Okinawa Monorail
another Monorail Society
Exclusive!
Photos and text by Kim Pedersen (except where noted)
Page One of Six
On April 17, 2003, videographer David M. Ice and I were
treated to a sneak preview of the new Okinawa Monorail. Naha is
the largest city on the island with a population of 300,000 in
the city and surrounding area. The system will opened in August
of 2003, but thanks to the folks at Hitachi and Okinawa Monorail,
we got this early sneak preview during testing.
The builders of the Okinawa Monorail have cleverly rounded the
edges of pylons, and the result is remarkable. The track is the
same width as that of the famous Tokyo-Haneda
Monorail, but the new pylons look "friendlier" with
the soft edges and tapered t-supports. Note the clever way that
conduit runs beneath the guideway, then artfully bypasses pylon/beam
attachment points. (photo by David M. Ice)
After a two hour flight from Tokyo-Haneda Airport, we arrived
at Naha Airport. After a wonderful traditional Japanese meal,
courtesy of Hitachi, we took a cab ride to follow the entire 12.9
kilometer monorail line. I still remember the look of astonishment
on our taxi driver's face as his crazy American passengers would
leap out of the cab to capture images and video as test trains
would pass. As you can see here, the monorail follows river canals
in the downtown area of Naha. Monorails following rivers was first
pioneered over 100 years ago in Wuppertal,
Germany. It worked well then, it works well now.
Where needed, longer spans of beamway are made of steel rather
than pre-stressed concrete. This pylon is one of many that show
the transition between the two types of track.
Leaning out the taxi window, I managed to get this shot of a steel
beam span crossing a road. Dual steel tracks in Japan are more
bridge-like with cross beams between the beams. The straddle bent
that supports the track is also steel.
Here comes a train! No passengers on board, just drivers being
trained. Not much sunlight when this was shot, tropical clouds
puffy crossed over us throughout the day. Still, you can see how
the lines of the monorail train, track, supports and station blend
well with the modern urban setting. Next
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Okinawa Monorail - Photo Essay page ONE / TWO / THREE / FOUR / FIVE / SIX
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