The is a subway line, part of the

Fukuoka City Subway The serves Fukuoka, Japan. It consists of three subway lines, the Kūkō, or Airport Line, the Hakozaki Line and the Nanakuma Line). The lines are operated by the Fukuoka City Transportation Bureau. Unlike most other public operators in Japa ...

system in

Fukuoka is the sixth-largest city in Japan, the second-largest port city after Yokohama, and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since ancie ...

, Japan. It runs from Hashimoto Station in Nishi Ward to

Tenjin-Minami Station is a subway station located in Chūō-ku, Fukuoka. It is connected to Tenjin Station and Nishitetsu Fukuoka (Tenjin) Station through the Tenjin Chikagai ( 天神地下街), an underground shopping street. The station symbol is children playing t ...

in Chūō Ward, all within Fukuoka. The line's color on maps is green. Officially, the line is called . Like other Fukuoka City Subway lines, stations are equipped with

automatic platform gates Platform screen doors (PSDs), also known as platform edge doors (PEDs), are used at some train, rapid transit and people mover stations to separate the platform from train tracks, as well as on some bus rapid transit, tram and light rail syste ...

, and trains are automatically operated by

ATO ATO may refer to: Technology *Abort to Orbit, an intact abort procedure for Space Shuttle launches *Arsenic trioxide a potent chemotherapeutic agent for acute promyelocytic leukemia * ATO fuse * Automatic train operation * Assisted take off Milit ...

system.

Overview

The line is long and serves eight stations across four wards in

. All stations are equipped with

platform screen doors Platform screen doors (PSDs), also known as platform edge doors (PEDs), are used at some train, rapid transit and people mover stations to separate the platform from train tracks, as well as on some bus rapid transit, tram and light rail syste ...

. Unlike the Airport Line and the

Hakozaki Line The is a subway line, which forms part of the Fukuoka City Subway system in the city of Fukuoka, Japan. It connects Nakasu-Kawabata in Hakata Ward with Kaizuka in Higashi Ward, all within Fukuoka. The line's color on maps is blue. Official ...

which both run at , the Nanakuma line runs on standard gauge. Station numbering for all stations on the Fukuoka City Subway was introduced in March 2011.

Stations

History

This is the fourth

linear motor A linear motor is an electric motor that has had its stator and rotor "unrolled", thus, instead of producing a torque (rotation), it produces a linear force along its length. However, linear motors are not necessarily straight. Characteristicall ...

subway line to be built in Japan, opening on 3 February 2005. The Nanakuma Line was originally conceived in the 1960s to provide access to

Nakamura Gakuen University is a private university in Fukuoka, Fukuoka, 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 Ja ...

and

Fukuoka University Fukuoka University is a private research university located in Fukuoka, Japan. The university has nine faculties with a total of around 20,000 students, 800 of whom are foreign. Its two campuses are in Nanakuma and Kitakyushu. Fukuoka Universit ...

, and in 1975 it was planned to run from Tenjin-Minami Station to Jōnan Station as a linear-motored subway, but the plan was subsequently amended for the line to end at Hashimoto Station. The name for the line was selected in a naming contest. "Nanakuma Line", which finished third, was selected over the first-place "Jonan Line" and runner-up "Fukudai Line" because of its stronger historical connotations as well as being more geographically accurate compared to the other names. Nanakuma is a district in Jōnan ward which is close to the center of the line. The line links the

Central business district A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...

and the southwestern part of the city which previously did not have a railway line.

Future Plans

Hakata Station extension

Construction on a extension from Tenjin-Minami to

Hakata station is a major railway station in Hakata-ku, Fukuoka, Japan. It is the largest and busiest railway terminal in Kyushu, and is a gateway to other cities in Kyushu for travelers coming from Honshu by rail travel. The San'yō Shinkansen from Osaka end ...

via

Canal City is a large shopping and entertainment complex in Fukuoka, Japan. Called the "city within the city," it boasts numerous attractions including shops; cafes; restaurants; a theater; game center; cinemas; two hotels; and a canal, which runs through ...

received its final planning permissions in 2014. Construction was initially scheduled to be completed by 2020, but delays after a sinkhole opening up in front of JR Hakata Station pushed the schedule up by three years. On 7 January 2021, Fukuoka City announced the planned opening of the extension by March 2023. The city also reported that there were no delays as a result of the COVID-19 Pandemic. The two-station extension is earmarked to begin operation on 27 March 2023.

Fukuoka Airport extension

On 21 November 2022, Fukuoka mayor Sōichirō Takashima announced plans to extend the Nanakuma line to

Fukuoka Airport , formerly known as Itazuke Air Base, is an international and domestic airport located east of Hakata Station in Hakata-ku, Fukuoka, Japan. Fukuoka Airport is the principal airport on the island of Kyushu and is the fourth busiest passenger ...

. The extension is expected to head east from the (future) terminus at

Hakata Station is a major railway station in Hakata-ku, Fukuoka, Japan. It is the largest and busiest railway terminal in Kyushu, and is a gateway to other cities in Kyushu for travelers coming from Honshu by rail travel. The San'yō Shinkansen from Osaka end ...

and run for around to the international terminal at the airport. Currently, the domestic terminal at Fukuoka Airport is served by the Kūkō Line on the subway network. However, the international terminal lacks a rail connection. A free shuttle bus currently connects the two terminals.

Rolling Stock

The line currently employs four-car long 3000 series trains purchsed in 2005 for the start of revenue service. There are 17 sets accounting for 68 cars. A further four sets were ordered in 2021. These sets, designated as 3000A series, will feature a blue and green livery and are intended for an increase in service when the Nanakuma Line is extended from to , scheduled to open in 2023.

References

External links

Fukuoka City Subway official website

* Hitachi
Linear-Motor Subways : The Future of Urban Mass Transit
{{Fukuoka transit Fukuoka City Subway Railway lines opened in 2005 Linear motor metros Standard gauge railways in Japan 2005 establishments in Japan