The railway, originally constructed for logging, has become a tourist attraction with its rare Z-shaped switchbacks, and over 50 tunnels and 77 wooden bridges.

[4] The narrow gauge lines were originally constructed by the Japanese Colonial Government to facilitate the logging of cypress and Taiwania wood.

[5] Preliminary surveying was conducted in 1900 and route planning began in 1903, but the project was shelved in 1904 due to the Russo-Japanese War.

The station was located very close to Mount Niitaka (now Yu Shan), the highest mountain in Taiwan and the Japanese Empire, and the hike to the summit could be completed in seven to eleven hours, depending on the health of the individual.

It reopened between Chiayi and Fenqihu (approximately the halfway point) following typhoon damage repairs in January 2014,[11] and to Shizilu in 2017.

The full remaining main line between Chiayi and Zhushan reopened in July 2024, after the completion of Tunnel 42 in April 2024.

[19] The railway was privatized through a build-operate-transfer (BOT) in June 2008[20] and maintained by the Hungtu Alishan International Development Corporation.