Tama Toshi Monorail Line

The Tama Toshi Monorail Line(Japanese: 多摩都市モノレール線, Hepburn: Tamatoshi Monorēru-sen) is a straddle-beam, Alweg-type monorail line in Western Tokyo. Operated by the Tokyo Tama Intercity Monorail Co., Ltd., the double tracked, 16.0km (9.9mi) monorail line carries passengers between the suburban cities of Higashiyamato and Tama via Tachikawa, Hino, and Hachiōji in 36 minutes.

Tachikawa-Kita, Tachikawa-Minami, and Tama-Center stations are the most important stations, enabling transfer at Tachikawa to JR East's Chūō Main Line and at Tama-Center to the Odakyu Tama Line and Keio Sagamihara Line.

Tourist venues along the line include Tama Zoo and Keio Rail-Land (a railway museum), both adjacent to Tama-Dōbutsukōen Station.

Stations

All stations are located in Tokyo. Most stations have an associated shape/image (as seen in the left-most column of the table below).

History

The line opened in two phases. The section from Kamikitadai to Tachikawa-Kita opened in November 1998 while the section south to Tama-Center opened in January 2000.

Station numbering was introduced to all stations in February 2018.

Future plans

As of October 2022, there are plans to extend the route. One route is an extension north from the current terminus at Kamikitadai to Hakonegasaki Station on the Hachiko Line. The other two are southbound extensions from Tama-Center to Hachioji and Machida respectively.

Kamikitadai to Hakonegasaki

In 2016, a proposal was made to extend the line from the current northern terminus at Kamikitadai Station to Hakonegasaki Station on the Hachikō Line. The planned extension to Hakonegasaki had been considered since planning for the entire route began in 1981. The seven-station extension will be 7km (4.3mi) long and is projected to cost ¥80 billion(2021)(equivalent to¥87 billionorUS$574.74 million in 2024). In May 2025, Tama Toshi Monorail received a patent for extension work from the Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism and the extension was projected to cost ¥129 billion(2024)(US$852.24 million). As of May 2025, it is scheduled to open in the mid-2030s.

Construction of the extension to Hakonegasaki was approved on 27 November 2025. The cost has since risen to ¥90 billion(2024)(US$594.58 million) and will include seven new stations. The extension is still projected to open in the mid-2030s.[citation needed]

Tama-Center to Hachioji

A southward expansion of the monorail line to Hachiōji Station was also considered since the planning phase of the line in the 1980s. The expansion had also been considered to be run as a separate light rail transit line, but was ultimately abandoned in December 2016 citing topographical and technological constraints. As of 2016 the projected cost is ¥190 billion(2016)(equivalent to¥211.03 billionorUS$1.39 billion in 2024).

Tama-Center to Machida

An extension from Tama-Center to Machida Station has also been considered since the planning phase of the line in the 1980s. As of January 2022, the exact route remains undecided. The most recent estimate determined that the construction would cost ¥170 billion(2016)(equivalent to¥188.82 billionorUS$1.25 billion in 2024).

See also

• Monorails in Japan
• List of rapid transit systems

Notes

External links

• (in Japanese)
• (in English)