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Tama Monorail Photo Essay
page one of three
Monorail history has again been made in Japan. On November 27th
of 1998 officials cut ribbon for the first section of the Tama
Monorail. The new monorail was 5.4 kilometers long. A second section
(blue line on map below) opened January 10, 2000, bringing the
system length to 16km. A commemorative postal stamp was issued
in honor of the new system in 1998. Long range plans call for
the system to eventually include an incredible 93 km of dual beam
track!
Above is a picture of a Hitachi Type 1000 monorail train arriving
at Tachikawa-Kita Station.
This diagram shows the Japan Monorail Association's standard for
straddle-beamed monorails. The track is very close to the size
to Seattle's 1962 Alweg monorail. In fact, all Japanese straddle-type
monorails are descendents of the Alweg system. The spacious interior
of the Tama Monorail is similar to monorails at Kitakyushu and
Osaka. Note the doors on floor for access to load-bearing wheels.
On the following pages are large photos taken by Kim Pedersen
on his 2003 visit to the system. NEXT>>>
