Ueno Zoo Monorail
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The Template:Nihongo was a Template:Convert long suspended railway operated by the Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation (Toei). It lies within the Ueno Zoo in Taitō, Tokyo, Japan. The monorail is similar to the Wuppertal Schwebebahn, but has rubber tires rather than steel wheels. Many of the parts manufactured for the monorail were off-the-shelf.<ref name=TMS>Template:Cite web</ref> The first monorail in the nation (and the first zoo monorail in the world<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>), it had two stations, single track, and operated at 600 V DC. The line began operating on December 17, 1957, was suspended during 2001–2002, and has been suspended since October 31, 2019, with the operator citing the high costs of replacing the aging trains.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It was officially closed on December 27, 2023.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Being located inside the zoo, it only operated on days when the zoo was open, and between 9:40 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., with departures scheduled every seven minutes. The fare for the 90-second trip was 150 yen.
History
The number of cars in Japan rose since the end of World War II, which caused heavy traffic congestions around Tokyo. Trams and bus routes operated by Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation suffered from delays and loss of passengers caused by traffic congestions. The subway network in Tokyo was in construction from pre-war, and the Bureau of Transportation was also building their own subway line in 1958, but subways were expensive to build. Monorails were considered as the alternative to other transportation methods such as buses and subways, and Ueno Zoo was selected as the site for the monorail line.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref> Monorails were in development at the time, and the Bureau of Transportation worked with Toshiba and Nippon Sharyo to develop a new method. The method was similar to the Wuppertal Schwebebahn, although it used rubber tires instead. This monorail was called "Ueno-style."<ref name=":0" />
Permit to operate the line was given on June 22, 1957, by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism,<ref name=":0" /> and the line opened on December 27 of that year.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> However, the Bureau of Transportation planned to close the line in 1980 due to financial difficulties and aging of equipments. This plan was stopped in 1983 after a safety check due to requests for the line to be kept in operation.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
On January 23, 2019, the Bureau of Transportation announced that the line will be suspended due to aging of the rolling stocks introduced in 2001. The line was suspended on November of that year.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Bureau of Transportation was initially willing to maintain the line,<ref name=":1" /> but decided to permanently close the line in 2023.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>