it, though), Taoyuan, Zhongli, Hsinchu, Miaoli, Taichung, Zhanghua, Yuanlin, Jiayi, Xinying, Tainan, Kaohsiung, Yilan, Luodong, Hualien.
Also, if you haven’t sent your bike as luggage before, it’s pretty simple. You just go into the baggage room (行李房 xing2li3fang2 or 行包中心 xing2bao1zhong1xin1) and say, “我要托運腳踏車” (wo3 yao4 tuo1yun4 jiao3ta4che1). They give you two forms in Chinese. The simpler one gets stuck on the bike as a label; all you have to write on it is the name of the station you’re at (at the top) and the name of the station you’re sending the bike to (at the bottom). The other form is a bit more complicated but still not too bad. If memory serves, all you really need to fill out is your name, phone number, ID number, and the value of the bike. Since you’re sending it to yourself, in the recipient section you can just write 同上 (tong2 shang4, or “same as above”).
Hope this helps!
There are 62 stations from which you can ship and pick up bicycles. Basically, any station that has personnel can do it.
Thank you very much for that information! I was wondering, I am planning to take my bike for a spin on a multiple-day-tour this week, as a nice finishing holiday before returning home from a 6 month study program. In your list of cities you mentioned both Hsinchu (the town I’m residing in, studied at the NCTU) and Taidong, the town I’d like to set off from. Is it possible to put my bike on the train in Hsinchu with Taidong as drop-off station?
Thank you in advance for responding!
Yes, using a regular (not express) baggage train.
I’m thinking about riding down to Yunlin on CNY eve because it sounds a lot more fun than sitting in traffic all morning. My plan is to ship my bike to Zhunan ahead of time and then ride down through Miaoli, Taichung and Changhua.
But CNY eve being on the first Saturday of the holiday this year is without a doubt going to make for pure mayhem on the TRA lines so I’m a little nervous about it.
First, if I don’t mind standing, I should be able to get a train to Zhunan without any problems right?
And second, I imagine there is no chance of getting a bike on a south bound local train if I get tired along the way, right?
Is this doable or am I setting myself up for disaster?
Does anyone have experience with using a bike bag for a full size bike on either the high speed or regular trains? The guys at the bike store seemed to think I’d be able to take it on any train as if it was just some sorta large luggage. I have read a contrary account on someone’s blog (from a few years ago though). Has anyone done this?
Never tried it with the high speed rail, but you definitely can’t take a full-size bike onto a regular train unless you bag it first. Usually this entails taking off the wheels; it also helps to remove the pedals and seatpost.
I’ve heard lots of people say they just bring a huge plastic bag, but I always used a dedicated bike bag to protect the wheels. My gripe about bike bags is that they’re heavy; it’s a pain to take one with you on a trip unless you have somewhere to keep it. These days I always send my bike separately. In fact, it’s riding the train back from Luodong as I write this.
HSR = no full size bikes at all (pretty sure)
As far as trains there are seemingly 100 different regulations but shipping it ahead of your trip seems to be the easiest.
Abacus is correct. No (non-folding) full size bikes, even bagged, on HSR. I haven’t had any problem with folders in bags, even 26" folders, and a separate bag for panniers, helmet, etc., on any train, including HSR. Just don’t travel at rush hour on a TRA train. Carrying even a toothbrush at rush hour is a problem on TRA trains, when all the school kids jam the aisles of even the reserved cars.
I have taken bagged full-size bikes on the HSR many time but not in the past few months. Has something changed?
me too. What’s the difference between a bike bag and a surfboard, or a large suitcase? Zero.
I’ve even carried it on the HSR Nangang to Kahhsiung in a large plastic bag with the goddam handlebars sticking out, with no problems.
Well, I can confirm, full-size bagged bikes are allowed on the HSR. I recommend you slot it in behind the last row of seats. Next time I will try business class, as I’ve heard there is more space there.