The , officially the , was a Japanese

trolleybus A trolleybus (also known as trolley bus, trolley coach, trackless trolley, trackless tramin the 1910s and 1920sJoyce, J.; King, J. S.; and Newman, A. G. (1986). ''British Trolleybus Systems'', pp. 9, 12. London: Ian Allan Publishing. .or troll ...

line in

Tateyama, Toyama is a town located in Nakaniikawa District, Toyama Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 26,212 in 9452 households and a population density of 85 persons per km². The total area of the town was . Geography Tateyama is l ...

, operated by the Tateyama Kurobe Kankō Company, and was the last trolleybus service in Japan in its final years. Now operated by battery-electric buses, the line is entirely underground (in tunnel), including both termini. The line is a part of the

Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route The is a mountain sightseeing route between Tateyama, Toyama and Ōmachi, Nagano, Japan. Opened on June 1, 1971, it is long, with a difference in elevation of as much as . The Alpine Route goes through Tateyama (Mt. Tate) in the Hida Mo ...

, a sightseeing route to the

Kurobe Dam The , or , is a high variable-radius arch dam located on the Kurobe River in Toyama Prefecture, Japan. The tallest dam in Japan, it supports the 335 MW Kurobe No. 4 Hydropower Plant and is owned by Kansai Electric Power Company. It was construct ...

that also includes bus,

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 ...

and

aerial tramway An aerial tramway, aerial tram, sky tram, cable car or aerial cablecar, aerial cableway, ropeway, téléphérique (French), or Seilbahn (German) is a type of aerial lift which uses one or two stationary cables for support, with a third movin ...

lines. It was the last remaining trolleybus line in Japan, following the similar conversion of the Kanden Tunnel Trolleybus line to battery operation in November 2018. It was also the last non-museum trolleybus line in the world using

right-hand drive Left-hand traffic (LHT) and right-hand traffic (RHT) are the practices, in bidirectional traffic, of keeping to the left side or to the right side of the road, respectively. They are fundamental to traffic flow, and are sometimes called the ...

vehicles running left-hand.''Trolleybus Magazine'' No. 377 (September–October 2024), p. 209. National Trolleybus Association (UK). . Trolleybus operation was permanently discontinued at the end of the 2024 season.''Trolleybus Magazine'' No. 380 (March–April 2025), p. 79. National Trolleybus Association (UK). . Battery-electric buses took over the service at the beginning of the 2025 season.

History

The line originally opened as a normal (diesel) bus line in April 1971,''Trolleybus Magazine'' No. 209 (September–October 1996), pp. 124–125. National Trolleybus Association (UK). . but was later re-equipped for trolleybuses. The trolleybus line opened on 23 April 1996.Murray, Alan (2000). ''World Trolleybus Encyclopaedia''. Yateley, Hampshire, UK: Trolleybooks. .

Route and services

The Tateyama Tunnel Trolleybus forms a component of the

, a mountain sightseeing route between Tateyama,

Toyama Toyama may refer to: Places * Toyama Prefecture, a prefecture of Japan located in the Hokuriku region on the main Honshu island * Toyama (city), the capital city of Toyama Prefecture * Toyama Station, the main station of Toyama, Toyama * Toyama Sta ...

and

Ōmachi, Nagano is a city located in Nagano Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 27,559 in 11861 households, and a population density of 49 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Ōmachi is located west of Nagano, t ...

. The trolleybus line connects to the Tateyama Highland Bus at its western terminus, and to the Tateyama Ropeway at its eastern terminus. The trolleybus line operates in an exclusive tunnel through Tateyama (Mount Tate), whose peak reaches a height of . Murodō Station, the western terminus, is at an elevation of , descending to at the eastern terminus of Daikanbō Station. Murodō Station is the highest elevation on the Alpine Route, which ascends from near sea level at

Toyama Station is a major railway station in Toyama, Toyama, Toyama, Toyama Prefecture, Japan, operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR West) and Ainokaze Toyama Railway. It is the largest and busiest terminal station, railway terminal in Toyama. , the loca ...

. There are no intermediate stations in the tunnel, and all buses run nonstop between the two stations. The journey takes approximately 10 minutes. The majority of the tunnel is a single lane, with a passing lane provided.

Regulation

When it was operated with trolleybuses, the Tateyama Tunnel Trolleybus was regulated as a railway under the terms of the , which contains provisions for "special railways," which also covers

monorails A monorail is a railway in which the track consists of a single rail or beam. Colloquially, the term "monorail" is often used to describe any form of elevated rail or people mover. More accurately, the term refers to the style of track.The te ...

, suspension railways, and

cable railways A cable railway is a railway that uses a cable, rope or chain to haul trains. It is a specific type of cable transportation. The most common use for a cable railway is to move vehicles on a steeply graded line that is too steep for conventional ...

Statistics

*Distance: ''Trolleybus Magazine'' (TM) No. 202 (July–August 1995), p. 106. ISSN 0266-7452. *Stations: 2 *Double-track line: None *Electric supply: 600 V DC *

Railway signalling Railway signalling (), or railroad signaling (), is a system used to control the movement of railway traffic. Trains move on fixed rails, making them uniquely susceptible to collision. This susceptibility is exacerbated by the enormous weight ...

: Automatic signal system **Buses start while the signal is clear, and the number of vehicles is counted. *Fleet (1996–2024): 8 trolleybuses, built in 1995–96 by Osaka Sharyo Kogyo (on Mitsubishi Fuso chassis), numbered 8001–8008. *Ridership: 735,000 per year (2002)

Closure as trolleybus

On 11 December 2023, Tateyama Kurobe Kankō announced plans to discontinue its trolleybus service on 1 December 2024 and replace it with

battery-electric bus A battery electric bus is an electric bus that is driven by an electric motor and obtains energy from on-board batteries. Many trolleybuses use batteries as an auxiliary or emergency power source. Battery electric buses offer the potential for z ...

service from April 2025.''Trolleybus Magazine'' No. 374 (March–April 2024), p. 79. National Trolleybus Association (UK). . In keeping with plans reported in June 2024, the last day of trolleybus service was 30 November 2024. The line was the last trolleybus service in Japan.

References

External links

Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route official website
Trolleybus transport in Japan Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route Tateyama, Toyama 2024 disestablishments in Japan {{bus-transport-stub