Hakone Tozan Cable Car

Hakone Tozan Cable Car
Funicular car at the Kōen-Shimo station
Route length:	1.2 km
Gauge :	983 mm
Maximum slope :	200  ‰
Height difference:	209 m
Society:	Hakone Tozan Tetsudō
Legend ↑ Hakone-Tozan Line 0.00 Gōra ( 強 羅 ) 541 m 0.24 Kōen-Shimo ( 公園 下 ) 574 m 0.48 Kōen-Kami ( 公園 上 ) 611 m Evasion 0.72 Naka-Gōra ( 中 強 羅 ) 654 m 0.96 Kami-Gōra ( 上 強 羅 ) 703 m 1.20 Sōunzan ( 早 雲山 ) 750 m ↓ Hakone cable car

The Hakone Tozan Cable Car ( Japanese. 箱根 登山 ケ ー ブ ル カ ー , Hakone Tozan Kēburukā ), officially Kōsaku-sen ( 鋼索 線 , "cable route"), is a funicular in Japan . It is located in the area of ​​the city of Hakone in the west of the Kanagawa prefecture and opens up a tourist area on the Hakone volcano . It is operated by the Hakone Tozan Tetsudō railway company , a subsidiary of the Odakyu Group .

route

4th generation car

Evasion

Over a length of 1.2 km, the funicular overcomes a height difference of 209 m, with a maximum gradient of 200 ‰. The track has a track with a track width of 983 mm, with the carriage in mid-span by means of a turnout ( Abtsche switch may intersect). The starting point is Gōra station , which is also the mountain station of the Hakone-Tozan line leading to Odawara . On its way up, the funicular passes the Hakone Art Museum and Gōra Park. There are four intermediate stops. At the upper terminus of Sōunzan you can change to the Hakone cable car .

The funicular runs every day from 7:40 a.m. to 7:05 p.m., usually three to four times an hour. A ride takes about nine minutes.

vehicles

The two cogwheel multiple units Ke100 and Ke200 from 1995 are currently in use. The maximum capacity of the two-car compositions is 250 people. They were built by the Swiss company Gangloff . At the time of commissioning, these railcars were the first in Japan to have air conditioning. They replaced vehicles from 1971.

history

1st generation car

3rd generation car

The railway company Odawara Denki Tetsudō ( 小田原 電 気 鉄 道 ) acquired various plots of land in Gōra in 1911 in order to then sell them as land for ryokans and holiday apartments. Due to the steepness of the terrain and the difficult access, the company came to the conclusion that a funicular was necessary. At the same time, the train was to be integrated into the Hakone hiking area. In 1912 the company applied for a building license, which the Ministry of Transport issued on April 23, 1915. However, construction could only begin six years later. The reason for this was that the completion of the Hakone-Tozan line was delayed due to the shortage of materials during the First World War and this line had priority. The entire technology of the funicular was imported from Switzerland . The funicular was opened on December 1, 1921. It was the second installation of its kind in Japan after the Ikoma funicular opened in 1918 .

On September 1, 1923, the Great Kanto earthquake caused slight damage to the funicular line. The repairs were delayed again and again because the repair of the much more severely affected Hakone-Tozan line had higher priority. Therefore, the railway could not start operating again until March 21, 1925. The Odawara Denki Tetsudō merged on January 20, 1928 with the electricity company Nippon Denryoku . This connection lasted only a little over half a year: on August 13, 1928, Nippon Denryoku transferred all business areas except electricity production to the railway company, which became independent on the same day and was now called Hakone Tozan Tetsudō .

To support rationing measures during World War II , the government classified the funicular on February 10, 1944 as "non-urgent" and ordered it to be closed. Except for the technical area, the railway system was dismantled and the steel extracted from the rails was used in the war economy . Almost five years after the end of the war, the railway was rebuilt and reopened on July 1, 1950. At the same time, the railway company introduced a bus line that connects the Sōunzan mountain station with Lake Ashi .

In 1995, the previous three-car composition was replaced by multiple units and the route and stations were completely overhauled. In the course of this, the track width was reduced from 987 to 983 mm.

List of stops

Surname		km	Height (m)	Connecting lines	place	photo
OH57	Gōra ( 強 羅 )	0.00	541	Hakone Tozan Line	Hakone
OH58	Kōen-Shimo ( 公園 下 )	0.24	574
OH59	Kōen-Kami ( 公園 上 )	0.48	611
OH60	Naka-Gōra ( 中 強 羅 )	0.72	654
OH61	Kami-Gōra ( 上 強 羅 )	0.96	703
OH62	Sōunzan ( 早 雲山 )	1.20	750	Hakone cable car

literature

• Toshiyuki Katō: 箱根 山 の 近代 交通 . (Modern traffic on the Hakone). Kanagawa Shimbun, Yokohama 1995, ISBN 978-4-87645-189-0 .
• Hakone Tozan Tetsudō (Ed.): す ば ら し い 箱根 グ ラ フ 100 . Odawara 1988.

Web links

Commons : Hakone Tozan Cable Car  - Collection of Pictures, Videos and Audio Files

• Hakone Tozan Tetsudō website (Japanese, English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Odakyu Electric Railway - Hakone Tozan Cablecar ( Memento from January 3, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
2. ↑ 車 両 集 （箱根 登山 ケ ー ブ ル カ ー）. Hakone Tozan Tetsudō, 2018, accessed December 28, 2018 (Japanese). 
3. ↑ Katō: 箱根 山 の 近代 交通. P. 106.
4. ↑ 軽 便 鉄 道 免 許 状 下 付. (Granting a small railway license). In: Official Gazette. National Parliamentary Library , April 26, 1915, accessed December 28, 2018 (Japanese). 
5. ↑ Hakone Tozan Tetsudō: す ば ら し い 箱根 グ ラ フ 100. P. 47.
6. ↑ Katō: 箱根 山 の 近代 交通. P. 146.
7. ↑ Hakone Tozan Tetsudō: す ば ら し い 箱根 グ ラ フ 100. P. 86.
8. ↑ Hakone Tozan Tetsudō: す ば ら し い 箱根 グ ラ フ 100. P. 48.
9. ↑ Katō: 箱根 山 の 近代 交通. P. 174.
10. ↑ Satoshi Honda: 小田急 電 鉄 列車 運 転 の 興味 . In: Tetsudōpikutoriaru . No. 679 . Denkisha kenkyūka, Chiyoda December 1999, p. 99 .

Coordinates: 35 ° 14 ′ 55 ″  N , 139 ° 2 ′ 31 ″  E