Tokyo Monorail

Japan's first airport railway, opened on 17 September 1964 — twenty-three days before the Tokyo Olympics. The straddle-beam ALWEG-system monorail runs 17.8 km across 11 stations from Monorail Hamamatsucho to Haneda Airport Terminal 2, now operated as a wholly owned subsidiary of JR East.

Japan’s First Airport Railway, 1964

On 17 September 1964 — twenty-three days before the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics — Japan’s first airport railway began operating between Hamamatsucho and Haneda Airport. The Tokyo Monorail runs on the straddle-beam ALWEG system, in which the vehicle rides atop a concrete guideway beam; the technology was licensed from the German ALWEG company and manufactured by Hitachi. From Monorail Hamamatsucho Station to Haneda Airport Terminal 2 Station, the line covers 11 stations and 17.8 kilometres at a top speed of 80 km/h, threading through factory zones, logistics centres, and aircraft maintenance facilities along Tokyo’s industrial waterfront. The line was built in roughly 16 months from the start of construction in 1963 — an engineering sprint that matched the urgency of the Olympics deadline.

The opening addressed a genuine gap in the city’s transport network. With the Metropolitan Expressway still incomplete and no conventional rail connection to the airport, the monorail offered a reliable, timetabled link between the capital and its main international gateway at a moment when Tokyo was preparing to present itself to the world.

Six Decades of Change

The line and the landscape around it have evolved together. Seibijo Station was added in 1967, Ryutsusenta in 1969, Showajima in 1985, and Tennozu Isle in 1992 as the bay waterfront underwent redevelopment. In 2002, JR East acquired management control of the Tokyo Monorail Company; by August 2023 the company had become a wholly owned JR East subsidiary. At the airport end, successive terminal expansions have been matched by the line, which now serves Terminal 1, Terminal 2, and Terminal 3 at separate stations.

From the train window, the journey covers one of Tokyo’s most industrially distinctive landscapes: warehouses, hangar rooftops, taxiways, and the open water of Tokyo Bay. Exiting at Hamamatsucho, the regenerated Takeshiba waterfront and the Hamakyu gardens are within easy walking distance.

Summary

The Tokyo Monorail opened on 17 September 1964 as Japan’s first airport railway and has connected Monorail Hamamatsucho with Haneda Airport Terminal 2 — 17.8 km across 11 stations — for more than sixty years. The straddle-beam ALWEG system it pioneered is still in operation, now under JR East ownership. For a different view of Tokyo’s industrial waterfront, take the rapid service all the way to the airport and let the bay-side landscape unfold through the window.

Related: World Trade Center Building South Tower / Shinagawa Season Terrace

Travelling through Hamamatsucho or heading to Haneda? Rakuten Travel lists hotels near both ends of the line.