08 Taipei City Hospital Zhongxing Branch (Taipei Old Railway Station Mural)
Look up to the right of the hospital complex and you’ll see a large tiled mural depicting the European-style arches and ornamental details of the old Qing-era Taipei train station. The mural also features a small canal and moored boats, illustrating how the station once stood at a vital intersection of water and land transport. An inscription notes that this canal, called Hegoutou, once connected to Dadaocheng Port. The mural bears witness to the vibrant history of trade following the opening of Tamsui Port in 1860, when maritime, river, and land transport (enabled by the railway opened in 1891) worked in concert to move goods to Dadaocheng.
Taipei’s first railway station was relocated in 1901 to facilitate the rerouting of the north–south trunk line. The original site became the Dadaocheng stop on the Tamsui railway line, which remained in use until it was decommissioned in 1937. The land was then repurposed for the Medical Department of Taihoku Imperial University, today’s Zhongxing Branch of Taipei City Hospital. Over the years, Taipei Main Station has relocated several times, before eventually evolving into its current form.
To commemorate this history, in 1983 the Taipei City Archives Committee had a stele installed on the wall at the Zhongxing Branch at Zhengzhou Road, marking the “Site of the Former Taipei Train Station Ticket Office.” The original ticket office was built in 1888 and symbolises the beginning of railway transportation in Taipei. Although the old station no longer exists, if you visit the archaeological site inside Beimen Station or the exhibitions at the Railway Department Park, take a few more steps to see this mural, which offering a glimpse into the development of Taipei’s railway and its historical legacy.
