Throwback to when Kyoto had a solution to traffic woes: 市電Shi-den streetcars.

15 comments

1. Streetcars still exist in Kyoto.

   They wouldn’t solve anything, as the tourist population was probably 10% or less than it is now.

2. The roads are so narrow now, you could only place a new one along Gojo

3. As much as I love trams they were removed or reduced in number in most cities in the world precisely because they slow down traffic and lower capacity on the road. Recently cities have reintroduced them in order to reduce pollution, noise and the amount of traffic in inner city areas where populations have dropped – the exact opposite of the case here. In a city like Kyoto already over capacity in dire need of -more- buses this would only make the problem worse.

4. The 19 series is still being used in Hiroshima. Looks almost the same.
   [https://maidonanews.jp/article/14375749](https://maidonanews.jp/article/14375749)

   (ETA: Hiroden bought 15 streetcars from Kyoto when the line closed. As of 2021, none had been retired.)

5. Oddly enough I’m reading this as I’m currently riding one of the only remaining street car lines in Kyoto.

6. You mean the Randen line?

7. LOL. “Sapporo Olympics………….”

   I used to love riding the Chin Chin Denshas wherever we roamed.

8. Streetcars don’t necessarily provide any more capacity than busses, and they have many of the same disadvantages. The real solution is to increase pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure (e.g., superblocks, dedicated bike routes), along with transit as a whole (e.g., more busses, dedicated bus routes, removal of private vehicle traffic from roads). I would absolutely love for streetcars to be part of that solution, but there are tons of cheaper, more effective things that could and should be done first.

9. When they tore up these tracks, they sold off the large rectangular paving stones.

   The approach to the formal entrance of Nanzenji (never open, just to the left of the tourist entrance) is paved with these stones. [Here’s](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/70/dd/f9/70ddf95a2c8caf7aeb066a61c7154628.jpg) Led Zeppelin sitting in front of it and [another](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHEC_kCIPiIaFVi64HNtpdW5VaB_HLLJH0iMWcF6sVlmoZ7YxiyqS_TChcqxObRulVJhzysRTMPxsV3DFHxVncQtxLx_iXFFVaTltwulhCxLGe2tuIOJFmnZ52W7pDvcqoZQJoWqSq-tns/s640/rock-stars-as-tourists-in-japan-1970s-80s-11.jpeg) with the stones more visible.

   I recall it was the stones from the Fushimi Inari line that went to Nanzenji. There are other parts of famous temples with these stones, but sadly I’ve forgotten where.

10. Kyoto has pretty good transport, but tourism doesn’t stop going up.

11. Keihan runs towards Hamaotsu like this as a chinchin densha. Always the train otaku outside taking photos 😆

12. pretty sure I rode a street car while in kyoto…

13. “…they just ran over everybody, not a care in the world!”

14. Looks quite a bit like [the trolleys we have in Philadelphia](https://i0.wp.com/billypenn.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/septa-girard-avenue-trolley-historic-pcc-route15.jpg?w=1200&ssl=1).

15. These are beautiful! Do you know what year the photos are from?