Shining a Light on Japan's Monorails - Japan Railway Journal

[Music] welcome to Japan Railway Journal this episode is all about monals a monil is a transportation system that uses a single rail in which vehicles run either over the rail or under the rail in 1821 the first patent was granted in the United Kingdom and that is said to be the first record of such a system in Japan uh the first system was built in 1951 as the ride in the amusement park in western part of Tokyo from amusement park to popular means of transportation let's take a look at Japanese monals and the technology behind them the Tokyo monreal will celebrate its 60th anniversary in September 2024 the airport Access line that connects Jr hamamat show station to hanada airport was Japan's first full-scale urban Transportation monreal currently eight companies operate monals in various locations throughout the country with a total track length of 114.4 kmet Japan is the world's largest monal [Music] Nation the other monreal operating in Tokyo is the Tama monal running north to south in Western Tokyo's Tama region the Montreal serves as a means of transportation for local residents there are also two monreal operators in chba prefecture one is the Chiba Urban monreal which operates two lines out of Jr Chiba [Music] station the other is the Disney Resort line which runs between the major theme parks various facilities Kagawa prefecture shown on monoral which opened in 1970 is Japan's second oldest after the Tokyo monreal the line connects OFA station in Kamakura City to enoshima a popular tourist destination Osaka monreal operates two lines in the northern part of Osaka PR pref fixure the total operating distance of 28 km is the longest of all the monreal lines in Japan kushu monal in fukoka prefecture connects the Central and Suburban areas of kushu City UI rail opened in Okinawa prefecture in 2003 this Montreal connects the airport to the center of naha [Music] City there are two types of monreal in Japan on one the suspended type the vehicle is suspended from the rail above on the other the straddle type the vehicle straddles the rail of Japan's eight operators six use the straddle type now let's take a look at the Osaka monal which runs Strat type monals Osa monal has a route length of 28 km and a daily Riders ship of approximately 120,000 a third sector company funded by Osaka prefecture it originally opened in 1990 with a line just 6.7 km long since then the line has been extended five times the monreal now operates on two lines the main line which runs to the northern part of Osaka prefecture and a branch line that runs out to the suburbs for the most part the main line runs above an expressway us the Osaka monal intersects with six cities and six other railway lines playing an important role in Osaka's Transportation Network along the line are residential areas as well as commercial facilities universities an airport and tourist resources Osaka monreal which carries many passengers has 22 vehicle sets in its Rolling Stock the vehicle structures were researched and developed in Japan the Tokyo monreal which opened in 1964 is also a straddle type although it's an alve type which was the world standard at the time on this type the tire housing protrudes up into the front and rear of each car so the seats are irregularly [Music] placed the Osaka monreal on the other hand is a Japanese design the main difference is that the bogey motor and tires are all installed under the floor and the cars are bigger this means there is more space than the alve type and the floor is [Music] flat the Japanese style straddle type monal is so highly regarded it's used by the chong ching monal in China the deu monal in South Korea and the Palm jira monal in the UAE the Osaka monal is the only Strat type monal in Japan that has Branch lines at the station where the main line diverges you can see the turnouts move and the monals coming and going in each Direction this site is mentioned as a musty spot on the Osaka monreal website one of the biggest differences between a conventional Railway and a monil like this is that the turnouts are jointed and motorized [Music] by creating smooth curves with no corners there are no major jolts or shocks when the vehicle passes through Junctions a number of Osaka monals drivers used to drive regular trains to train new drivers on the particulars specific to monals and to familiarize them with one person operation Osaka monreal introduced a driving simulator Osa monal is the only company that has such a facility [Music] [Applause] the mon rail is operated using a mass control handle just like a regular train pulling the handle causes the monor rail to accelerate while pushing it slows it down unlike the other companies Osaka monal also runs tourist monals since 2023 the Japanese sake monil has run once a month this train which is run in cooperation with local governments throughout Japan gives passengers the chance to enjoy sake and food from various regions for this monor rail a specially wrapped car was used this wrapped car was created to promote Expo 2025 which is set to be held in Osaka Kanai Japan in January 2024 the Japanese sake monreal ran in collaboration with totoi prefecture on board Tois sake was served along with the delicious crab [Music] lunchbox at 400 p.m. the reception opens at the departure station with only 130 spots available tickets sold out [Music] quickly prior to The Montreal's departure a special stage was set up inside the station to Showcase traditional Performing Arts from toor [Music] prefecture the tour members get on board at 4:40 p.m. the monreal departs there are no restrooms on board so it makes occasional stops along the way as soon as the tour is underway the participants open their lunch boxes and begin to Feast on the delicious crab [Music] meat while they are feasting the participants take part in games where they can win prizes like whole crabs and [Music] [Music] [Music] snacks 2 hours later after a delicious banquet the tour comes to an [Music] end currently Osaka monal is working to extend the line with completion expected in 2029 already under construction the plan is to extend the line Beyond kadashi station currently the eastern most Terminus on the main line the extension will add a approximately 9 km to the [Music] line once the extension is complete the line will have four additional stations that connect to other railway [Music] lines [Music] so the oaka mon is a transportation system that effectively uses the route above a highway yes and here there's a very important and also a very generous scheme for The monoral Operators because uh the construction cost of the infrastructure for the mono is basically almost entirely paid by the road budget and this scheme is basically um part of the E effort to cope with the very special transport situation within Japan and this I think has prompted the technical development of the monil system yeah since you mentioned technical development it's wonderful to see the Japan developed concept of moving the Machinery below the train cart that's making more space in the train cart is now getting adapted at more places around the world and I think that's because of the maturity of the system mature in a sense that many monoral operators has been operating the system within Japan for many decades now and that is helped by the fact that the there's a trust in the Japanese rail industry next up let's have a look at the shaan monal which runs a suspended type monal shonan monal is a privately owned monreal company that opened in 1970 on a suspended type monreal the bogis and wheels run inside a box-shaped rail housing they are connected by a strong device that holds the suspended coaches each weighing 17 tons although the vehicle sways from side to side while it's in motion it runs on rubber tires so it makes less noise in addition since the tires and the bogey are enclosed they're less susceptible to bad weather conditions such as snow and heavy [Music] rain the shaan monal line runs 6.6 km from of station in Kamakura City to a station near enoshima one of shonan's most popular tourist destinations ofana station is also a transfer station for the J R line so it can be crowded during the morning and evening rush hours the shonan monreal runs 8 times an hour which is approximately every 7 to 8 minutes on weekends and holidays the Montreal is especially popular among tourists heading to enoshima in recent years the number of inbound visitors has also increased the shown on monreal runs through an area with many ups and downs some sections are steeper than any monreal line in Japan however the strong grip of the rubber tires ensures the Montreal runs safely Shan monal also promotes this thrilling ride on their website it's actually like it says like a roller coaster I didn't realize how much it turns and goes up and down it's really exciting I loved it it's well worth the money it's very interesting it's surprise for him let's take a ride on the 6.6 km long shonan [Music] monreal departing from OA station the monreal takes a wide left then a right to arrive at the first station fujimi [Music] station [Music] from fujimi station a straight route of approximately 1 km takes us over a hill the difference in elevation is about 20 m going down we come to shonan fukasawa [Music] station from here we face a steep climb this 74 per mil gradient that is 74 m per th000 is the steepest on the line heading back downhill the train goes through a tunnel as the train accelerates downhill it reaches speeds of up to 75 kmph making at the fastest section of the [Music] route and the the Montreal reaches an elevation of 60 M the highest point on the [Music] line running downhill again and passing through another tunnel the train arrives at the terminal shown on enoshima [Music] station at shonan enoshima station the platform is Loc located on the fifth floor of the building directly opposite the ticket gate is a rooftop Terrace From the Terrace Mount Fuji can be seen towering in the distance this location is a popular spot for photos of Japan's most famous mountain looks like you're in for an exciting ride on the shonan monal going up and down through a tunnel just like a roller coaster actually the construction of the shonan monal was intended also as the showcase for future sales of the system which was successful when the Chiba urba monal adopted the system and open in 1988 since the monal runs at high elevation you get that spectacular View from Above unless you're scared of height yes and as the transport system the monreal um has no CO2 emissions at least on site and also uh it's free of traffic jam and so I would like to see more uh project uh adopting the mono oil system in many different parts of the world yes next up is tourist trains in style where we introduce amazing tourist trains from all across [Music] Japan 52 seats of Happiness is a tourist train operated by Sabu Railway on this restaurant train passengers enjoy an authentic course meal on board from Tokyo to Chichi Buu they offer a brunch course and a dinner course from Chichi Buu back to Tokyo the name f 52 seats of happiness comes from the sense of relaxation and luxury that can be felt on the 52 seat train the body of the fourar train depicts the Four Seasons and the natural landscape of tissue Boo the ceiling inside the car was also creatively designed using Japanese Washi paper it expresses the beauty of the V Valley and the flow of the river is expressed using locally Source Timber Cars 2 and four are the dining [Music] cars with tables for four and two people each of the spacious cars has just 26 seats car 3 is a dedicated kitchen car through the glass windows passengers can see how the food is prepared today we're taking the dinner course [Music] train at 4:12 p.m. the train Parts seu chichibu station Bound for seu Shinjuku station shortly after departing the attendants serve welcome drinks the first dish arrives the menu which Chang with the seasons is overseen by a renowned [Music] Chef passengers look out on the scenery while enjoying food made with ingredients from along the [Music] line on board a duet performs live every dinner course is accompanied by live [Music] [Music] [Music] music about 2 hours and 20 minutes later the train arrives at the final stop seu Shinjuku [Music] station 52 seats of Happiness makes one round trip per day mainly on weekends and [Music] holidays [Music] [Music]

Channel: NHK WORLD-JAPAN

Views: 81,086

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Id: 5qk7z3IjDog

Length: 28min 6sec (1686 seconds)

Published: Wed Mar 27 2024