Okinawa Monorail

Last updated
Okinawa Monorail
沖縄都市モノレール
Industry Rail transport
Founded August 10, 2003
Headquarters Naha
Area served
Naha, Okinawa, Japan
Services Monorail
Owner Okinawa Urban Monorail, Inc.
Website www.yui-rail.co.jp
Yui Rail - Stations
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0 Naha Kūkō Station (Airport)
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1.95 Akamine Station
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2.71 Oroku Station
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3.68 Ōnoyama-kōen Station
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4.52 Tsubogawa Station
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5.33 Asahibashi Station
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5.91 Kenchō-mae Station
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6.63 Miebashi Station
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7.61 Makishi Station
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8.20 Asato Station
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8.95 Omoromachi Station
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9.96 Furujima Station
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10.88 Shiritsubyōin-mae Station
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11.84 Gibo Station
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12.84 Shuri Station

Wheelchair symbol.svg All stations are barrier-free. [1]

The Okinawa Urban 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 Urban Monorail, Inc.(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 Kūkō Station is the westernmost, and Akamine Station is the southernmost rail station in Japan. It uses the OKICA as its contactless card.

Monorail single-rail based transportation system

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" (one) and "rail" (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.

Okinawa Prefecture Prefecture of Japan

Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost prefecture of Japan. It encompasses two thirds of the Ryukyu Islands in a chain over 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) long. The Ryukyu Islands extend southwest from Kagoshima Prefecture in Kyushu to Taiwan. Naha, Okinawa's capital, is located in the southern part of Okinawa Island.

Japan Constitutional monarchy in East Asia

Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies off the eastern coast of the Asian continent and stretches from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and the Philippine Sea in the south.

Contents

Yui Rail

Okinawa Urban Monorail
Okinawa monorail Yui Rail yuireru.jpg
Okinawa Urban Monorail
Overview
Locale Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan
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, Inc.
Technical
System length 12.9 kilometres [2]

The monorail's "Yui Rail" brand name and logo were selected in a public competition. [3] It consists of 15 stations, from Naha Kūkō in the west to Shuri in the east, running via 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. [2]

Shuri Station railway station in Naha, Okinawa prefecture, Japan

Shuri Station is a railway station on the Okinawa Urban Monorail located in Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. The station was originally planned to be named Tera Station after the neighborhood within Shuri, but opened as Shuri Station on August 10, 2003. It serves the center of downtown Shuri, Shuri Castle, and its environs.

Trains are made up of two cars, with 65 seats and a total capacity of 165 people. [2] 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. [2]

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
No.
Station nameDistance
in km
Total
distance
Location
EnglishJapanese
1 Naha Kūkō (Naha Airport)那覇空港-0.00 Naha
2 Akamine 赤嶺1.951.95
3 Oroku 小禄0.762.71
4 Ōnoyama-kōen (Onoyama Park)奥武山公園0.973.68
5 Tsubogawa 壺川0.844.52
6 Asahibashi 旭橋0.815.33
7 Kenchō-mae (Prefectural Office)県庁前0.585.91
8 Miebashi 美栄橋0.726.63
9 Makishi 牧志0.987.61
10 Asato 安里0.598.2
11 Omoromachi おもろまち0.758.95
12 Furujima 古島1.019.96
13 Shiritsubyōin-mae (Naha City Hospital)市立病院前0.9210.88
14 Gibo 儀保0.9611.84
15 Shuri 首里1.0012.84
Under construction (2019)
(16) Ishimine 石嶺 --Naha
(17) Kyozuka 経塚 -- Urasoe
(18) Urasoemaeda 浦添前田 --
(19) Tedako-Uranishi てだこ浦西 --

See also

Here is a list of monorails in Japan.

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References

  1. "about Barrier-free", yui-rail.co.jp (Japanese)
  2. 1 2 3 4 モノレール計画概要 Archived 2015-04-09 at the Wayback Machine ., yui-rail.co.jp (Japanese)
  3. "about Yui Rail" Archived 2008-04-23 at the Wayback Machine ., yui-rail.co.jp (Japanese)
  4. 1 2 ご利用案內 Archived 2014-02-20 at the Wayback Machine ., yui-rail.co.jp (Japanese)
  5. http://www.okinawatimes.co.jp/article/2011-08-30_22758/ Archived September 28, 2011, at the Wayback Machine .
  6. http://sankei.jp.msn.com/economy/news/120126/biz12012617240026-n1.htm Archived January 27, 2012, at the Wayback Machine .