Jingtong Station & Shidi Coal Mine

Jingtong Station (菁桐駅) is the terminal station of the Pingxi Line (平溪線), a 12.9-kilometer narrow-gauge branch railway in Pingxi District, New Taipei City, Taiwan. The railway was built during the Japanese colonial period as the Taiyang Mining Company's private Shidi Line — work began in 1919 and the line was completed in July 1921 — specifically to transport coal from the rich mining areas in the mountainous Keelung River valley. The line crosses 15 bridges and passes through six tunnels through rugged terrain.

The station was built in 1929 when the Taiwan Governor-General's office acquired the private Shidi Line (石底線) for 1.5 million yen and renamed it the Pingxi Line, inaugurating full passenger services on October 1 of that year. The wooden station building, constructed in the Japanese architectural style of the era, is one of the few surviving wooden railway stations from the Japanese colonial period in Taiwan. It was designated a monument (古蹟) by the Taipei County government (now New Taipei City) on May 1, 2003, and ranked among Taiwan's Top 100 Historic Century-Old Buildings.

The Shidi Coal Mine (石底炭鉱), operated by the Taiyang Mining Company (台陽鉱業株式会社, Taiyō Kōgyō), was one of the most productive coal mining operations in northern Taiwan. Coal was first discovered in the Jingtong area in 1907, and the mines earned a reputation for producing some of Taiwan's finest coal. The mine and its railway infrastructure were integral to Japan's colonial resource extraction strategy, supplying coal for industrial use, railway operations, and maritime fuel.

During the wartime period (1937-1945), coal production from the Pingxi area mines intensified as the Japanese Empire's demand for energy resources grew with its expanding military campaigns across the Pacific. The coal transported via the Pingxi Line supplied factories, power plants, and naval operations throughout Taiwan and beyond. The mining operations represented a significant component of Taiwan's wartime industrial mobilization under Japanese rule.

Today, the Jingtong Station area has been transformed into a popular tourist destination. The historic wooden station building has been carefully preserved, and the adjacent Jingtong Mining Industry Museum (菁桐礦業生活館) documents the region's coal mining heritage. The Pingxi Line itself has become one of Taiwan's most scenic railway journeys, attracting visitors to experience the remnants of its industrial past amid the lush mountain landscape.