List of railway lines in Japan lists existing railway lines in Japan alphabetically.
The vast majority of Japanese railways are classified under two Japanese laws, one for railways (鉄道, tetsudō) and another for trams (軌道, kidō). The difference between the two is a legal, and not always substantial, one. Some regional rails are classified as kidō, while some light rails are actually tetsudō. There are also other railways not legally classified as either tetsudō or kidō, such as airport people movers, slope cars (automated small rack monorails), or amusement park rides. Those lines are not listed here.
Some industrial railways are also classified as tetsudō/kidō, while some are not. However, this list does not include any industrial railways. See the corresponding Japanese article for the listing.
Tetsudō/kidō also include (non-funicular) cable cars, horsecars, and handcars, but those modes of transportation have already disappeared from the country.
The list basically shows line names without operator names. When the official line name does include the operator name, the line is listed twice, with and without the operator.
To make the search easier, official nicknames and unofficial common names are also listed.
These are not classified as railways in Japan and are thus not covered in this article.
Airport people mover
Slope car
Attraction ride
Industrial railway (some of them)
Related Research Articles
A monorail is a railway in which the track consists of a single rail or a beam. The term is also used to describe the beam of the system, or the trains traveling on such a beam or track. The term originates from joining "mono" and "rail" from 1897, possibly from German engineer Eugen Langen, who called an elevated railway system with wagons suspended the Eugen Langen One-railed Suspension Tramway.
A people mover or automated people mover (APM) is a type of small scale automated guideway transit system. The term is generally used only to describe systems serving relatively small areas such as airports, downtown districts or theme parks.
An automated guideway transit (AGT) or automated fixed-guideway transit or automatic guideway transit system is a type of fixed guideway transit infrastructure with a riding or suspesion track that supports and physically guides one or more driverless vehicles along its length. The vehicles are often rubber tired or steel wheeled, but other traction systems including air cushion, suspended monorail and maglev have been implemented. The guideway provides both physical support, like a road, as well as the guidance.
Here is a list of monorails in Japan.
An elevated railway or elevated train is a rapid transit railway with the tracks above street level on a viaduct or other elevated structure. The railway may be broad-gauge, standard-gauge or narrow-gauge railway, light rail, monorail, or a suspension railway. Elevated railways are normally found in urban areas where there would otherwise be multiple level crossings. Usually, the tracks of elevated railways that run on steel viaducts can be seen from street level.
Urban rail transit is an all-encompassing term for various types of local rail systems providing passenger service within and around urban or suburban areas. The set of urban rail systems can be roughly subdivided into the following categories, which sometimes overlap because some systems or lines have aspects of multiple types.
Various terms are used for passenger railway lines and equipment; the usage of these terms differs substantially between areas:
Rail transport in Japan is a major means of passenger transport, especially for mass and high-speed travel between major cities and for commuter transport in urban areas. It is used relatively little for freight transport, accounting for just 0.84% of goods movement. The privatised network is highly efficient, requiring few subsidies and running with extreme punctuality.
Keifuku Electric Railroad Co., Ltd. is a railroad company based in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan in operation since March 2, 1942. It is a parent company of Keifuku Bus and Kyoto Bus, and an affiliated company of Keihan Electric Railway, which owns 42.89% of the company stock. The company's stock is traded on the second section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
As of 2005, the Rail transport in Okinawa consists of only the Okinawa Urban Monorail, the only rail line providing rail transportation in Okinawa Prefecture. In the past, Okinawa Island had railroad, trams, and horse-drawn streetcar service. Moreover, Minamidaitōjima and other islands had rail lines to transport sugarcane and other commodities.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to transport:
The Skyrail Midorizaka Line is a monorail/people mover line operated by Skyrail Service. The line runs between Midoriguchi and Midori-Chūō, all within the new town called Skyrail Town Midorizaka, Aki, Hiroshima, Hiroshima, Japan. The line is officially called Hiroshima Short Distance Transit Seno Line. The line is also known as the first Japanese public transport to introduce a smart card, simply called IC Commuter Pass, from the time the line itself opened on August 28, 1998.
The Mount Tsukuba Cable Car, officially the Mount Tsukuba Cable Railway Line, is a Japanese funicular line on Mount Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki. It is the only funicular line Tsukuba Kankō Railway operates, while it also operates an aerial tramway, hotels and restaurants. The company belongs to Keisei Group.
The Air-Rail Link is a people mover linking Birmingham Airport with Birmingham International railway station and the National Exhibition Centre in England. The current system, originally known as SkyRail, replaced the earlier Birmingham Maglev system in 2003.
These lists of rapid transit systems are sorted by the type of system:
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to public transport:
The Gatwick Airport Shuttle Transit is a 0.75-mile (1.21 km) long elevated automated people mover that links the North and South Terminals at London's Gatwick Airport. The line is ground-side, and besides linking the two terminals also serves to link the North terminal to the airport railway station. Although sometimes colloquially, but erroneously, known as a "monorail", the transit vehicles are carried on rubber tyres running on a concrete track with twin running surfaces and are steered by separate guide rails.
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Conventional railway
Conventional railway (freight)
Tramway
Trolleybus
Handcar
Horsecar
Funicular
Monorail
New transit system (people mover)
New transit system (maglev)
New transit system (skyrail)
New transit system (guideway bus)
Airport people mover
Slope car
Attraction ride
Industrial railway (some of them)
