The , also known as , is a
monorail line serving the cities of
Naha and
Urasoe
is a city located in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. The neighboring municipalities are Naha to the south, Ginowan to the north, and Nishihara to the east. As of November 2012, the city has an estimated population of 113,718 and a population dens ...
,
Okinawa,
Japan. Operated by , it opened on 10 August 2003, and is the only public rail system in
Okinawa Prefecture. Yui Rail is the first rail line on Okinawa since
World War II. As Okinawa is the island of Japan lying farthest to the south and west that has an active rail line,
Akamine Station and
Naha Airport Station, the southernmost and westernmost rail stations in Japan respectively, lie on this line. It uses the
OKICA
("Okinawa IC Card") is a contactless transportation card used in Okinawa's public transportation system.
Overview
OKICA was the first contactless public transportation card in Okinawa Prefecture.
The card is maintained and administered by Okina ...
as its
contactless smart card
A contactless smart card is a contactless credential whose dimensions are credit-card size. Its embedded integrated circuits can store (and sometimes process) data and communicate with a terminal via NFC. Commonplace uses include transit ticke ...
, and integrates with
Suica and other major Japanese IC cards (such as
ICOCA or
SUGOCA) from 10 March 2020.
Yui Rail
The monorail's "Yui Rail" brand name and logo were selected in a public competition. It consists of 19 stations, from in the west to in the east, running via Naha.
The average distance between stations is 0.93 kilometers. It takes 37 minutes and costs ¥370
[ご利用案內](_blank)
, yui-rail.co.jp (Japanese) to traverse its 17 km length.
, yui-rail.co.jp (Japanese)
Trains (made by
Hitachi Rail
() is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It is the parent company of the Hitachi Group (''Hitachi Gurūpu'') and had formed part of the Nissan ''zaibatsu'' and later DKB Group and Fuyo G ...
and
Kawasaki Heavy Industries Rolling Stock Company under the former's
monorail lineup) are made up of two cars, with 65 seats and a total capacity of 165 people.
Trains run 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.
Urasoe 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 Tedako-Uranishi Station (
Urasoe City) in August 2011. Permission was granted on 26 January 2012, with construction planned to start in March 2013. Revenue operation along the extension started on 1 October 2019, using a revised schedule with extended rush hour headways for opening day.
Preliminary ridership data from the first week showed that year-on-year ridership was up after the extension opened on Oct. 1.
Stations
See also
*
Monorails in Japan {{short description, Wikimedia list article
Here is a list of monorails in Japan.
Currently operational
*Tokyo Monorail: Tokyo, 1964. One of the world's most commercially successful monorail lines, carrying around 100 million passengers yearly.
*Ta ...
*
List of rapid transit systems
These lists of rapid transit systems are sorted by the type of system:
* List of tram and light rail transit systems
* List of town tramway systems
* Medium-capacity rail transport system
* List of premetro systems
* List of metro systems
* List o ...
*
Rail transportation in Okinawa
References
External links
Official websiteOfficial websiteYui Rail Museum
{{authority control
Monorails
Alweg people movers
Monorails in Japan
Rail transport in Okinawa Prefecture
Naha
Airport rail links in Japan
Japanese third-sector railway lines
Railway lines opened in 2003
Railway companies established in 2003
2003 establishments in Japan