Hakodate Transportation Bureau
Encyclopedia
Hakodate, Hokkaido
is a city and port located in Oshima Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. It is the capital city of Oshima Subprefecture.Hakodate was Japan's first city whose port was opened to foreign trade in 1854 as a result of Convention of Kanagawa, and used to be the most important port in northern Japan...
, Japan. The bureau only operates tram lines. It once operated bus lines as well, but went out from the division later in 2003.
, a private horsecar
Horsecar
A horsecar or horse-drawn tram is an animal-powered streetcar or tram.These early forms of public transport developed out of industrial haulage routes that had long been in existence, and from the omnibus routes that first ran on public streets in the 1820s, using the newly improved iron or steel...
operator, opened Hakodate's first tram line in 1897. It became an electrified tram network later in 1913. After the operators changed for a few times, in 1943, Hakodate City Government took the lines under its control.
Hakodate City Tram
There once were 6 lines with 12 routes, spanning the total distance of 17.9 km. However, with a declining ridership, they closed the parts of the network in 1978, 1992, and 1993. The current network is consisted of 4 lines with 2 routes, the total distance 10.9 km. The tram lines accept Ikasu Card, a magnetic prepaid card.- Lines: Officially, there are four lines.
- Main Line (本線): Hakodate-Dokku-mae — Jūjigai — Hakodate-Ekimae
- Yunokawa Line (湯の川線): Matsukazechō — Yunokawa
- Hōrai-Yachigashira Line (宝来・谷地頭線): Jūjigai — Yachigashira
- Ōmori Line (大森線): Hakodate-Ekimae — Matsukazechō
- Routes: There are two routes regularly in service by using the lines above.
- ■ Route 2 (2系統): Yunokawa — Matsukazechō — Hakodate-Ekimae — Jūjigai — Yachigashira
- ■ Route 5 (5系統): Yunokawa — Matsukazechō — Hakodate-Ekimae — Jūjigai — Hakodate-Dokku-mae
Tramcars come once per 10 minutes on each route, or once per 5 minutes in the section between Yunokawa and Jūjigai, where 2 routes run on the same lines. Cars come once per 20 minutes (10 minutes in the above section) after 7 p.m..