Ueno Zoo Monorail


The Ueno Zoo Monorail Line is a 0.3 km long suspended railway operated by the Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation. 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. The first monorail in the nation, it has two stations, single track, and operates at 600 V DC. The line began operating on December 17, 1957, and except for a suspension during 2001–2002, has been in operation since. Being located inside the zoo, it only operates on days when the zoo is open, and between 9:40 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.; departures are scheduled every seven minutes. The fare for the 90-second trip is 150 yen.
Service has been suspended since 31 October 2019, with the operator citing the high costs of replacing the aging trains.