Shonan Monorail

The is a suspended SAFEGE

SAFEGE

SAFEGE is an acronym for the French consortium Société Anonyme Française d' Etude de Gestion et d' Entreprises and is pronounced SAY-fij in English....

 monorail located in the cities of Kamakura

Kamakura, Kanagawa

is a city located in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, about south-south-west of Tokyo. It used to be also called .Although Kamakura proper is today rather small, it is often described in history books as a former de facto capital of Japan as the seat of the Shogunate and of the Regency during the...

 and Fujisawa

Fujisawa, Kanagawa

is a city located in Kanagawa, Japan. As of 2010, the city had an estimated population of 407,731 and a population density of 5,870 people per km². The total area is 69.51 km²-Geography:...

 in Kanagawa Prefecture

Kanagawa Prefecture

is a prefecture located in the southern Kantō region of Japan. The capital is Yokohama. Kanagawa is part of the Greater Tokyo Area.-History:The prefecture has some archaeological sites going back to the Jōmon period...

, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

. It is operated by the , the line opened March 7, 1970, and was the first monorail of its kind in Japan.

travels 6.6 km (4.1 mi) every seven to eight minutes between Ōfuna Station

Ofuna Station

is a railway station in Kamakura, Kanagawa, Japan, operated by East Japan Railway Company .-Lines:Ōfuna Station is served by the Tōkaidō Main Line, Shōnan-Shinjuku Line, Negishi Line , Yokosuka Line as well as the Shonan Monorail....

 and Enoshima

Enoshima

is a small island, about 4 km in circumference, at the mouth of the Katase River, which flows into Sagami Bay in Japan. Part of the city of Fujisawa, it is linked to the Katase section of the same city on the mainland by a 600 meter-long bridge...

, making six stops. The average length of a single trip is 14 minutes.

As the line is located within commuting distance of Tokyo, it is an important means of transportation for local residents.

History

The Shonan Monorail was built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries

, or MHI, is a Japanese company. It is one of the core companies of Mitsubishi Group.-History:In 1870 Yataro Iwasaki, the founder of Mitsubishi took a lease of Government-owned Nagasaki Shipyard. He named it Nagasaki Shipyard & Machinery Works, and started the shipbuilding business on a full scale...

, based on a carriage and box-beam track design developed in the late 1950s by SAFEGE in France. The line opened March 7, 1970 between Ōfuna and Nishi-Kamakura. The rest of the line opened on July 2, 1971.

Stations

Station	Distance (km)	Transfer	Location
Ōfuna Station Ofuna Station is a railway station in Kamakura, Kanagawa, Japan, operated by East Japan Railway Company .-Lines:Ōfuna Station is served by the Tōkaidō Main Line, Shōnan-Shinjuku Line, Negishi Line , Yokosuka Line as well as the Shonan Monorail....	0.0	JR East: Tōkaidō Main Line Tokaido Main Line The is the busiest trunk line of the Japan Railways Group , connecting Tōkyō and Kōbe stations. It is long, not counting its many freight feeder lines around the major cities... , Yokosuka Line Yokosuka Line The is a railway line in Japan operated by the East Japan Railway Company .The Yokosuka Line connects in Chūō, Tokyo and in Yokosuka, Kanagawa... , Shōnan-Shinjuku Line Shonan-Shinjuku Line The is a passenger railway service in Japan which commenced in December 2001. The line has no dedicated track as services run through shared sections along the Ryōmō Line, Takasaki Line, Utsunomiya Line, Yamanote Freight Line, Yokosuka Line, and Tōkaidō Main Line... , Negishi Line Negishi Line The is a Japanese railway line which runs between Yokohama and Ōfuna stations. It is operated by East Japan Railway Company . Freight trains also run on this line, and it is essential for the southern Keihin region....	Kamakura Kamakura, Kanagawa is a city located in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, about south-south-west of Tokyo. It used to be also called .Although Kamakura proper is today rather small, it is often described in history books as a former de facto capital of Japan as the seat of the Shogunate and of the Regency during the...	Kanagawa prefecture Kanagawa Prefecture is a prefecture located in the southern Kantō region of Japan. The capital is Yokohama. Kanagawa is part of the Greater Tokyo Area.-History:The prefecture has some archaeological sites going back to the Jōmon period...
Fujimichō Station Fujimichō Station (Kanagawa) is a monorail train station on the Shōnan Monorail Enoshima Line located in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It is located 0.9 kilometers from the northern terminus of the Shōnan Monorail Enoshima Line at Ōfuna Station.-Station layout:... *	0.9
Shōnan-Machiya Station Shōnan-Machiya Station is a monorail train station on the Shōnan Monorail Enoshima Line located in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It is located 2.0 kilometers from the northern terminus of the Shōnan Monorail Enoshima Line at Ōfuna Station.-History:...	2.0
Shōnan-Fukasawa Station Shōnan-Fukasawa Station is a monorail train station on the Shōnan Monorail Enoshima Line located in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It is located 2.6 kilometers from the northern terminus of the Shōnan Monorail Enoshima Line at Ōfuna Station.-History:... *	2.6
Nishi-Kamakura Station Nishi-Kamakura Station is a monorail train station on the Shōnan Monorail Enoshima Line located in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It is located 4.7 kilometers from the northern terminus of the Shōnan Monorail Enoshima Line at Ōfuna Station.-History:... *	4.7
Kataseyama Station Kataseyama Station is a monorail train station on the Shōnan Monorail Enoshima Line located in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It is located 5.5 kilometers from the northern terminus of the Shōnan Monorail Enoshima Line at Ōfuna Station.-History:...	5.5
Mejiroyamashita Station Mejiroyamashita Station is a monorail train station on the Shōnan Monorail Enoshima Line located in Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It is located 6.2 kilometers from the northern terminus of the Shōnan Monorail Enoshima Line at Ōfuna Station.-History:... *	6.2		Fujisawa Fujisawa, Kanagawa is a city located in Kanagawa, Japan. As of 2010, the city had an estimated population of 407,731 and a population density of 5,870 people per km². The total area is 69.51 km²-Geography:...
Shōnan-Enoshima Station Shōnan-Enoshima Station is a monorail train station on the Shōnan Monorail Enoshima Line located in Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It is the southern terminus of the Shōnan Monorail Enoshima Line and is located 6.6 kilometers from the northern terminus at Ōfuna Station.-History:...	6.6	Enoshima Electric Railway Enoshima Electric Railway The connects Kamakura Station in Kamakura, with Fujisawa Station in Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. Stations en route include Hase Station, the stop closest to Kōtoku-in, the temple with the colossal outdoor statue of Amida Buddha. It is fully owned by the Odakyu Group of companies.- Train... : Enoshima Electric Railway Line (Enoshima Station Enoshima Station is a railway station on the Enoshima Electric Railway located in Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It is 3.3 kilometers from the terminus of the Enoden at Fujisawa Station. The Enoden tracks run on the vehicular road between this station and Koshigoe Station.- History :Enoshima Station was... ) Odakyu Electric Railway Odakyu Electric Railway , or OER, is a major railway company based in Tokyo, Japan best known for its Romancecar series of limited express trains from Tokyo to Odawara, Enoshima, Tama New Town, and Hakone.... : Enoshima Line

* Track switching possible at these stations

External links

• Company website (in Japanese)

35.352339°N 139.531417°W(Ōfuna)35.311887°N 139.487806°W(Shōnan-Enoshima)