The new Alishan Cypress Train has been announced the winner of an LIT Lighting Design Award after taking the top spot in the “Bridges and Public Infrastructures Lighting” category.
The Alishan Forest Railway and Cultural Heritage Office — which commissioned the completed project — in a statement on Friday said that the train, named Formosensis, is a “warm light flickering amid Taiwanese mountainous forests,” adding that it reflected the design team’s “human touch.”
Office deputy director-general Chou Heng-kai (周恆凱) said it was the first Taiwanese train to win a major international lighting design award.
Photo courtesy of the Alishan Forest Railway and Cultural Heritage Office via CNA
The carriage interior is lined with hinoki wood, a naturally fragrant variety of cypress which was key to Alishan’s forestry history.
Inside the train, indirect lighting is used to bring out the warm tone of the wood. Decorative lighting — table and wall lamps — was designed to match the furniture, creating a harmonious atmosphere, the entry description said.
The train also utilizes energy-saving LED lights, as well as intelligent dimming technology and daylight sensors to help reduce carbon emissions. Upon entering a tunnel, the lights automatically adjust to help passengers’ vision adapt gradually, the description added.
It took two years and nine months to build the new train, and it is expected to make its debut in March next year.
The LIT Lighting Design Awards was created as a platform to recognize and celebrate achievements in lighting products, architectural lighting designs and entertainment lighting, its Web site says.
It receives submissions from all over the world.
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