In August 2023, a new streetcar system opened in Tochigi Prefecture.

Here we go!

This LRT runs between Utsunomiya City and the neighboring town of Haga.

LRT stands for Light Rail Transit.

It's the first time a new streetcar system has opened in Japan in 75 years!

These "next-generation" streetcars have lower floors than regular streetcars,

as well as reduced vibration and noise, and improved comfort.

In today's program, we take a look at the Haga Utsunomiya LRT,

which was introduced as a possible solution to some of the problems faced by the region's cities.

Utsunomiya City and Haga Town, home to the new LRT system,

are located in Tochigi Prefecture, approximately 100 kilometers north of Tokyo.

The LRT runs between Utsunomiya City and Haga Town, covering a distance of 14.6 kilometers,

linking the two cities in approximately 48 minutes.

The Haga Utsunomiya LRT is operated by Utsunomiya Light Rail Company.

The third-sector company is funded by Utsunomiya City and Haga Town,

as well as seven companies and organizations.

Under vertical separation, the facilities and vehicles are owned and maintained by Utsunomiya City and Haga Town,

while the company is responsible for the operation.

The operation's newly designed streamlined vehicle is a vibrant yellow and dark gray.

The low-floor LRT is 29.5 meters long and consists of 3 cars.

Unlike most railway cars, the underfloor
space is quite bare.

That's because most of the equipment is on the roof,
which frees up space in the car.

There are four doors on either side, eight in total, with IC card readers installed by each.

When you get on, you tap
the card reader below.

When you get off, you tap
the one above.

It makes getting on and off very smooth.

Passengers without an IC card can also pay by cash.

The interior is flat and barrier-free.

With 50 seats, each streetcar can carry up to 160 passengers.

There are also three spaces for wheelchairs and strollers.

This is the driver's seat.

Designed with easy handling in mind, acceleration, deceleration, and braking are all controlled by a single lever.

Around the speedometer is an array of monitors.

They show real-time video captured by cameras installed around the car body.

Because it's a one-man operation, these monitors are used to check the safety in and around the car.

The LRT uses 100% renewable energy.

The electricity comes from biomass produced by Utsunomiya City's waste treatment facility, and solar cells.

The service runs every 5 to 6 minutes during morning and evening peak hours,

and approximately every 12 minutes during off-peak hours.

51 drivers are responsible for the operation of the 17 vehicles.

Among them are former drivers and station staff from other railway companies, as well as people from different industries.

Mr. Sueki worked at a station, and was engaged in planning at a railway company in Tokyo.

However, his desire to become a driver led him to change his job in 2020.

It's the first time a new streetcar system has opened
in 75 years. That's a once-in-a-lifetime event.

I heard that they were hiring drivers
so I decided to give it a shot.

A license is required to become a driver, but because Haga Utsunomiya LRT is a newly-established company,

it's not able to train its own drivers.

So, prospective drivers train at other streetcar companies to obtain their licenses.

Mr. Sueki trained for a year and a half at a streetcar company in Okayama Prefecture.

Today, Mr. Sueki's shift starts at 7:00 a.m.

On arriving at work, he undergoes an alcohol check,

then he goes over his duties for the day.

Today I'm working schedule A17,
departing the depot at 7:54 AM.

- That's it for the morning check-in.
- Thank you.

The vehicle is then inspected before departing for the day.

The Haga Utsunomiya LRT runs on both dedicated sections and the road.

When starting a streetcar operation, safety is paramount,

especially on the road where streetcars and cars run side by side.

In just over two months of operation, Haga Utsunomiya LRT has had four accidents involving motor vehicles.

There were three contact accidents and one collision.

Fortunately, no one was injured.

All the accidents occurred near intersections.

It seems the motorists involved were unaware of the newly added LRT-only signals at the traffic lights,

and the new stop lines in front of the tracks.

Utsunomiya City and Haga Town have been promoting traffic safety since before the opening of the new line.

