Kitakyushu Monorail

The Template:Nihongo foot is a monorail system in the city of Kitakyushu in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan, operated by Template:Nihongo foot which is wholly owned by the Kitakyushu municipal government.

The Template:Nihongo foot is the only line. It runs the 8.8 km (5.5 mi) between Kokura station and Kikugaoka station in Kokura Minami ward in about 18 minutes. It was opened on January 9, 1985, between the station now called Heiwadori and Kikugaoka, and at the time was the first monorail in the world with high level platforms and trains with floors entirely above the bogies.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> This increased available floor space and now all but one of Japan's surviving Alweg monorails have high level platforms and employ podium-free trains.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> This line was extended about 300 metres (1000 ft) to Kokura station from Heiwadori on April 1, 1998.

The monorail is owned by the city of Kitakyushu, and did not begin to make a profit until the extension to Kokura station was completed. This had been resisted by the businesses in Uomachi shopping district who feared they would lose customers, but that did not happen.

Once a year, there are beer and wine parties held on the monorail, with bookings made in advance. Santa Claus boards the train on December 24.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Stations

No.	Station Name	Distance		Transfers	Location
		Between stations	Total
01	Template:STN	Template:N/A	0.0	Template:Plainlist	Kokurakita-ku Kitakyūshū	Fukuoka Prefecture
02	Template:STN	Template:Cvt	Template:Cvt
03	Template:STN	Template:Cvt	Template:Cvt
04	Template:STN	Template:Cvt	Template:Cvt
05	Template:STN	Template:Cvt	Template:Cvt
06	Template:STN	Template:Cvt	Template:Cvt		Kokuraminami-ku Kitakyūshū
07	Template:STN	Template:Cvt	Template:Cvt
08	Template:STN	Template:Cvt	Template:Cvt
09	Template:STN	Template:Cvt	Template:Cvt
10	Template:STN	Template:Cvt	Template:Cvt
11	Template:STN	Template:Cvt	Template:Cvt
12	Template:STN	Template:Cvt	Template:Cvt
13	Template:STN	Template:Cvt	Template:Cvt	Template:JRKSN Hitahikosan Line (Template:STN: JI06)

See also

• Monorails in Japan
• Kitakyushu Airport
• List of rapid transit systems

External links

• Kitakyushu monorail (Official page in Japanese)
• Map of the Kitakyushu Monorail