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New Transit Yurikamome (新交通ゆりかもめ) is an
automated guideway transit service operated by the Tokyo Waterfront
New Transit Corporation, connecting
Shinbashi to Ariake on the artificial island of
Odaiba in
Tokyo,
Japan.
The line is named after the
black-headed seagull (yurikamome in
Japanese), a common denizen of
Tokyo Bay and the official prefectural bird.
Technology
Yurikamome is often incorrectly called a
monorail, and the elevated concrete track does resemble a monorail at
first glance, but the track is actually just a funnel and the trains are
supported by two rows of rubber wheels. The rail in the center of the
track serves only to guide the train, not support it, so it doesn't
qualify as a monorail.
Yurikamome is Tokyo's first fully automated transit system, controlled
entirely by computers with no drivers on board. This is actually not even
particularly new technology -- Japan's first AGT,
Kobe's
Port Liner, opened in
1981, 14 years before the Yurikamome -- but it still surprises many a
tourist.
History
Before its 1995 opening, it was widely feared that the Yurikamome would
end up as a multibillion-yen boondoggle. The artificial island of
Odaiba, which it serves, had been designed and constructed at
prodigeous expense before Japan's economic crash and, much like
London's equally beleaguered
Canary Wharf, there simply didn't seem to be enough demand to support
it.
The first few months of operation provided a slight sigh of relief, as
ridership hovered around 27000 passengers per day, only a little less
than the predicted 29000... but still far, far less than the 80000 pax
needed to be profitable. However, the
Tokyo Metropolitan Government was for once on the ball, and in 1996
Odaiba was rezoned from pure business and residential to also permit
entertainment zones.
Tokyo may be next to the sea on the map, but before Odaiba, effectively
the entire coastline had been taken over by an endless concrete strip of
ports and warehouses. Promoted as the "Rainbow Town", the island provided
Tokyo with a strip of liveable seaside, and it became an instant hit.
Within one year, ridership doubled to 60000, and as more and more of the
restaurants, shopping malls, exhibition centers and museums opened, the
traffic kept growing and growing. On
May 4,
1997, during
Golden Week, the system was completely maxed out when 130,000 people
tried to board in a single day.
And it wasn't just the island that they were going to, the Yurikamome
had become an attraction in itself. To hoist itself from sea level to the
Rainbow Bridge, the Yurikamome does a rather spectacular 270-degree
loop, providing panoramic views of both mainland Tokyo and Odaiba. Easily
accessible and comfortable despite its technological prowess, most
islandgoers continue to opt for the Yurikamome despite its high price,
with the fares of 180 to 370 yen of being nearly twice that of a normal
subway.
Future
The Yurikamome's future looks bright: at over 100,000 passengers per
day, the Yurikamome is making a net profit and will pay off its loans in
full faster than the 20 years originally anticipated. Operating frequency,
hours of operation and number of [trainset]s have been continually revised
upwards to accommodate for the ever-increasing number of passengers.
Construction is now in progress to extend the line from its current
terminus in Ariake to
Toyosu on the
Yurakucho subway line. Construction is expected to be complete in
2005.
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