Light Railway Transit has made a comeback in Toyama, Japan
Rail travel is an incredibly popular and efficient way to travel in Japan. While I don't think it would take anyone that long to warm up to rail travel in Japan, I lived there long enough to really, really appreciate the train network that includes hyperfast Shinkansen (bullet train) and putzing little two-car trains that visit small towns. Over in the city of Toyama, a Light Railway Transit, or LRT (similar to streetcars or trams, rail systems that share space with cars on a road) has been operating for about a year and a half now and the Portram has been a success.
According to Japan for Sustainability's December newsletter, Portram "is an innovative system using a good design that people feel comfortable using," and was built to help the elderly and to be kinder to the environment. Town residents are appreciative of the service: the average daily ridership during the first year of Portram was 4,900, well above the initial target of 3,400 riders a day. While there are plenty of trains in Japan, JFS says that Toyama is the only city in the country operating an LRT service. There are trams in Sapporo and I won't be at all surprised when more such services are announced in the near future.
Related:
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- Tramways are making a comeback
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Benjamin Jones 4:02PM (12/29/2007)
This is very interesting! The only LRT I've been on in Japan was down in Hiroshima, which was pretty nice aside from the freaking heat waiting outside for it, :p. I think kyoto would benefit from an LRT tremendously, how many damn bus lines does that city have...?
Anyway, thanks for this post. Everyone's always talking about Europe, so I'm glad to see Japan get a bit of press.
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Benjamin Jones
http://www.ecomodder.com
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