Following the accidents, they have been working even harder to make sure people observe the updated traffic rules.

The traffic lights are there
to prevent crashes.

However, motorists sometimes cross
into our lane by mistake.

So we have to be mindful of that.

Streetcar similar to the Haga Utsunomiya LRT run in Germany as well,

and, in my hometown of Munich, I used them to commute to school, so they're familiar sight for me.

Oh, I see. What is called a LRT here in Japan is the streetcar system using this kind of low floor modern vehicles.

Since there have never been streetcars in Haga or Utsunomiya before,

do you think it will be difficult for the streetcar operators, but also for the car drivers, to get used to that new traffic situation?

I do think that that is the case, and that is connected to one important issue for the Haga Utsunomiya LRT, which is their maximum speed.

Under the current, Japanese streetcar regulation, the maximum speed is limited to 40 kilometers per hour.

But that is a very old regulation, and some even say, that that's 100 years old.

If it's 100 years old, do you think it still fits the current situation?

Frankly speaking, no.

Especially considering the modern vehicle performance.

But we should also consider the current situation at Haga Utsunomiya LRT,

where people have not got used to the situation quite well.

- So I think it'll take some time before we can actually raise the speed.
- I see.

Next up, why did a local city decide to build a streetcar system for the first time in 75 years? Let's have a look.

The LRT plan was originally conceived by Utsunomiya City in 1992.

Utsunomiya City, which has a population of approximately 500,000, is home to both commerce and industry.

The LRT project came about in reaction to the hollowing out of urban areas

as driving became more common, and urban areas began spreading to the suburbs.

In addition, there were concerns about the declining birthrate and aging population.

To combat this situation, Utsunomiya aimed to develop the city around a new public transportation system.

A compact city connected by bus,
rail, and LRT systems

makes it easier for people to get around,
especially non-motorists.

That's the benefit of a networked
compact city.

The compact city envisioned by Utsunomiya City, which makes the most of its transportation network,

is one in which distinctive urban functions are concentrated in various locations, all connected by LRT.

The LRT was introduced to alleviate the city's chronic traffic congestion, and to provide an easy way for non-motorists to get around the city.

Originally, the LRT was only going to run in Utsunomiya City,

until the neighboring town of Haga, to the east, entered the project in 2013.

Haga Town has a large industrial park with over 20,000 employees, many of whom commute to work from Utsunomiya City.

With so many commuters traveling to work by car, the roads leading to the industrial park were always congested.

We requested the tracks be extended to Haga to improve
traffic conditions for residents and factory workers.

It would also have a big impact
on the town's development.

With Haga Town joining the project, the LRT route was finalized:

starting from JR Utsunomiya Station, the line would run to the industrial park in Haga Town.

The completed route has an operating distance of 14.6 kilometers and 19 stops.

At five of these stops, transit centers were developed, making access to other modes of transportation easier.

Let's take a look along the line.

Departing from Utsunomiya Station East, the LRT runs along the city's main arterial road.

When the LRT development plan was announced,

land prices in the area increased, and multistory apartment buildings started going up along the line.

This stop is Utsunomiya University Yoto Campus.

The large commercial facility in front of the stop, plus the nearby university campus, see many people get on and off here.

As it passes through the city center, the LRT crosses a large river on a bridge built specifically for it.

In this area, there are no arterial roads, so dedicated LRT tracks were constructed.

This is the Seiryo High School stop.

In addition to the high school, from which the stop gets its name,

there is a junior high school and a college nearby, so the stop sees many students in the morning and evening.

My parents used to drive me to school.
I like this because there's no traffic.

I like it because it's cheaper
than the bus.

Next, is the Kiyohara District Civic Center stop, and the largest transit center along the line.

Here, LRT passengers can transfer to local buses or taxis.

There is also a large free park-and-ride parking lot.

The parking lot here is larger and less
crowded here than in town, which is great.

Plus it's cheaper overall.

The LRT comes every 5 minutes.
It's very convenient.

The LRT continues on to the outskirts of the city.

