Taiwan Railway Corporation marked 139 years of railway history in Taiwan on Tuesday, June 9. The state-owned company held its Railway Day ceremony in Taipei, with Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) and Transportation Minister Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) in attendance.

Speaking at the celebration event, Premier Cho said that his father and grandfather both worked for the railway, and that the Tamsui Line was “on the doorstep of his family home” during his early childhood.

“Railways are a kind of transportation service and also a kind of culture,” Cho said, citing Taiwan Railway boxed meals as an example of the company being a part of people’s lives in ways other than just transportation.

He also recounted how “500,000 volunteers poured into the disaster area” in Hualien County after last year’s Matai-an barrier lake flooding incident. Taiwan Railway added extra train services to assist in that clean-up work, which he described as “the greatest contribution to the country.”

Taiwan Railway Chairperson James Jeng (鄭光遠) said the company’s future development depends on linking safety with what he described as its “five pearls”: transport revenue, asset development, boxed meals, merchandise retailing and tourism services.

Awards were presented at the ceremony to supporters, volunteers and employees. Stations around Taiwan are also holding Railway Day activities, including music performances and model railway exhibitions.

The 139th-year anniversary date traces back to the start of railway construction in Taiwan in 1887.