Toden Arakawa Line is Special

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The cutest public transportation in Tokyo

At the Northern area of Tokyo, there is this streetcar line that passes through secondary streets and stopping in neighborhoods where the atmosphere is different from our usual mental model of futuristic Tokyo.

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Are we really in Tokyo?

Running through Tokyo side streets makes this line somewhat hidden (hence it is special) unlike the very visible tram in Hong Kong where its tramway traverses the Hong Kong Island from east to west (or west to east) as it cuts through the busy districts and major roads and looking very tall (double-decker trams).

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Tokyo tramway (Toden Arakawa Line) is relatively short in distance having less than an hour of travel time from one end to the other end, taking into account the traffic.

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Lady crossing the street as the streetcar leaves

Yes it is indeed special for there is traffic factor here, seeing that streetcars follow the rules of the road (unlike trains), hence the term “streetcar”, I suppose.

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Road barrier in place as the streetcar crosses

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At dusk

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Minowa station is the last station on one end of the line

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Seems like majority of the streetcar passengers are elderly

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Inside the streetcar

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Streetcar stopping at a station

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Streetcar as seen from a side street in Minowa

7 responses to “Toden Arakawa Line is Special

  1. Daniel April 30, 2014 at 10:12 pm

    Haha that’s awesome, I’ve never seen that before

  2. makadto April 30, 2014 at 11:13 pm

    Daniel, see it’s invisible

  3. buildingmybento May 1, 2014 at 5:12 am

    I’m a fan as well. In fact, I’ve been slowly checking off all of the trains, monorails and trolleys in the Tokyo metro area, made much more difficult by not living there now! This page is a basic guide: http://urbanrail.net/as/jp/tokyo/tokyo.htm.

  4. makadto May 1, 2014 at 9:36 am

    Thank you for sharing. It’s historical

  5. Daniel May 1, 2014 at 1:10 pm

    I know mad I eve lived in Tokyo!

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