Toyama City Tram Line | |||
---|---|---|---|
Overview | |||
Native name | 富山軌道線 (Toyama Kido-sen) | ||
Owner |
Toyama Chiho Railway /
Toyama City
| ||
Line number | C01 - C25 | ||
Termini |
| ||
Stations | 25 | ||
Website | www.chitetsu.co.jp/english/trams | ||
Service | |||
Services | Main Line
Branch Line
Yasunoya Line
Kureha Line
Toyama Metropolitan Line
Toyama Station South-North Link
| ||
History | |||
Opened | 1 September 1913 | ||
Last extension | 14 March 2015 | ||
Technical | |||
Line length | 7.5 km / 7.6 km (differs depending on source) | ||
Track gauge | 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) | ||
Electrification | 600 V DC OHLE | ||
|
Toyama City Tram Line is a tram system in the city of Toyama, Toyama Prefecture, Japan operated by the Toyama Chiho Railway. [1]
The official name for the line is "Toyama Kido-sen" (富山軌道線 Toyama Tram Line), with "Toyama-Chitetsu Shinai-Densha" (富山地鉄市内電車 Toyama Chihou Railway Tram) or simply "Shiden" also used (the former is used by the on-board announcements as well).
The Toyama City Tram Line is not the equivalent of Trams in Toyama as the latter also includes the light rail line Toyamako Line, transferred to Toyama Chiho Railway in 2020. Although all Toyamako Line services now operate as through services to the Toyama City Tram Line, the two lines are distinct from each other.
Figures listed are as of April 2015.
Six routes operate, of which two are called the Circle Route and the others simply Shinai-Densha. [2]
Routes 1 and 2 are each operated at 10-minute intervals during the daytime with routes 4 and 5 (through services to the Toyamako Line) substituting a route 2 service every hour. Routes 3 and 6 run via the Toyama Metropolitan Line in an anti-clockwise direction at 10- to 20-minute intervals in the daytime.
The last tram of the day on route 2 for Minamitoyamaeki-mae is operated past midnight throughout the year. In March 1997, route 1 was extended to serve Minamitoyama - Toyamaeki-mae - Kencho-mae, but was reshortened in December 2001. [3] Every year, on the day of the fireworks display on 1 August, extra services are operated connecting Minamitoyamaeki-mae and Toyama Station to Yasunoya.
The Toyama City Tram Line has a flat-rate fare system of 210 yen for adults and 110 yen for children. [4] When using the smart cards "ecomyca" ( ja) or "passca", the fares are reduced by 15% to 180 yen for adults and 90 yen for children. [4]
Transfers without extra charge can be made at Marunouchi and Nakamachi (Nishicho-kita). [5] For usage past Toyama Station and into the Toyamako Line, no additional fare is required.
Adult fare (1961-)
During the economic boom in the 1950s and the 1960s, rapid expansion of urban areas and motorization caused tram users to decrease in many cities across Japan. Toyama was no exception from this trend, and in order to reduce costs, one-man operations started for some routes in June 1969, with it being introduced in all routes by April 1970. [6]
The tram line first opened on 1 September 1913 to transport visiters to an exhibition held by a uion of nine prefectures. [8] [9]
Although the line was at first operated by Toyama Electric Tramway, it was transfered to the City of Toyama due to financial difficulties on 1 July 1920 and became Toyama City Tramway. [10] On 1 January 1943, the line was transfered to the Toyama Chiho Railway as part of the war effort to optimize transportation. [11]
At its golden age in the 1960s, the line had a total length of 11 km consisting of the lines listed below in addition to the current lines (note: Toyama Metropolitan Line and Toyama Station North-South Link did not exist). Through services existed into the Toyama Chiho Railway heavy rail lines Imizu Line (defunct) (from Shintoyamaeki-mae (now Toyama Toyopet Honsha-mae (Gofukusuehirocho))) and Sasazu Line (defunct) (from Minamitoyamaeki-mae).
Six routes (excluding heavy rail line through services) were operated during the period, with two numbers for each route (one for each direction) making the total twelve route numbers.
Through services to Toyama Chiho Railway heavy rail lines (sections in brackets are the heavy rail sections)
However, slow speeds due to increased traffic caused passenger numbers to further decrease, resulting in the partial closure of the East Line (Chukyoin-mae - Chitetsu-Biru-mae) in 1972. In 1973, the Branch Line (Nishicho - Marunouchi) also closed down, marking an end to the circular routes. [6]
Although efforts continued to raise patronage such as the resumption of through services from the Imizu Line in August 1977, Imizu Line itself was closed in April 1980. [6] Furthermore, in 1984, the remaining section of the East Line (Nishicho - Chukyoin-mae) and the Yamamuro Line (Chukyoin-mae - Fujikoshieki-mae) which together had served to connect the tram line to the heavy rail Fujikoshi Station closed down. [12] With these closures, the system length halved from that of its golden age to 6.4 km, with only one route between Minamitoyamaeki-mae and Daigaku-mae remaining.
