Okinawa Urban Monorail

Okinawa Urban Monorail
1000 series train on the Okinawa Urban Monorail in April 2011
Overview
LocaleNaha and Urasoe
Okinawa Prefecture, Japan
Transit typeStraddle-beam monorail (Alweg‑type)
Number of stations19
Daily ridership60,898 (JFY24)
Operation
Began operationAugust 10, 2003
Operator(s)Okinawa Urban Monorail, Inc.
Technical
System length17 km (11 mi)
ElectrificationContact rails, 1,500 V DC
System map
km
0
Naha Airport
depot
2.0
Akamine
2.7
Oroku
3.7
Onoyama Park
4.5
Tsubogawa
5.3
Asahibashi
5.9
Prefectural Office
6.6
Miebashi
7.6
Makishi
8.2
Asato
9.0
Omoromachi
10.0
Furujima
10.9
Naha City Hospital
11.8
Gibo
12.8
Shuri
13.9
Ishimine
15.0
Kyozuka
16.0
Urasoe-Maeda
17.0
Tedako-Uranishi

All stations are accessible

The Okinawa Urban Monorail,, also known as Yui Rail, is a straddle-beam, Alweg-type monorail line serving the cities of Naha and Urasoe, Okinawa, Japan. Operated by Okinawa Urban Monorail, Inc., it opened on August 10, 2003, and is the only public rail system in Okinawa Prefecture. Yui Rail is the first rail line on Okinawa since World War II. Akamine Station and Naha Airport Station, the southernmost and westernmost rail stations in Japan respectively, lie on this line.

The line was planned from 1972, which was the same year as Okinawa's return to Japan. The monorail's route was decided in 1977, and the opening year for the line was set to 1987. However, in order to build the monorail, bus routes in the city had to be revamped, and the discussion with bus operators regarding compensation for the revamp took until 1994. The construction began in 1996, and the line opened on August 10, 2003. The line has since then extended to Urasoe on October 1, 2019.

Trains run on the line from exactly 6:00 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. every day, with an interval of 4–15 minutes. All services stop at every station, although some services terminate at Shuri Station. The line has been using the Okinawa Urban Monorail 1000 series electric multiple units since its opening in 2003, which were mostly manufactured by Hitachi Rail. All stations feature a piece of art and are barrier-free.