Taiwan Railways partners with Japan's Tobu Railway for steam locomotive technical exchange

The Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) and Japan's Tobu Railway have officially launched a significant year-long technical exchange program focused on steam locomotive maintenance. This collaboration, initiated on July 15, 2026, at Tobu Railway's Namerikawa vehicle depot in Saitama Prefecture, Japan, marks a deepening of the friendly ties established between the two companies.

This exchange is a key event celebrating the 10th anniversary of the friendly agreement signed between TRA and Tobu Railway on December 18, 2015. Tobu Railway's General Manager of Railway Business, Takao Suzuki, highlighted the program's importance, emphasizing Tobu's commitment to preserving and utilizing railway heritage. Tobu Railway revived its steam locomotive operations over a decade ago, successfully bringing back services that had been absent for half a century and boosting tourism in the Nikko and Kinugawa areas.

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The 'Taiwan-Japan Twin Railway SL Steam Locomotive Technical Exchange' is one of the important activities commemorating the 10th anniversary of the friendly agreement between Taiwan Railways and Tobu Railway.

Led by TRA Deputy General Manager Huang Chen-chao, a team of three TRA technicians will participate in the program. Coinciding with Tobu Railway's C11-325 steam locomotive undergoing its once-every-eight-years major overhaul, the TRA team will work alongside Tobu's experts. This hands-on experience will cover maintenance, repair management, and technical knowledge transfer. TRA anticipates that this long-term collaboration will significantly improve its capabilities in preserving and operating its own steam locomotives, drawing on Japan's extensive experience.

TRA views the preservation of railway culture as more than just maintaining vehicles; it's about safeguarding history, technology, and the spirit of intergenerational knowledge transfer. Given the specialized nature of steam locomotive maintenance and the challenges of an aging workforce and knowledge transmission, international cooperation is deemed crucial. This joint effort is expected to set a new benchmark for railway culture preservation and technical collaboration between Taiwan and Japan, while also enhancing tourism promotion and brand recognition for both entities.

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Railway culture preservation is not just about keeping a vehicle, but about preserving a piece of history, a technology, and the spirit of generational transmission.