The Miaoli Railway Museum held a grand opening ceremony on April 25. Gu Show-faye, Minister of the Hakka Affairs Council (HAC), expressed gratitude to the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, Executive Yuan; National Land Management Agency, Ministry of the Interior; Taiwan Railway Corporation, Ltd.; and Miaoli County Government for their support and assistance in building this new tourist attraction in Miaoli. More than a railway museum, the site can act as a catalyzer for tourism development.

Miaoli is one of Taiwan’s most iconic Hakka villages, and Miaoli Station used to signal the beginning of the old mountain route’s steep grade railway. Hakka people participated heavily in the railway industry in the early days, giving birth to a myriad of life stories associated with island-wide train transport. Minister Gu also shared that Hakka people have been everywhere from the first-generation railway builders and rail engineering technicians to Taiwan Railway senior managers and employees. The industry environment made entire Hakka families employees of Taiwan Railway, bearing testament to the train-load of memories that the railway carries for Hakka locals.

The Miaoli Railway Museum covers an area of about 1.9 hectares (about 5,700 pings). It is also Taiwan’s first recreational site to combine cats and trains, divided into two areas: the Railway Village 1 Cultural Cluster, repurposed from the original eponymous settlement, which offers creative goods, delicious food, handmade crafts, Hakka culture, and the Railway Cat Office for visitors to explore; and the themed exhibition area that spans the transfer hall, train gallery, coal shoveling experience hall, industry exchange hall (a venue for exchange between the railway, Hakka culture, industry, and academia, and R&D, built in cooperation with National United University), and the semi-open gallery. It showcases 12 classic locomotives and relates over a century-long history to delight the train buffs.

HAC hopes that the Museum will become a regional railway tourist hub, a new corridor connecting multiple scenic spots like Miaoli Station, Gong Wei Xu Tunnel, Old Mountain Rail Bike, Taiwan Hakka Museum, and Mingde Reservoir Loop currently under construction and Hakka Literature Garden. By showcasing Hakka culture and railway history side by side, it can attract visitors at home and abroad to benefit tourism businesses in Miaoli and offer new highlights.