Kitakyushu Monorail

Kitakyushu Monorail
Overview
Owner	Kitakyushu Urban Monorail Co., Ltd. (owned by the city of Kitakyushu)
Locale	Kitakyushu, Japan
Stations	13
Service
Type	Straddle-beam monorail (Alweg ‑type)
Daily ridership	32,820 (JFY23) [1]
History
Opened	9 January 1985
Technical
Line length	8.8 km (5.5 mi)
Electrification	Contact rails, 1,500 V DC
Route map Show static map Legend Sanyo Shinkansen to Hakata│to Shin-Shimonoseki Kagoshima Main Line • to Moji to Nishi- Kokura • Kagoshima & Nippō Main Lines & Hitahikosan Line Kokura Heiwadōri Tanga Kantake River Kawaraguchi Mihagino Katano Hitahikosan Line Jōno Kitagata Keibajōmae Moritsune Shii River Tokuriki Kōdanmae Tokuriki Arashiyamaguchi Shii Shii River Kikugaoka Shii-Kōen Hitahikosan Line to Yoake│to Kokura This diagram: view talk edit Show route diagram

The Kitakyushu Monorail ^[a] is a monorail system in the city of Kitakyushu in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan, operated by Kitakyushu Urban Monorail Co. Ltd., ^[b] which is wholly owned by the Kitakyushu municipal government.

The Kokura Line ^[c] is the only line. It runs the 8.8 km (5.5 mi) between Kokura station and Kikugaoka station in Kokura Minami ward in about 18 minutes. It was opened on January 9, 1985, between the station now called Heiwadori and Kikugaoka, and at the time was the first monorail in the world with high level platforms and trains with floors entirely above the bogies. ^{[2] [3]} This increased available floor space and now all but one of Japan's surviving Alweg monorails have high level platforms and employ podium-free trains. ^{[4] [5]} This line was extended about 300 metres (1000 ft) to Kokura station from Heiwadori on April 1, 1998.

The monorail is owned by the city of Kitakyushu, and did not begin to make a profit until the extension to Kokura station was completed. This had been resisted by the businesses in Uomachi shopping district who feared they would lose customers, but that did not happen.

Once a year, there are beer and wine parties held on the monorail, with bookings made in advance. Santa Claus boards the train on December 24. ^[6]

Stations

No.	Station Name	Distance		Transfers	Location
		Between stations	Total
01	Kokura	—	0.0	San'yō Shinkansen JA Kagoshima Main Line (JA21/JA51) JF Nippō Main Line (JF01) JI Hitahikosan Line (JI01)	Kokurakita-ku Kitakyūshū	Fukuoka Prefecture
02	Heiwadōri	0.4 km (0.25 mi)	0.4 km (0.25 mi)
03	Tanga	0.3 km (0.19 mi)	0.7 km (0.43 mi)
04	Kawaraguchi Mihagino	0.9 km (0.56 mi)	1.6 km (0.99 mi)
05	Katano	0.8 km (0.50 mi)	2.4 km (1.5 mi)
06	Jōno	0.8 km (0.50 mi)	3.2 km (2.0 mi)		Kokuraminami-ku Kitakyūshū
07	Kitagata	1.0 km (0.62 mi)	4.2 km (2.6 mi)
08	Keibajōmae	0.7 km (0.43 mi)	4.9 km (3.0 mi)
09	Moritsune	0.8 km (0.50 mi)	5.7 km (3.5 mi)
10	Tokuriki Kōdanmae	0.9 km (0.56 mi)	6.6 km (4.1 mi)
11	Tokuriki Arashiyamaguchi	0.7 km (0.43 mi)	7.3 km (4.5 mi)
12	Shii	0.9 km (0.56 mi)	8.2 km (5.1 mi)
13	Kikugaoka	0.6 km (0.37 mi)	8.8 km (5.5 mi)	JI Hitahikosan Line (Shii-Kōen: JI06)

See also

• Monorails in Japan
• Kitakyushu Airport
• List of rapid transit systems

Notes

1. Japanese: 北九州モノレール, Hepburn: Kitakyūshū monorēru
2. 北九州高速鉄道株式会社, Kitakyūshū Kōsoku Tetsudō Kabushiki-gaisha; lit. 'Kitakyūshū Rapid Railway Stock Company'
3. 小倉線, Kokura-sen

References

1. "Monorails for urban transportation" (PDF). Japan Monorail Association. November 2024. Retrieved 7 November 2025.
2. Pedersen, Kim. "Kitakyushu Monorail – a Photo Essay". The Monorail society.
3. "Metro of Kitakyushu". Mapa-Metro.
4. Pedersen, Kim. "Monorails of Japan". The Monorail Society.
5. Karisher, Richard. "Hitachi-Alweg history". The Alweg Archives. Archived from the original on 2022-01-24. Retrieved 2022-04-11.
6. "サンタ列車に笑顔 北九州モノレール 子どもたちにプレゼント". Nishinippon Shimbun. December 25, 2018. Retrieved 4 July 2024.

External links

• Kitakyushu monorail (Official page in Japanese)
• Map of the Kitakyushu Monorail