The , also known as , is a

monorail A monorail (from "mono", meaning "one", and "rail") is a railway in which the track consists of a single rail or a beam. Colloquially, the term "monorail" is often used to describe any form of elevated rail or people mover. More accurately, ...

line serving the cities of

Naha is the capital city of Okinawa Prefecture, the southernmost prefecture of Japan. As of 1 June 2019, the city has an estimated population of 317,405 and a population density of 7,939 persons per km2 (20,562 persons per sq. mi.). The total area i ...

and Urasoe,

Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. Operated by , it opened on 10 August 2003, and is the only public rail system in

Okinawa Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city o ...

. Yui Rail is the first rail line on Okinawa since

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. As Okinawa is the island of Japan lying farthest to the south and west that has an active rail line,

Akamine Station is a railway station on the Okinawa Urban Monorail (Yui Rail) in Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. It is the southernmost train station in Japan. Lines *Okinawa Urban Monorail Adjacent stations History It opened on 10 August 2003. See ...

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 Okinaw ...

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 tickets ...

, and integrates with

Suica is a prepaid rechargeable contactless smart card, electronic money used as a fare card on train lines in Japan, launched on November 18, 2001. The card can be used interchangeably with JR West's ICOCA in the Kansai region and San'yō region i ...

and other major Japanese IC cards (such as ICOCA or

SUGOCA is a Japanese rechargeable contactless smart card ticketing system for public transport in Fukuoka Prefecture and environs. The Kyūshū Railway Company (JR Kyūshū) introduced the system on 1 March 2009. The name is an acronym of "Smart Urban ...

) 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
, 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 ...

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

References

External links

Official website

Official website

Yui 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

Yui Rail

Urasoe Extension

Stations

See also

References

External links