The was an automated
people mover
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. ...
used in
Narita International Airport
Narita International Airport ( ja, 成田国際空港, Narita Kokusai Kūkō) , also known as Tokyo-Narita, formerly and originally known as , is one of two international airports serving the Greater Tokyo Area, the other one being Haneda Airport ...
,
Narita, Chiba
is a city in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 131,852 in 63,098 households and a population density of 620 persons per km². The total area of the city is . It is the site of Narita International Airport, one o ...
Japan. The system operated between December 6, 1992 and 2013.
History
The Shuttle System opened in 1992 with the opening of Terminal 2 of Narita International Airport, the international airport serving the
Greater Tokyo Area
The Greater Tokyo Area is the most populous metropolitan area in the world, consisting of the Kantō region of Japan (including Tokyo Metropolis and the prefectures of Chiba, Gunma, Ibaraki, Kanagawa, Saitama, and Tochigi) as well as the ...
. The shuttle linked the main building of the terminal and its satellite, 279 metres away. The whole ride took a minute, and was free of charge.
The system was made by
Nippon Otis Elevator, a company specialising in elevators and escalators. It was technically (and legally) not a railway, but a horizontal elevator; cars were attached to a cable that moved them, like a
funicular
A funicular (, , ) is a type of cable railway system that connects points along a railway track laid on a steep slope. The system is characterized by two counterbalanced carriages (also called cars or trains) permanently attached to opposite en ...
. The cars did not have wheels; instead, they floated on a 0.2-mm layer of compressed air. This was the first use of such a system to be used in an airport, as well as the first in Japan.
A new walkway between the main and satellite buildings had opened on September 27, 2013, whereafter the people mover ceased operations.
The space formerly used by the shuttle was converted into
moving walkway
A moving walkway, also known as an autowalk, moving pavement, moving sidewalk, people-mover, travolator, or travelator, is a slow-moving conveyor mechanism that transports people across a horizontal or inclined plane over a short to medium distan ...
s and shops.
See also
*
List of airport people mover systems
This is a list of automated people mover systems located at airport complexes around the world. These systems are used to transport people from one location within an airport to another. Many different types of people movers are used at airports, ...
*
U-Bahn Serfaus
The U-Bahn Serfaus (until 2019 ''Dorfbahn Serfaus'' for "Village Railway Serfaus") is an underground air cushion funicular people mover system in the Tyrolian village of Serfaus in Austria.
Overview
Serfaus is a busy ski resort, and during the ...
*
Hovertrain
A hovertrain is a type of high-speed train that replaces conventional steel wheels with hovercraft lift pads, and the conventional railway bed with a paved road-like surface, known as the ''track'' or ''guideway''. The concept aims to eliminate ...
*
Tracked Hovercraft
Tracked Hovercraft was an experimental high speed train developed in the United Kingdom during the 1960s. It combined two British inventions, the hovercraft and linear induction motor, in an effort to produce a train system that would provide ...
*
Aérotrain
The Aérotrain was an experimental Tracked Air Cushion Vehicle
(TACV), or hovertrain, developed in France from 1965 to 1977 under the engineering leadership of Jean Bertin (1917–1975) – and intended to bring the French rail network to the c ...
References
External links
Narita International Airport official website
Airport people mover systems
Hovair people movers
Narita International Airport
People mover systems in Japan
Funicular railways in Japan
1992 establishments in Japan
2013 disestablishments in Japan
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