Ueno Park is home to many museums, temples and attractions including Ueno Zoo, but did you know it also used to run its very own monorail? Huffing along exclusively around the zoo, the Ueno Zoo Monorail started operations in 1957 and ran until 2019, when it was mothballed due to deterioration. At that time, it was Japan’s oldest running monorail.
「東京都懸垂電車上野懸垂線」
— NHKニュース (@nhk_news) November 14, 2023
昭和32年に日本で最初に開業した東京 上野動物園のモノレールです
12月末で正式に廃止され、来年1月以降に解体工事が始まることになりました👇https://t.co/4YhMTxMISe#nhk_video pic.twitter.com/6TMOWepD4r
As the monorail has been out of service for a few years now, it appeared to be only a matter of time before it would be dismantled. And as reported by NHK News, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government has now announced that the Ueno Zoo Monorail is officially slated to close on December 27 and will be demolished sometime after January next year.
While it’s sad to bid farewell to this old-time tram, there seem to be plans to add some new form of transportation in its place around spring 2026. With the removal of the Ueno Zoo Monorail, the only single-rail train remaining in the city is now the Tokyo Monorail, which connects Hamamatsucho Station with Haneda Airport.
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