At first, two proposed routes existed, both starting at Marunouchi and ending at Nishicho; the Hatagomachi Route along the former alignment of the defunct section of the Branch Line and the Otemachi Route via Ote Mall (street) passing by the Toyama International Convention Center and the Toyama Shimin Plaza. The latter route was chosen in 2006 and on 15 November 2007, a comprehensive transport strategy incorporating the construction of a 0.9 km single track line between Marunouchi and Nishicho to be operated as part of a one-way (anti-clockwise) circular route was presented to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT). [13] [14] The route, along with the new rolling stock (Type 9000), was constructed and is owned by the City of Toyama and operated by the Toyama Chiho Railway. This scheme is based on the Local Transport Revitalization Act (地域公共交通活性化法) 2007 and was designated as the first ever tram transport enhancement plan (地域公共交通活性化法) on 28 February 2008. The scheme cost 3 billion yen, of which 1.3 billion was granted from the government as a result of the designation. [15]
Later, in the early Heisei era, the economic depression following the asset price bubble caused a slowdown in housing developments and urban area expansion. With local governments abandoning plans for rapid transit lines replacing trams for economic reasons, closures of tram lines ceased, the mainstream policy becoming the maintenance of remaining tram lines.
During the late 20th century, the increase of awareness towards global warming had led to electric railways gaining attention as a public transport system that does not emit harmful gases, and trams and tram-like " light rail" systems were reintroduced or even newly constructed in many cities especially in Europe and North America. [16] [17] Many such examples used barrier-free low floor rolling stock, and when the concept was introduced in Japan, it was seen as a refined and fashionable form of transport. [16] [17]
As a result, the idea of transforming traditional trams into "light rail" systems in order to revitalize cities arose, causing a policy change on trams from "passive" maintenance to "active" development in Toyama. [16] [17]
The City of Toyama had lauched urban policies aimed at creating a " compact city centred on public transport" and had decided on utilizing trams upon reorganizing its public transport system. [18] In 2006, the Toyamako Line was converted into a light rail line under the trade name Toyama Light Rail from a heavy rail line belonging to JR West as the first phase of the plan. For the second phase, the restoration of the circular route that would encourage movement in the downtown areas was planned.
The City of Toyama had conducted the survey of underground facilities on the route in Fiscal Year 2007, and after being designated as a tram transport enhancement plan, the city commenced the relocation work of the underground facilities in April 2008. Provisions have been made to accomodate possible future duplication. A request for the commencement of the construction was made to MLIT on 16 May and was granted on 21 November, with the actual work starting in December. The newly constructed section, named the Toyama Metropolitan Line and including three stops (Kokusai Kaigijo-mae, Ote Mall, and Grand Plaza-mae), finished at the end of November 2009.
Alongside the construction, work for the new rolling stock (Type 9000) was also conducted. In October 2008, it was announced that the new rolling stock will be two-car articlulated low-floor tramsets of the same type as the Toyama Light Rail TLR0600 and Manyosen ( Takaoka, Toyama Pref) MLRV1000 made by Nigata Transys (original design by Adtranz). [19] In contrast to the TLR0600, which are coloured in rainbow colours (one tram per colour), the trams were coloured white, silver, and black (one tram per colour), with black and light brown used for the interior. Full-colour LEDs were used for the signs on the front and the side of the tram, a first for Japanese trams. The trams, which were nicknamed "Centram" by the public, were delivered to the Minamitoyama Depot in November 2009, the white and the silver trams on the 12th and the black tram on the 18th, and started test runs on 2 December. [20] [21] [22]
On 23 December 2009, all three Type 9000 units were displayed on the Ote Mall. From 1 pm, the opening ceremony of the Toyama Metropolitan Line commenced and a free test ride event commemorating the opening started with a departure ceremony at 2 pm. [23] The special service running from Ote Mall to Kokusai Kaigijo-mae with passengers able to get on or off at will at intermediate stations ran until 10 pm and carried over 3000 people, with official operation as the City Tram Line Route 3 commencing the following day. [24]
As the newly constructed stations were only served by route 3, free transfers were enabled at Marunouchi and Nishicho (Grand Plaza-mae and later Nakamachi (Nishicho-kita) [25] for Circle Route as it does not stop at Nishicho). [26]
Previously on the Toyama City Tram Line, a stored-value magnetic stripe card by the name of "Tram Card" had been sold. However, these could not be used on bus services in the city nor on the Toyamako Line, leading the City of Toyama to contemplate on introducing an integrated fare payment system. As a result, the city decided on introducing a smart card system for the Toyama City Tram Line and allocated money for the introduction in the city's budget for fiscal year 2009. [27]
In February 2010, it was announced that the name of the smart card would be "ecomyca", and card readers were installed on all tramcars. The system, which can be used interchangeably with the Toyama Light Rail " passca" and can implement the discounted fare system on transfers automatically, were introduced on 14 March that year. [28] [29] At the same time, the "Tram Cards" ceased to be sold, with a discounted fare of 170 yen introduced for smart cards in place of the difference between the price and the value of the "Tram Cards" (cards worth 2300 yen were sold at 2000 yen and cards worth 2200 yen for 1900 yen).
