To start with, they only offered basic Chinese-style meals with vegetables and white rice, but later they added meals of pork on white rice, and it is these meals that have continued on to this day. In the early days, Taiwanese rail passengers had two options-basic or express trains, with seat-bookable and deluxe express trains added only later.
初期供應的不過是一般的菜飯便當，之後慢慢改變成獨家特製的排骨菜飯便當，也就是至今令旅客齒頰留香的鐵路便當。早年台鐵只有慢車與平快兩種，之後又增加對號快車、光華號。