THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
November 19, 2024 at 15:49 JST
An image of the “Fuji Tram” that runs on rubber tires (Provided by Yamanashi Prefecture)
Yamanashi Prefecture has abandoned plans for a Mount Fuji railway line and is instead considering a rubber-tired tram system to bring climbers to the mountain, Yamanashi Governor Kotaro Nagasaki said Nov. 18.
The new transportation system, tentatively called Fuji Tram, will run on hydrogen fuel cells and rubber wheels. It will look like a train with two cars, each measuring 32 meters long.
Nagasaki did not specify when the new system will start.
The Fuji Tram is expected to use the Fuji Subaru Line road, which connects the foot of Japan’s tallest mountain and its fifth station. The vehicle will follow white lines or magnetic markers drawn on the road as guidance.
After the Fuji Tram starts operating, the prefecture will basically prohibit general vehicles from using the Fuji Subaru Line. The prefecture aims to restrict traffic on the road to ease overtourism.
The rising number of tourists flocking to the mountain has led to environmental damage and complaints of annoying behavior.
The prefecture had planned to build a next-generation Light Rail Transit on Mount Fuji to help alleviate the problems.
Building the railway was one of Nagasaki’s campaign pledges in the governor’s election.
But he scrapped the plan after Fujiyoshida Mayor Shigeru Horiuchi and citizen groups in the prefecture said construction of a train line would cause more damage to nature on the mountain.
They also expressed concerns about the time and costs needed for such a line to recover from natural disasters, such as avalanches.
According to the prefecture, the Fuji Tram can be introduced at much lower cost than a railway line and would be better at navigating tight curves and steep slopes.
Although such a tram system has not been put into practical use in Japan, the vehicle can be used as a bus on ordinary roads.
The prefecture is considering connecting the Fuji Tram system to a planned new station in the prefectural capital of Kofu tentatively named Yamanashi Prefecture Station. The station will be built to coincide with the opening of the Linear Chuo Shinkansen maglev train line.
Yamanashi Prefecture might also expand the Fuji Tram system for use on other ordinary roads and locations.
(This article was written by Shin Toyohira and Norikazu Miyake.)
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