At an award presentation ceremony, Taiwan Railway Administration (TRA) Director-General Frank Fan said that with a view to increasing the public's appreciation for the architectural beauty of various train stations and demonstrating the state-run company's resolve to protect passengers' health, it conducted the poll with the Bureau of Health Promotion.

Chao Kun-yu, deputy director-general of the bureau, said the activity was part of stepped-up efforts to promote public awareness of a new anti smoking bill which would ban smoking from Jan. 11, 2009 in most indoor public places in Taiwan, including all modes of public transport and train and metro stations.

Smokers lighting up in banned areas will face fines of up to NT$10,000, while operators of public places that do not post no smoking signs will be fined up to NT$50,000.

Ou Cheng-bin, chief of the Hsinchu Railway Station, said the station is equipped with plenty of anti-smoking logos and anti-tobacco symbols and conveys the anti-smoking message via its public address system every hour.

Around 35,000 people took part in the poll to choose the most beautiful smoke-free stations, according to Chao.

Rounding up the second to sixth most popular stations are Yilan in northeastern Taiwan, Banchiao in the north, Tainan in the south and Tachia in the central county of Taichung, according to the poll.