Yamanashi Prefecture Announces New Transportation System "Fuji Tram" — Toward a grand vision connecting Mt. Fuji and the new linear station

On November 18, 2024, Yamanashi Prefecture announced that it will transform the "Mt. Fuji Mountain Railway Concept" and aim to introduce a new rubber-tire-type transportation system "Fuji Tram (tentative name)" that does not require rails.

The Fuji Tram aims to control the number of visitors to the 5th Station of Mt. Fuji and responds to the same issues as the conventional mountain railway concept. In this presentation, a new policy was presented to promote the development of a secondary transportation network for the entire prefecture while covering six municipalities in the Fuji Hokuroku area and connecting it with the new station "Yamanashi Prefecture Station" of the Linear Chuo Shinkansen.

This creates a grand vision of encouraging the dispersal of tourists and simultaneously revitalizing the region and improving tourism and transportation infrastructure.

New policy announced in response to opposition from local residents

At a press conference this evening, the Governor of Nagasaki explained, "As a result of repeated dialogues with local residents, it has become clear that the laying of railway tracks has major challenges in terms of environmental impact and cost." In response to this, he said that he decided that the rubber tire system, which does not involve large-scale construction work in the Fuji Subaru Line, is more suitable.

It was once again shown that the opposition of residents to the tram (LRT) proposal that was considered in the original Fuji Tozan Railway concept had a significant impact on this policy change.

Rubber-tire-powered new mobility

The Fuji Tram is a next-generation transportation system that uses rubber tires instead of iron tracks and combines the advantages of railways and buses. It will be powered by "green hydrogen" promoted by Yamanashi Prefecture.

Magnetic markers and white lines are used to guide vehicles, and it is expected to reduce costs while avoiding large-scale construction work such as cutting down roads. In addition, by applying the Track Law, it is possible to regulate the traffic of general vehicles on the Fuji Subaru Line in the same way as conventional LRT, and to strengthen visitor management around Mt. Fuji.

"Fuji Tram" image video (provided by Yamanashi Prefecture)