# Circular light rail

The Kaohsiung Circular Light Rail (Chinese: 高雄環狀輕軌) is a light rail loop line in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, operated by the Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corporation. The line stretches over a length of 22.1 kilometers and has 38 stations. The southern part of this line makes use of the defunct tracks of the Kaohsiung Harbor Railway Line. Construction cost was forecasted to be 16.5 billion New Taiwan dollars.
Phase I consists of the section of the line from Station C1 to Station C14, of which Stations C3 and C14 are transfer stations to the KMRT Red line and Orange line, respectively. Construction of Phase I began on 4 June 2013. Stations C1 to C14 were open on a test-basis (free for the public) from August 2015, and commenced formal operations in September 2017.
Phase II construction of the northern section partially began on 12 January 2021 after the underground relocation of the Kaohsiung urban railway. The northern part of Phase II was scheduled to be opened in June 2021 along with the rest, but was delayed until 1 January 2024 due to local opposition.

## History

| Phase | Segment | Commencement | Length (km) | Stations |
| I | Lizihnei - Hamasen | 4 July 2016 | 8.7 | 14 |
| II Phase 1 | Hamasen - Gushan District Office Lizihnei - Kaisyuan Park | 12 January 2021 | 4.1 | 9 |
| II Phase 2 | Gushan District Office - TRA Museum of Fine Arts | 16 December 2021 | 1.8 | 3 |
| II Phase 3 | TRA Museum of Fine Arts - Heart of Love River | 5 October 2022 | 2.4 | 4 |
| II Full | Heart of Love River - Kaisyuan Park | 1 January 2024 | 5 | 7 |

## Stations

| Code | Station Name | Station Name | Connection | District |
| Code | English | Chinese | Connection | District |
| — ↑ Loop line towards Depot ↑ — |||||
| C1 | Lizihnei | 籬仔內 | | Cianjhen |
| C2 | Kaisyuan Rueitian | 凱旋瑞田 | | Cianjhen |
| C3 | Cianjhen Star | 前鎮之星 | via Kaisyuan (R6) | Cianjhen |
| C4 | Kaisyuan Jhonghua | 凱旋中華 | | Cianjhen |
| C5 | Dream Mall | 夢時代 | | Cianjhen |
| C6 | Commerce and Trade Park | 經貿園區 | | Cianjhen |
| C7 | Software Technology Park | 軟體園區 | | Cianjhen |
| C8 | Kaohsiung Exhibition Center | 高雄展覽館 | | Cianjhen |
| C9 | Cruise Terminal | 旅運中心 | (planned) | Lingya |
| C10 | Glory Pier | 光榮碼頭 | | Lingya |
| C11 | Love Pier | 真愛碼頭 | | Yancheng |
| C12 | Dayi Pier-2 | 駁二大義 | | Yancheng |
| C13 | Penglai Pier-2 | 駁二蓬萊 | | Gushan |
| C14 | Hamasen | 哈瑪星 | via Hamasen (O1) | Gushan |
| C15 | Shoushan Park (ALIEN Art Centre) | 壽山公園(金馬賓館當代美術館) | | Gushan |
| C16 | Wenwu Temple | 文武聖殿 | | Gushan |
| C17 | Gushan District Office | 鼓山區公所 | | Gushan |
| C18 | Gushan | 鼓山 | Gushan | Gushan |
| C19 | Makadao | 馬卡道 | | Gushan |
| C20 | TRA Museum of Fine Arts Station | 臺鐵美術館 | Museum of Fine Arts | Gushan |
| C21A | Neiwei Arts Center | 內惟藝術中心 | | Gushan |
| C21 | Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts | 美術館 | | Gushan |
| C22 | Kaohsiung Municipal United Hospital | 聯合醫院 | | Gushan |
| C23 | Longhua Elementary School | 龍華國小 | | Gushan |
| C24 | Heart of Love River | 愛河之心 | via Aozihdi (R13) | Gushan |
| C25 | Sinshang Elementary School | 新上國小 | | Zuoying |
| C26 | Dashun Minzu | 大順民族 | | Sanmin |
| C27 | Wanzihnei | 灣仔內 | | Sanmin |
| C28 | Kaohsiung Industrial High School | 高雄高工 | (planned) | Sanmin |
| C29 | Shu-Te Home Economics & Commercial High School | 樹德家商 | | Sanmin |
| C30 | Science and Technology Museum | 科工館 | Science and Technology Museum | Sanmin |
| C31 | St. Joseph Hospital | 聖功醫院 | | Lingya |
| C32 | Kaisyuan Park | 凱旋公園 | via Wukuaicuo (O8), via Cultural Center (O7) | Lingya |
| C33 | Department of Health | 衛生局 | | Lingya |
| C34 | Wucyuan Elementary School | 五權國小 | | Lingya |
| C35 | Kaisyuan Wuchang | 凱旋武昌 | | Lingya |
| C36 | Kaisyuan Ersheng | 凱旋二聖 | | Cianjhen |
| C37 | LRT Depot | 輕軌機廠 | | Cianjhen |
| — ↓ Loop line towards Lizihnei ↓ — |||||

## Rolling stock

The line's fleet consists of nine CAF Urbos trams that are powered by supercapacitor banks. The tramway cars are 34 meters (112 ft) in length, and are able to transport a total of 250 passengers (seated, and standing).
15 Alstom Citadis 305 tramway cars entered service in November 2020.

## Ticket

Unlike the Kaohsiung Metro Red and Orange Lines, the Kaohsiung Light Rail is charged at a lower rate. As of January 2019, the fare for each light rail is NT$30. There is special rate of NT$10 by using a digital wallet (such as iPass, EasyCard, icash, etc). Card readers are available at each station and inside of tramway. When paying the fare by the e-ticket (digital wallet), passengers are only charged one of them at each time. When paying by cash, passengers can purchase tickets at the ticket vending machines at each station for the ticket inspector to check.

## Previous light rail demonstration project

In 2004, the Kaohsiung City Government and Siemens built a temporary two-station circular light rail line in Central Park, operated by a single trainset, to demonstrate the feasibility of building a light rail system in Kaohsiung City. It was meant to alleviate some residents' concerns that light rail would negatively impact their surroundings by producing excessive noise and hindering normal traffic flow. This Siemens Combino vehicle would later become the D2 Class operated in Melbourne, Australia.