The is a Japanese
funicular
A funicular ( ) is a type of cable railway system that connects points along a railway track laid on a steep grade (slope), slope. The system is characterized by two counterbalanced carriages (also called cars or trains) permanently attached to ...
railway in
Sotogahama,
Aomori
, officially Aomori City (, ), is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Aomori Prefecture, in the Tōhoku region of Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 264,945 in 136,781 households, and a population density of 321 people per squa ...
, operated by the Seikan Tunnel Museum.
The
narrow-gauge
A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and .
Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curv ...
line descends from the Seikan Tunnel Memorial Hall, near
Cape Tappi
is a headland on the northwestern point of the island of Honshu in Japan. The name is believed to be derived from ''tampa'' which means "sword's edge" in the Ainu language. It is located on the northern tip of the Tsugaru Peninsula within the bo ...
, into an underground station on the
Seikan Tunnel, which is one of the
longest railway tunnels in the world (which opened in March 1988), second to the
Gotthard Base Tunnel
The Gotthard Base Tunnel (GBT; , , ) is a railway tunnel through the Alps in Switzerland. It opened in June 2016 and full service began the following December. With a route length of , it is the world's longest railway and deepest traffic tunn ...
in
Switzerland
Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
that opened in June 2016.
The railway was originally installed to facilitate fast evacuation from
Tappi-Kaitei Station
was a railway station on the Kaikyo Line in Sotogahama, Aomori, Japan, operated by Hokkaido Railway Company (JR Hokkaido). The station is located within the Seikan Tunnel below the seabed of the Tsugaru Strait linking the main Japanese island of ...
, one of the former
JR stations in the tunnel.
Basic data
*Distance:
*System:
Single-track with single car, balanced with a weight
*
Gauge
Gauge ( ) may refer to:
Measurement
* Gauge (instrument), any of a variety of measuring instruments
* Gauge (firearms)
* Wire gauge, a measure of the size of a wire
** American wire gauge, a common measure of nonferrous wire diameter, especia ...
:
*Elevation:
*Gradient: 19 degrees
See also
*
Kaikyō Line
The is an railway line operated mainly by the Hokkaido Railway Company (JR Hokkaido). The line connected Naka-Oguni Station in Sotogahama, Aomori, through the Seikan Tunnel between Honshu and Hokkaido, to Kikonai Station in Kikonai, Hokkai ...
*
List of funicular railways
This is a list of funicular railways, organised by place within country and continent. The funiculars range from short urban lines to significant multi-section mountain railways.
A funicular railway is distinguished from the similar incline elev ...
*
List of railway companies in Japan
List of railway companies in Japan lists Japanese railway operators.
Those in ''italics'' are the third-sector operators; being half-public, half-private.
Japan Railways Group
The Japan Railways Group consists of the seven companies that were f ...
*
List of railway lines in Japan
List of railway lines in Japan lists existing Rail transport, railway lines in Japan alphabetically.
The vast majority of Japanese railways are classified under two Japanese laws, one for and another for . The difference between the two is a leg ...
*
Seikan Tunnel
External links
Seikan Tunnel Museum official website
References
Subterranean funiculars
Funicular railways in Japan
Seikan Tunnel
Rail transport in Aomori Prefecture
3 ft gauge railways in Japan
{{Japan-rail-line-stub