1937-1945年間，臺灣總督府鐵道部面臨戰爭，隨著戰局的擴大與變化，依循日本帝國與臺灣總督府之需求，積極研擬因應方策，配合島內的需求與各項戰時國策。「工業化」、「生產力擴充」、「大東亞共榮圈」為此一時期的重要國策，而「交通運輸的整備」是執行這些戰時國策的重要先決條件之一。「熱帶產業調查會」、「臺灣10年事業計畫」、「臨時壹灣經濟審議會」將鐵路政策置重於改良事業、強化運輸力，特別是貨運。臺灣總督府籍由「陸運統制令」的實施以及「經濟動員本部」的成立，塑造以織道部為中心的陸運統制，並於戰時艱固的環境中靈活調整客貨運政策、建構島內外交通運輸網絡來苦撐時局。各項施策順利展現其「功能性」的同時，也呈顯出其「侷限性」，終難挽頹勢。

In the period 1937-1945, the Railway Department of the Taiwan Governor-General's Office employed measures in response to the expansion of war for the needs of both of Japanese empire and the Taiwan Governor-General's Office. Industrialization, the expansion of production, and the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere were important national policies in this period. The maintenance of transportation was one of the most important pre-conditions for all three policies. The Investigation Committee on Tropical Industry, the Ten-Year Plan for Taiwan, and the Provisional Conference on Taiwan's Economy emphasized the improvement of facilities and the increase of transportation capacity as important railway policies, especially for cargo transportation. By implementing the Order on Land Transportation and by establishing the Headquarters of Economic Mobilization, the Taiwan Governor-General's Office constructed a control system of land transportation centering on the Railway Department, skillfully adjusted the policies on passenger and cargo transportation during the difficulties of wartime, and built a transportation network inside and outside Taiwan to survive the war. Although all kinds of transportation policies successfully demonstrated their functions, they also showed their limitations and eventually were unable to reverse the course of history.