Friday 15 December 2017

Animal Train on the Tama Monorail Line

Set 1115 of the EMU Tama Monorail 1000 series arrives at Matsugaya Station

This is the fourth post to introduce the Tama Monorail Line. I recently visited the Tama Monorail Line for the first time in two years. What is a new thing with this unique monorail line? 

I found animal poster trains. They were set number 1107 and 1115 of the EMU 1000 series. As you can see, it features illustrations of animals such as giraffes and lions on the side bodies. These animals are a promotion of tourism to Tama Zoological Park located on the line. In Tama Zoological Park, animals are displayed under naturalistic and spectacular habitats set up on its land of 52 hectares in Hino City.

The Tama Monorail Line was opened in 1998. The route penetrates the Tama region, a western suburb of Tokyo, from south to north. Connecting Tama Center and Kamikitadai stations, its operating length is 16.0 km. A straddle-beam system is adopted. The track is double and the electric system is 1,500 V DC. Four-car trains, named the EMU 1000 series, are operated every 6 to 10 minutes. A total of 15 sets of the 1000 series were built by Kawasaki Heavy Industries and Hitachi.

Passengers can enjoy both urban and country views from the train windows. The only problem with the Tama Monorail is its train speed. The maximum operating speed is only 65 km per hour. To make matters worse, there are many curved sections on the line. The company should learn from Tokyo Monorail and Shonan Monorail, which conduct high speed operations.

Side view of set 1107 of the EMU Tama Monorail 1000 series

Official information about the Tama Monorail Line: http://www.tama-monorail.co.jp/en/