July/4/2020
Fukui Railway connects Fukui with Echizen. The interesting thing about this railway is that it has trams, which run in the center of the city of Fukui.
In Japan, there are trams in about 15 prefectures. Since there aren’t many, you’re lucky if you can see them. They run on railways on the road, so you can see trams and other cars at the same time. The scenery of trams running alongside other cars on the road is elegant and fun.
Fukui Railway’s Fukui Station is a three-minute walk from JR Fukui Station (I wrote about JR Fukui Station in a previous post, so please read it.)(Fukui Station: a major hub of Fukui prefecture)If you take Fukui Railway, you can go to Nishiyama Park, where you can see cherry blossoms in spring, azaleas in late spring, and autumn leaves in autumn (I wrote about Nishiyama Park in a previous post, too, so please read it).(2018 Autumn Leaves Festival at Nishiyama Park in Fukui Prefecture)
As far as I know, Fukui Railway has five different kinds of trams.
The white ones are called 880 trams.The main body of the train is white, the area around the windows is blue, and the bottom of the body is yellowish and dark green. These colors represent the snow, sea, fields, and mountains of Fukui. About 70 percent of Fukui’s trams are these 880 trams.
Next are colorful ones called Fukuram. There are four kinds of Fukuram: orange, blue, green, and red ones. They’re about 27 meters long and their maximum speed is 70 km/h. They even won an award in 2014 for their hi-tech, good design. These colorful trams look very futuristic.
There is a yellow tram called ki-bo. This tram has a cute face.
In Japan, there are a lot of railway fans, and some of them like to take pictures of the trams in Fukui.
After taking a lot of pictures of the trams, I took the 880. Inside the train was air-conditioned and comfortable. When the tram started, I felt the vibrations of the train and it was fun. It felt like I was on a theme park ride. They run slowly, so I enjoyed seeing the view of Fukui.
If you have a chance, you should take a tram in Fukui. You’ll enjoy seeing the view of Fukui from the window of a stylish tram.