Monkey Park Monorail Line

Monkey Park Monorail Line
Overview
Type straddle-beam Monorail
Locale Inuyama, Aichi
Stations 3
Operation
Opening 21 March 1962
Closed 27 December 2008
Operator(s) Nagoya Railroad
Technical
Line length 1.2 km[1]
Electrification 1,500 V DC
Operating speed 30 km/h

The Meitetsu Monkey Park Monorail Line (名鉄モンキーパークモノレール線 Meitetsu Monkī Pāku Monorēru-sen) was a monorail in Inuyama, Aichi that connected the Japan Monkey Park to Inuyama-yūen Station, operated by Nagoya Railroad (Meitetsu). The line featured steep sections, including one 9.7% grade, and traveled through an artificial canyon for a section.[2] The trip took about four minutes.[3]

History

The Monkey Park Monorail Line opened on 21 March 1962,[1] and was the first Hitachi Monorail[4] using the ALWEG track standard.

The line closed on 27 December 2008[1] following Meitetsu's decision based on its small ridership and aging facilities.[5] In 2006, ridership averaged only 645 passengers per day.

Trains

The line had two trains with three cars each, which could be coupled together for higher capacity. The trains operated on a 1,500 V DC power supply, and had a top speed of 35 km/h.[4]

Two monorail cars, end car 101 and intermediate car 201, are scheduled to be preserved next to the former Dōbutsuen Station in their original livery of silver with red and white bodyside stripes from 19 March 2009.[6]

The train is also featured in a Japanese train simulation game, Densha de Go! Nagoya Railroad, along with the other Meitetsu trains.

Stations

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Tetsudō Daiya Jōhō Magazine February 2009 issue, p.76
  2. ↑ "The Monorail Society". Retrieved 30 March 2007.
  3. ↑ "Inuyama City Government". Archived from the original on 5 February 2007. Retrieved 30 March 2007.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Pedersen, Kim. "Inuyama Monorail Photo Essay - page one of six". Retrieved 12 April 2008.
  5. ↑ Nagoya Railroad (17 December 2007). "モンキーパーク・モノレール線の廃止届出書提出について (Re filing of a report on abolition of the Monkey Park Monorail Line)" (in Japanese). Retrieved 17 December 2007.
  6. ↑ Meitetsu press release: "旧モンキーパーク・モノレール線のモノレール車両を保存します" (4 March 2009). Retrieved on 4 March 2009. (Japanese)