Okinawa Monorail

Okinawa City Monorail

Okinawa City Monorail
Overview
Locale Naha, Okinawa
Transit type straddle-beam monorail
Number of lines 1
Number of stations 15
Daily ridership 35,000
Operation
Began operation August 2003
Operator(s) Okinawa Urban Monorail Incorporated
Technical
System length 12.9 kilometres[1]
Yui Rail - Stations
Legend
0 Naha-kūkō Station (Airport)
1.95 Akamine Station
2.71 Oroku Station
3.68 Ōnoyama-kōen Station
4.52 Tsubogawa Station
5.33 Asahibashi Station
5.91 Kenchō-mae Station
6.63 Miebashi Station
7.61 Makishi Station
8.20 Asato Station
8.95 Omoromachi Station
9.96 Furujima Station
10.88 Shiritsu-byōin-mae Station
11.84 Gibo Station
12.84 Shuri Station

All the stations are barrier-free design. [2]

The Okinawa City Monorail (沖縄都市モノレール Okinawa Toshi Monorēru), also known as Yui Rail (ゆいレール Yui Rēru), is a monorail line in Naha, Okinawa, Japan. Operated by Okinawa City Monorail Corporation (沖縄都市モノレール株式会社 Okinawa Toshi Monorēru Kabushiki-gaisha), it opened on August 10, 2003, and is the only public rail system in Okinawa Prefecture, the first rail line on Okinawa since World War II. Also Naha Airport Station is the westernmost, and Akamine Station is the southernmost rail station in Japan.

Yui Rail

The monorail's "Yui Rail" brand name and logo were selected in a public competition.[3] It comprises 15 stations, from Naha Airport in the west to Shuri in the east, running through the Naha.[4] The average distance between stations is 0.93 kilometers. It takes 27 minutes and costs ¥330[4] to traverse its 12.9 km length.[1]

Trains are made up of two cars, with 65 seats and a total capacity of 165 people.[1] Trains runs on an elevated track between 8 and 20 meters above the ground, with a top speed of 65 km/h (about 40 mph) and an actual average speed of 28 km/h (17 mph) counting stops.[1]

Future extension

After lengthy deliberation of possible route options, the monorail corporation applied for construction permission for a 4.1-kilometer, 4-station extension from Shuri Station to Uranishi (浦西) in August 2011.[5] Permission was granted on January 26, 2012, with construction planned to start in March 2013 and revenue operation in March 2019.[6]

Stations

Station
Number
Station name Distance
in km
Total
distance
Location
English Japanese
1 Naha-kūkō 那覇空港 - 0.00 Naha
2 Akamine 赤嶺 1.95 1.95
3 Oroku 小禄 0.76 2.71
4 Ōnoyama-kōen 奥武山公園 0.97 3.68
5 Tsubogawa 壺川 0.84 4.52
6 Asahibashi 旭橋 0.81 5.33
7 Kenchō-mae 県庁前 0.58 5.91
8 Miebashi 美栄橋 0.72 6.63
9 Makishi 牧志 0.98 7.61
10 Asato 安里 0.59 8.2
11 Omoromachi おもろまち 0.75 8.95
12 Furujima 古島 1.01 9.96
13 Shiritsu-byōin-mae 市立病院前 0.92 10.88
14 Gibo 儀保 0.96 11.84
15 Shuri 首里 1.00 12.84
Expansion plan (2019)
(16) Ishimine 石嶺 - - Urasoe
(17) Kyōzuka 経塚 - -
(18) Urasoemaeda 浦添前田 - -
(19) Tedakouranishi てだこ浦西 - -

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Okinawa Monorail.

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 モノレール計画概要, yui-rail.co.jp (Japanese)
  2. "about Barrier-free", yui-rail.co.jp (Japanese)
  3. "about Yui Rail", yui-rail.co.jp (Japanese)
  4. 4.0 4.1 ご利用案內, yui-rail.co.jp (Japanese)
  5. http://www.okinawatimes.co.jp/article/2011-08-30_22758/
  6. http://sankei.jp.msn.com/economy/news/120126/biz12012617240026-n1.htm

External links