Kochi tram

Kochi tram
Central route cross Harimayabashi ( 播 磨 屋 橋 )
Basic information
Country	Japan
city	Kochi
opening	1904
operator	Tosaden Kōtsū KK
Infrastructure
Route length	25.3 km
Formerly the largest route	25.8 km (+ 26 km)
Gauge	1067 mm ( cape track )
Power system	600 V = overhead line
business
Lines	2

The latest type 100 low-floor vehicle alias “Heartram” (ハ ー ト ラ ム) in Gomen

"Staff" handover on the way to Ino

Network development (continuous = existing, interrupted = shut down)

The Kōchi tram is the tram network in Kōchi on Shikoku Island in Japan . It has been operated since 2014 by Tosaden Kōtsū KK ( Japanese と さ で ん 交通 株式会社 ), which after the insolvency of the original operating company Tosa Denki Tetsudō ( 土 佐 電 気 鉄 道 ), Toden for short ( 土 電 ) and the simultaneous merger with the two transport companies Kōchi-ken Kōtsū ( 高 知 県 交通 ) and Tosaden Dream Service ( 土 佐 電 ド リ ー ム サ ー ビ ス ) emerged. Tosaden Kōtsū is wholly owned by the public sector, especially the prefecture and city of Kōchi.

The network consists of two unnamed lines that form a cross in the city center. The much shorter one leads from the main train station in the north to the vicinity of the port on Urado Bay ( 浦 戸 湾 ) in the south, while the other leads in an east-west direction beyond the city limits and is formally divided into two sections. However, there are only a few courses from Gomen ( 後 免 ) in the extreme east to Ino ( 伊 野 ) in the extreme west. At the end of the western line there are several single-track sections, which are secured according to the handover principle. With a route length of over 25 km, it is now the largest pure tram network in Japan.

After the opening of the first line in 1904, the network experienced rapid expansion; the west branch was completed in 1908, the east branch largely by 1911. The latter still had a short branch line in the southeastern city center, which was shut down in 1954. The last major expansion took place in 1928 with the construction of the north branch to the then newly constructed station with simultaneous re-routing in the center. Most recently, the station forecourt was redesigned in 2009 and the bus stop moved directly in front of the building.

Between 1954 and 1974 there was also a connection from Gomen via a 26 km long railway line to Aki ( 安 芸 ).

Apart from a three-part low-floor articulated multiple unit delivered by Alna-Sharyō in 2002, the fleet consists exclusively of high-floor single wagons, 60 of which are available. Despite the reduction that has now taken place - in addition to the historical replica of a Type 7 car from 1984 - there are still some old vehicles of European origin available as special vehicles.

Web links

Commons : Tosa Electric Railway  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

• Official Japanese Website (Japanese)

Remarks

1. ↑ through-bound railway line to Aki
2. ↑ The 35 km long tram network in Hiroshima also includes a 16 km long railway line.