Tachikawa City is located in western Tokyo and is known as one of the liveliest areas in the Tama region.
Today, I would like to share my visit to Tachikawa, which I explored by taking the Tama Monorail, with you. But before getting down to the main topic, let me give you the usual introduction.
・What’s the Tama Monorail?
It is a straddle-type monorail that opened in 1998, running north to south through the Tama region and connecting Kamikitadai and Tama-Center stations. The operator is Tokyo Tama Intercity Monorail Company, a public-private joint venture.
One of the features of this line is that it offers connections to many other railway lines, including those operated by Seibu, JR East, Keio and Odakyu. There are 19 stations along its 16.0-kilometer route. The line is double-tracked and electrified at 1,500 V DC.
・A Train Against a Backdrop of Buildings
All right, please take a look at the photo above. It shows a 1000 series train traveling along the elevated track, with buildings in central Tachikawa in the background. I photographed it from the platform at Shibasaki-taiikukan Station.
The 1000 series is the only train type in service on the Tama Monorail. It entered service in 1998, when the line opened. Each trainset consists of four 15-meter-long motorcars, although the first and last cars have somewhat unusual configurations. One bogie on each of these cars is powered, while the other is not, resulting in a formation equivalent to 3M1T. The traction system uses an IGBT-VFD (Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor–Variable Frequency Drive) system.
・A Hidden Natural Treasure Along the Tama Monorail Line
Well, I know there is some hidden natural beauty even along this urban monorail line. Please take a look at the photo below. I found this specimen in a riverbed near Shibasaki-taiikukan Station. What is it?
It's a fossil bivalve: Kagamigai (Dosinia japonica). It is a large, rounded shell measuring about 6 cm in length. Beautiful!
In the riverbed in this urban area, we can observe fossil-bearing beds of the Iimuro Formation, which consists of shallow-marine sediments deposited about 1.3 to 1.1 million years ago.
Hello, fossil! Welcome back to the world after more than one million years!
I thoroughly enjoyed both the urban monorail and the unexpected glimpse of nature along the Tama Monorail Line.
