Fukuoka City Subway Nanakuma Line opens on February 3rd.  It has sixteen
stations on the course of twelve kilometers.  Standard travel time from end to
end is 24 minutes.

The Nanakuma Line is based on the 'miniature subway' standard, seen on the Toei
Oedo Line and Osaka Nagahori-Tsurumi-Ryokuchi Line.  Cars are 16 meters long,
with seating space for 36 to 39 passengers.  (Most major railroads, including
JR, use 20 meter commuter cars, with seating space for 46 to 54.)

Some people criticize the cramped interiors of the Oedo Line in Tokyo.  Fukuoka
City Transit officials have decided not to hang commercial advertisements from
the ceilings of these trains.  Another omission is the overhead wire rack.

The Nanakuma Line is propelled by linear-motor.  A shiny metal board between the
tracks does the work of the axle side of the conventional cylinder motor.  This
is also the first subway line in Japan with driverless, full-automatic operation
in mind.  The manual control panel is closed and locked when not in use.
Passengers get to sit in the bench the driver would use.  (The Fukuoka City
Transit Authority's web-page says trains are going to be run "one-man" for the
time being.  I'm not sure whether this solo crew is the driver or the
conductor.)

The new Nanakuma Subway Line does not intersect with existing lines. 
Tenjin-Minami, the line's eastern terminal, is about 500 meters south of Subway
Tenjin.  The City Transit Authority will issue through tickets, readable by the
automatic gates, with a generous two hours' allowance between the gates,
encouraging shopping and dining in the Tenjin shopping district.

Subway fares in Fukuoka City are rather high, starting at 200 yen.  The downtown
bus between Hakata and Tenjin costs just 100 yen.

Fukuoka City Transit Authority, Nanakuma Line pages:
http://subway.city.fukuoka.jp/nanakuma/index.html
(Japanese text.  Photo on top shows Nanakuma Line train.)


Cross-posted to fj.life.in-japan with permission from
soc.culture.japan.moderated moderators.

Bon Voyage,

Douso, The Prophet of the Way