The station was firstly constructed in 1896 and opened on 20 April 1902 with service on the West Coast line. The station was a single-story wooden structure with Japanese style with slant roof and rain-shield walls. The rail line connected to the station roughly divides Chiayi City into two regions. The region located in front of the station prospered as the city business district, while the region located behind the station was scarcely developed. Service to the Alishan Forest Railway began in 1912 from the station. The station was renovated in June 1933 to its current structure. The station is undergoing reconstruction as an elevated station to remove traffic conflicts at level crossings, due to be completed in September 2026.[6]
It is a steel concrete structure with classical symmetry design, simple gables, geometric totems and streamlined modern design. The platform roofs of the railway station were constructed with the railway tracks.
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^車站數-按等級別分(PDF). Taiwan Railways Administration (in Chinese). Archived from the original(PDF) on 30 October 2018. Retrieved 30 October 2018.
^車站沿革. Taiwan Railways Administration (in Chinese). 11 December 2008. Archived from the original on 3 September 2018. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
^臺灣鐵路電訊. Taiwan Railways Administration (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 4 September 2018. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
^臺鐵統計資訊. Taiwan Railways Administration (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 30 August 2018. Retrieved 1 September 2018.