SYSTRA supports large-scale railway modernization project in Taiwan

Urban expansion across historical railway corridors often leaves conventional surface tracks in direct conflict with municipal street layouts, triggering chronic traffic congestion and elevated collision risks at surface road intersections. Eliminating these bottlenecks requires converting surface rail corridors into elevated or underground alignments while simultaneously modernizing electrical, traction, and signaling infrastructure. Executing complex civil elevations along operational trunk corridors presents acute engineering hurdles, as rail authorities must maintain regular passenger schedules without service disruption throughout long construction timelines. Resolving these logistical and technical challenges demands rigorous systems engineering, interface management, and independent safety validation to ensure new elevated systems integrate smoothly into the existing network.

Corridor Elevation and Multimodal Transit Hubs
The Taiwan Railway Bureau, operating under the Ministry of Transport and Communications, awarded the project management assistance contract for the Yilan–Luodong railway elevation scheme. Working alongside lead engineering firm TY Lin as a specialized electrical and mechanical subcontractor, SYSTRA Taiwan will guide systems engineering across the eastern corridor development.

The infrastructure program spans approximately sixteen kilometers of existing mainline track along the corridor connecting Sicheng and Dongshan. The scope of work encompasses the comprehensive reconstruction of four existing passenger stations—Yilan, Erjie, Zhongli, and Luodong—alongside the construction of Yilan New Station. Designed as a multimodal transfer hub, Yilan New Station will integrate conventional rail services with the planned high-speed rail extension linking Yilan to Taipei.

Eliminating surface trackage across the corridor removes nine level crossings, mitigating vehicular conflict points, reducing cross-town traffic congestion, and rejoining urban neighborhoods previously fragmented by grade-level rights-of-way. The overarching program is scheduled for full operational completion in 2037.




Systems Migration, Interface Management, and RAMS
A critical technical mandate of the project involves maintaining continuous passenger rail operations throughout construction. The engineering plan relies on phased temporary track installations and sequential system cutovers to safeguard uninterrupted traffic flow while elevated viaducts and trackbeds are erected.

Within the project management consultancy scope, SYSTRA Taiwan is tasked with reviewing design studies for electrical and mechanical subsystems across every development milestone. Engineers will manage technical interfaces with Taiwan's nationwide signaling modernization initiatives, including the rollout of electronic interlocking systems and the deployment of a third-generation centralized traffic control architecture. Furthermore, the team will supervise reliability, availability, maintainability, and safety activities alongside independent verification and validation tasks to guarantee system compliance and operational safety across the elevated network.

Edited by Romila DSilva, Induportals Editor, with AI assistance.