Hasegawa Kinsuke (1855–1921) was a Japanese railway engineer and official honoured as the 'Father of Taiwan's Railways.' Trained in Japan's railway world in his early years, he accumulated rich experience in line construction, and in 1899 he came to Taiwan, where under the regime led by Kodama Gentaro and Goto Shinpei he served as chief engineer of the Taiwan Railway Bureau and directed the building of the trunk line. At the time north–south travel in Taiwan depended on walking and boats, often taking several days, severely constraining economic development and administrative control. With decisive engineering skill and a pragmatic construction strategy—advancing section by section, seeking through service first and refinement later—Hasegawa overcame the many difficulties of the numerous rivers and complex terrain along the route. In 1908 the trunk railway from Keelung to Kaohsiung opened along its entire length, shortening a north–south journey from several days to within a single day and knitting western Taiwan into a tightly linked 'one-day living circle.' This railway not only transformed the movement of people, goods and information within the island but also reshaped Taiwan's urban development and economic map, and it stands as one of the most representative infrastructural achievements of the Japanese period. Through the trunk line Hasegawa Kinsuke laid the backbone of Taiwan's modern transport, and his contribution endures to this day.

• 1899+ Directed the construction of the trunk railway

• 1908 The Keelung–Kaohsiung trunk railway opened end to end