The smart card systems "ecomyca" and "passca" were futher introduced on the city's bus services on 5 March 2011 and on the Toyama Chiho Railway's rail lines on 17 March 2012, thus enabling passengers to use the smart card systems on all forms of public tranport systems in the city other than the JR lines. [30] [31]
Two feautures of the two smart card systems in Toyama are that rides later than the fourth ride of the day on the city's tram lines are free of charge and that coupons are given when shopping using public transport at designated stores, of which there are around 100. [32]
It had been decided to elevate Toyama Station upon the opening of Hokuriku Shinkansen, and several options were considered for the then JR West Toyamako Line including the replacement of the line by bus services. In the end, converting the line into a tram line was deemed most beneficial and the line reopened as the Toyama Light Rail on 29 April 2006. [16] [33]
It had been planned from the time of this decision for the Toyamako Line to be extended and connected with the Toyama City Tram Line, thus dramatically improving connections between the city centre and Iwasehama.
On 4 December 2015, MLIT announced it will approve the revised tram transport enhancement plan proposed by the City of Toyama, Toyama Light Rail, and Toyama Chiho Railway on 7 December. [34] According to the announcement, the completion of the extension to Toyamaeki was scheduled for fiscal year 2019 and the completion of the whole plan including the duplication of tracks between a newly constructed stop Eirakucho and Okuda-chugakko-mae for fiscal year 2020. [34]
On 1 October 2019, The City of Toyama, Toyama Chiho Railway, and Toyama Light Rail held a presss conference and announced that through services between the Toyama City Tram Line and the Toyamako Line will begin on 21 March 2020. The outline of operations announced at the press conference is as follows. [35] [36]
On 9 February 2019, stop numbers were introduced for the Toyama City Tram Line. Stops were designated numbers from C01 to C25, with icons coloured green for stops between Minamitoyamaeki-mae and Toyamaeki, orange for stops between Shintomicho and Toyama-daigaku-mae, and white for stops between Kokusai Kaigijo-mae and Grand Plaza-mae. [37]
The same system was also introduced for the Toyamako Line, with numbers from C26 (yet to open) to C39 and blue icons. [38]
{{
cite journal}}
: Check date values in: |date=
(
help); Text "和書" ignored (
help)
{{
cite web}}
: Check date values in: |date=
(
help)
{{
cite book}}
: Text "和書" ignored (
help)
{{
cite book}}
: Text "和書" ignored (
help)
{{
cite book}}
: Text "和書" ignored (
help)
{{
cite book}}
: Text "和書" ignored (
help)
{{
cite book}}
: Text "和書" ignored (
help)
{{
cite book}}
: Text "和書" ignored (
help)
{{
cite book}}
: Text "和書" ignored (
help)
{{
cite book}}
: Text "和書" ignored (
help)
{{
cite book}}
: Text "和書" ignored (
help)
{{
cite book}}
: Text "和書" ignored (
help)
{{
cite book}}
: Text "和書" ignored (
help)
{{
cite book}}
: Text "和書" ignored (
help)
{{
cite news}}
: Check date values in: |access-date=
and |date=
(
help); Text "和書" ignored (
help)
{{
cite news}}
: Check date values in: |access-date=
and |date=
(
help); Text "和書" ignored (
help)
{{
cite book}}
: Text "和書" ignored (
help)
{{
cite book}}
: Text "和書" ignored (
help)
{{
cite news}}
: Check date values in: |access-date=
and |date=
(
help); Text "和書" ignored (
help)
Category:Transport in Toyama Prefecture
Cite error: There are <ref group=注釈>
tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=注釈}}
template (see the
help page).