Japan used to have quite a few trolleybus lines, though most have been replaced – first by diesel, and now by Battery Electric and Fuel Cell models. Currently there is only one trolleybus line still in operation – and the operator recently announced it will be discontinued today, Nov 30th – to be replaced by BEV models when it resumes operation next Spring. It’s a rather unique route – fully enclosed within a mountain. It’s the Tateyama Trolleybus Line.
Open air diesel bus section of the Tateyama-Kurobe route after opening in the Spring
The Tateyama line’s history is actually opposite that described above – it first used diesel buses when opened in 1971 and was later converted to electric trolley in 1996. The line is part of the Tateyama-Kurobe route – one of Japan’s most scenic alpine areas. The route is composed of nine sections using different modes; railway, funicular, trolley/diesel/electric bus, aerial tramway, and walking over 23 miles (37 km).
The trolleybus line has only two stations – one at the west end of the mountain and one at the east – the entire line runs within Mount Tateyama. The 2.3 mile (3.7 km) journey takes approximately 10 minutes.
The buses have special coachwork designed to fit within the tunnels, and are constructed on a Mitsubishi Fuso chassis, utilizing 600 volts DC.
The Kanden tunnel section of the Tateyama-Kurobe route converted from trolleybuses to Battery Electric in 2018 – the buses are built on a Hino Blue Ribbon chassis. I imagine the new buses next year will be similar to these.
Fun Fact: While using trolleybuses, the government regulates the line as a “railway.” The “Railway Business Law” contains provisions for monorails, tramways, and cable cars. In turn, the line uses railway-type signals to control movement along the route.
And I thought we got a lot of snow where I live! We are having our first snowstorm this weekend.
I have never been to Japan, but after reading this article and the one a few days ago about the railway museum I am thinking about it. Thanks for posting this.
I miss riding in warm, quiet and comfortable electric trolly buses around Boston, Mass. in the 60’s .
-Nate
Mexico City use underground tunnel systems for buses too, they had tires mount 90 degrees to the walls, turn sidewise , n the sharper turns that rolled and prevent the buses from scrapping the walls.
I wonder what the economics are that made them abandon trolleybus? BEV bases would be heavier and more expensive, and the lifetime before the need to replace the batteries is if course way less than the lifetime of the motor and chassis. Perhaps the cost of maintaining the overhead wires and caternaries outweighs that, but if it’s totally enclosed in a tunnel I cannot see it would require that much maintenance. Could this solely have been due to external factors, regulatory or otherwise? Perhaps there is some energy saving with BEV’s due to regenerative braking, but then wouldn’t it make sense to still maintain the overhead wires so one would need a lower capacity battery?
Regenerative braking can work with overhead too (and used to be very easy with DC; modern electronics makes it possible with AC now). Given the tunnel route you don’t gain any advantage of being able to take an unwired diversion so it does seem odd. Batteries are less efficient than using the power directly.
Joseph, JM and Bernard, I am also surprised with the change. I can’t imagine it being based on efficiency improvements in BEV vs overhead wires. The lifespan of trolley buses is very very long, and the overhead wires need to be replaced very infrequently. San Francisco, where I live, has trolley buses. The newer coaches have a small battery to be able to disconnect and reroute to avoid blocked streets, but otherwise seem very much the same as the buses of 40 years ago. Japan has a very pork laden political system, especially in the countryside where the Liberal Democratic Party is very powerful. I have never seen a country where infrastructure seemed to have become an end in and of itself.
If the BEV replaces the diesel bus (“Highland Bus”) as well there is one stop less on this route.
Just a thought, I live far away.
Good point, though there’s no reason the overhead itself couldn’t be retained and even used to recharge the batteries while running off the overhead.
Bus, train, cable car, ropeway, feet, trolleybus: why, it lacks only a tram! Remarkable.
Whisper this, because trams have romance – but between us, trolleybuses are a better idea. Much quieter, too.
You see, poor old trams can get hung up by some goose who’s left maybe one inch of their back left bumper poking into the tramway as they wait forever to turn, or by a minor nose-to-tail that’s blocked the way, or a million other variations on such a theme, whereas the TB can manouvre around. This city (Melbourne, Aus) has many inner-city streets where the tram’s journey just gets tedious as it encounters all of the obstacles not forseen when the lines were built. “Ah, just a km or so, we’re almost in town!”, one says, preparing to alight – half an hour too bloody early!
I will nominate this (sadly now-deceased) Japanese bus to be the best trolleybus within a mountain on CC this year. (The nomination is of course for CC’s famous, if often misunderstood, Trolleybus Inside a Tall Mountain Of The Year, or TIMOTY).
LOL – very enjoyable comments Justy.
Strictly, it should’ve been “TITMOTY”, I realized too late.
That said, and given the utter lack of competition this year, your photos of several TIT’s locations here would still win.
Fascinating, on several levels. The whole system with all the different modes; that would be a very fun way to spend a day. Stephanie and I have been experiencing a growing yen to go to Japan; things like this make it even more compelling.
Paul, you can open a foreign currency account within an American bank and secure the current exchange rate. Of course, best done if the trip is certain.