Kaohsiung is easy to get around. The MRT's Red Line runs north and south, from the airport through the city centre to Zuoying and the High Speed Rail. The Orange Line crosses it east and west, out to the harbor at Hamasen. The Circular Light Rail loops round the waterfront, and a ferry crosses to Cijin Island every 10 to 15 minutes. Get an iPASS on day one and tap it on all of them.
- MRT Red Line and Orange Line, about 05:55 or 06:00 to 24:00, NT$20 to NT$60
- Light rail Circular Light Rail, 38 stops, 06:30 to 22:30, NT$20 to NT$35
- Ferry Gushan to Cijin, about 05:00 to 02:00, NT$30
- Card iPASS (or EasyCard), NT$100 for the card, top up before you ride
The MRT
Kaohsiung Rapid Transit (KRTC) runs two lines, and they meet at Formosa Boulevard Station (R10 / O5), under the famous stained-glass Dome of Light.
- R Red Line, north to south: Gangshan Station (RK1) and Ciaotou in the north, then Zuoying (R16) for the HSR, Kaohsiung Arena (R14), Kaohsiung Main Station (R11), Formosa Boulevard (R10), Central Park (R9), Sanduo Shopping District (R8), Kaohsiung International Airport (R4) and Siaogang (R3).
- O Orange Line, west to east: Hamasen (O1) by the harbor and the Cijin ferry, Yanchengpu (O2) for Pier-2, Formosa Boulevard (O5), Cultural Center (O7), Weiwuying (O10), Fongshan (O12) and Daliao (OT1).
Good to know: five stations were renamed in May 2024, so older maps and guides are out of date. The western end of the Orange Line, once Sizihwan, is now Hamasen (O1). Cianjin (O4) was City Council, and Lingya Sports Park (O9) was Martial Arts Stadium.
Hours. First trains leave the ends of the lines at 05:55 (Red) and 06:00 (Orange), and the last at 24:00. Coming from Siaogang late, the last Red Line train that connects to the Orange Line leaves at 23:40 on weekdays and 23:45 at weekends.
Fares. By distance: NT$20 for the first 5 km, rising to a maximum of NT$60. Since November 2024 cards pay the same fare as a ticket. A single-journey ticket is a paper ticket with a QR code, from the machines or the service counter, valid only on the day you buy it.
No eating or drinking. Eating, drinking and chewing gum or betel nut are banned inside the paid area and on trains, with fines of NT$1,500 to NT$7,500. The same rule applies on the light rail.
The Circular Light Rail
The light rail is the best way to see the harbor. Its full loop opened in January 2024: 22.1 km and 38 stops (C1 to C37, plus C21A), running round the waterfront and back through the city. The harbor stretch is the one you'll use:
- C5 Dream Mall for the shopping mall.
- C8 Kaohsiung Exhibition Center for the exhibition centre and the Main Public Library.
- C10 Glory Pier and C11 Love Pier for the Kaohsiung Music Center.
- C12 Dayi Pier-2 and C13 Penglai Pier-2 for the Pier-2 Art Center warehouses.
- C14 Hamasen for the old harbor district, the Cijin ferry and the Orange Line.
- C21 Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts and C24 Heart of Love River further round.
Trams run 06:30 to 22:30, every 10 minutes at peak times and every 15 the rest of the day. Fares are NT$20 to NT$35 by distance.
Tap in and tap out. There are no gates: you tap your card on the validator on the platform before you board, and again when you get off. If you forget to tap out, the card locks, and unlocking it on your next trip costs NT$55. Without a card, the platform machines sell paper tickets and take coins only. Bank cards don't work on the light rail.
The Cijin ferry
Cijin Island is a few minutes across the harbor mouth by ferry, and the ride is half the fun. Boats leave from the Gushan Ferry Pier in Hamasen (O1 Hamasen or C14 Hamasen) for the Cijin Ferry Pier, run by the city's Kaohsiung City Shipping company.
- Hours: about 05:00 to 02:00. Every 5 to 7 minutes at rush hour, 10 to 15 minutes the rest of the day, and about every 30 minutes after midnight.
- Fare: NT$30 a passenger, cash (no change given) or iPASS, EasyCard or icash. With a bicycle, NT$40; with a scooter, NT$60. Under-sixes ride free.
- Holiday weekends: on long weekends of three days or more, visitors' petrol scooters can't board between 11:00 and 19:00. Bicycles and electric scooters can.
iPASS, EasyCard and tap-to-pay
iPASS (一卡通) is Kaohsiung's own transit card. A blank card costs NT$100 at MRT service counters, 7-Eleven, FamilyMart, Hi-Life and OK Mart, and at the airport arrivals hall. There's no deposit: the NT$100 is the price of the card, and it starts empty, so top it up before you ride. EasyCard from Taipei works too, on the MRT, the light rail, the buses and the ferry.
Bank cards. KRTC accepts contactless Visa, Mastercard, JCB, UnionPay and American Express at MRT gates, charged at the single-journey fare. That's the MRT only, not the light rail, and KRTC doesn't say whether every foreign card works, so keep a transit card as back-up.
Passes. The MeNGo pass gives 24 or 48 hours of unlimited MRT, light rail and buses, two ferry trips and free 30-minute YouBike rides. It's sold as a digital code on Klook, KKday, ezTravel and the ibon machines in 7-Eleven, bundled with attraction tickets: NT$520 for 24 hours with three attractions, or NT$690 for 48 hours with five (promotional prices, October 2026). It pays off if you'll use the attractions.
YouBike
Kaohsiung's public bikes are YouBike 2.0, which replaced the old C-Bike in July 2020. Visitors without a Taiwanese phone number can use "single rental" with a credit card, at NT$10 per 30 minutes for the first four hours. Single rental puts a NT$3,000 hold on the card. The electric YouBike 2.0E costs NT$20 per 30 minutes for the first two hours.
Buses
City buses fill in where the rail doesn't go. A ride is NT$15 per section with a card or cash (one section covers up to 8 km). Tap when you get on and again when you get off: miss the exit tap and the card locks, with a NT$15 fee to unlock it. The city's iBus app shows where your bus is.
From the airport
Kaohsiung International Airport has its own MRT station, Kaohsiung International Airport (R4) on the Red Line: exit 6 for the international terminal, exit 2 for domestic. Trains come every 4 to 6 minutes at peak times, and run straight to Formosa Boulevard (R10), Kaohsiung Main Station (R11) and Zuoying (R16) for the HSR. Taxis wait outside arrivals at both terminals and add a NT$50 airport fee to the meter. → Taxis, Uber and early flights The 9117B Kenting Airport Express runs from the airport to Kenting.
→ Getting to Kaohsiung · Kaohsiung to Tainan by train · The harbor, stop by stop · Getting to Kenting
Sources: lines, station codes, hours, fares, payment and passes from Kaohsiung Rapid Transit (KRTC), including its light rail map, bank card page and travel passes. Station renaming: Liberty Times. Light rail loop: CNA. Equal card fares from November 2024: CNA. Ferry: Kaohsiung City Shipping. iPASS: iPASS. YouBike: YouBike Kaohsiung. Buses: Kaohsiung City Government. Airport: Kaohsiung International Airport. Checked October 2026.