On September 17th, 2024, Tokyo Monorail Company celebrated the 60th anniversary of their Haneda Airport line. In commemoration, the company held several events.
Let me review the Haneda Airport line to start. It is an airport access monorail line from downtown Tokyo to Tokyo International Airport (Haneda). This route was opened in 1964 as the second oldest monorail line in Tokyo. There are 11 stations over a total operating length of 17.8 kilometers. The entire route is a double track. The electric system is 750V DC. The best thing about Tokyo Monorail is its high speed. The maximum train speed is 80 kilometers per hour. “Haneda Express” train connects Hamamatsu-cho in the downtown area and Haneda Airport International Terminal without stopping in only 13 minutes. This express train overtakes the local train at Showajima station.
In commemoration of the 60th anniversary, Tokyo Monorail has been operating a special-colored train since September 14th, using Set 10041 of the EMU 10000 series. The body color has been returned to the original state, which was adopted when the Haneda Airport line was opened. It is ivory-colored with light-blue and dark-blue-colored stripes. We can see the 60th anniversary sticker as well on the front of this train.
Incidentally, I still remember the 50th anniversary train on the Haneda Airport line in 2014. It was a special-colored EMU 1000 series train with red-colored stripes. That color design was taken from the EMU 500 series, which had already been retired from the track. Ten years have passed since then. Time really flies.