This is the Green Stadium stop.

Nearby is a 15,000-seat soccer stadium.

The LRT's transportation capabilities are especially useful on game days.

The LRT enters a new residential district.

This area was developed along with the LRT.

Houses were built, and the number of residents increased,

as did the number of restaurants, drugstores, gas stations, etc., along the line.

The LRT enters Haga Town's vast industrial park.

Around 100 factories and research facilities, mainly automobile manufacturers and related companies, are located here.

The LRT arrives at Haga Takanezawa Industrial Park, the last stop.

It's almost three months since the LRT opened, and it's already being used by more than 13,000 people daily.

Utsunomiya City believes maintaining this number is the key to ensuring a stable operation.

The LRT alone isn't enough to affect change.

We need the private sector to develop and
make the area along the line more livable.

And we have to reorganize and establish bus routes etc.,
to make things more convenient for our citizens.

We are currently running various promotions to bring
people from the LRT to downtown Haga via bus.

We are holding events in town in addition
to promoting the town's hot spring.

We've had some success.

In the future, there are plans to extend the LRT in the direction of the Tochigi Government Office and Utsunomiya City Hall.

So Utsunomiya and Haga have been developing their cities around streetcars.

Yes, yes. And in the 1960s there were more than 60 streetcar systems across Japan,

but since then, most of them have been closed, because of the rising private car traffic on the road causing traffic jams.

But recently more and more people are looking at LRTs

as the solution to various problems caused by too much dependency on the private car traffic.

And there's so many benefits to the LRT.

Their stops are usually quite short.

It's easy to hop on and off, and then makes it great for students to commute or for the elderly.

Indeed. And I've heard that there are more and more people,

coming to the city of Utsunomiya to learn from their experience.

So I do hope that their experience will become the model case for various cities across Japan.

- I would love to see more street cars all around Japan.
- Indeed.

Next up is tourist trains in style, where we introduce amazing tourist trains from all across Japan.

HIGH RAIL 1375 is a tourist train operated by JR East.

This tourist train runs on the Koumi Line, that connects Komoro Station, in Nagano Prefecture, to Kobuchizawa Station, in Yamanashi Prefecture.

"Ichi San Nana Go" means "One Three Seven Five"

which is the line's highest point of elevation, 1,375 meters, the highest of all JR lines.

The two-car train can carry up to 50 passengers.

Today, we are taking a round trip on the Koumi Line, departing from Komoro Station.

Car 1 has pair seats and single seats, each facing a window.

Car 2 has reclining seats.

Leaving the plain, the train heads toward the mountains.

At the onboard concession stand, attendants sell original goods and other items.

In addition, attendants move around the seats taking pictures to commemorate the ride.

Up ahead the Yatsugatake mountain range, an important landmark along the line, comes into view.

The train approaches the highest point of elevation on the JR line.

As the train passes the highest point, it slows down making the signs marking the point easy to see.

At 4:57 p.m., the train arrives at the last stop, Kobuchizawa Station.

The return train departs at 6:17 p.m.

The evening train from Kobuchizawa makes the most of the starry sky, from the high elevation of the line.

This gallery, displaying books on astronomy, is located in Car 2.

In the evening, constellations are projected onto a dome in the ceiling.

When the sky is clear, you can
see the Milky Way.

Onboard, the Starry sky guide, who works as a guide at an observatory,

explains the stars and constellations to the passengers.

The train arrives at Nobeyama station, closest to the line's highest point.

It stops here for about 50 minutes.

Getting off the train, the passengers gather at a nearby park.

The pole star remains constant while the other
stars appear to travel from east to west.

Because of the high altitude and the lack of streetlights in Nobeyama, it's often possible to see the beautiful starry sky.

Today was great. We could see
the Milky Way clearly.

The stars were amazing!

It was fun. I don't often get to see the starry sky.
I loved hearing the stories.

JR East's tourist train, HIGH RAIL 1375, runs mainly on weekends and holidays.