Tateyama Tunnel Electric Bus
The Tateyama Tunnel Electric Bus is an underground electric bus line in Tateyama, Toyama, operated by the Tateyama Kurobe Kankō Company. Until 2024, it was a trolleybus known as the Tateyama Tunnel Trolleybus, officially the Trolleybus Line, and it was the last trolleybus service in Japan in its final years. Now operated by battery-electric buses, the line is entirely underground, including both termini. The line is a part of the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route, a sightseeing route to the Kurobe Dam that also includes bus, funicular and aerial tramway lines.
It was the last remaining trolleybus line in Japan, following the similar conversion of the Kanden Tunnel Trolleybus line to battery operation in November 2018. It was also the last non-museum trolleybus line in the world using right-hand drive vehicles running left-hand. Trolleybus operation was permanently discontinued at the end of the 2024 season. Battery-electric buses took over the service at the beginning of the 2025 season.
History
The line originally opened as a normal bus line in April 1971, but was later re-equipped for trolleybuses. The trolleybus line opened on 23 April 1996.Route and services
The Tateyama Tunnel Trolleybus forms a component of the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route, a mountain sightseeing route between Tateyama, Toyama and Ōmachi, Nagano. The trolleybus line connects to the Tateyama Highland Bus at its western terminus, and to the Tateyama Ropeway at its eastern terminus.The trolleybus line operates in an exclusive tunnel through Tateyama (Mount Tate), whose peak reaches a height of. Murodō Station, the western terminus, is at an elevation of, descending to at the eastern terminus of Daikanbō Station. Murodō Station is the highest elevation on the Alpine Route, which ascends from near sea level at Toyama Station.
There are no intermediate stations in the tunnel, and all buses run nonstop between the two stations. The journey takes approximately 10 minutes. The majority of the tunnel is a single lane, with a passing lane provided.
Regulation
When it was operated with trolleybuses, the Tateyama Tunnel Trolleybus was regulated as a railway under the terms of the, which contains provisions for "special railways," which also covers monorails, suspension railways, and cable railways.Statistics
- Distance:
- Stations: 2
- Double-track line: None
- Electric supply: 600 V DC
- Railway signalling: Automatic signal system
- *Buses start while the signal is clear, and the number of vehicles is counted.
- Fleet : 8 trolleybuses, built in 1995–96 by Osaka Sharyo Kogyo, numbered 8001–8008.
- Ridership: 735,000 per year