Does Hiroshima Really Have a Subway?

You might be surprised, but it’s true—

Hiroshima does have a line with

underground sections. It’s called the

Astram Line, the ninth Automated

Guideway Transit (AGT) system to

open in Japan.

In downtown Hiroshima, the first three

stations are fully underground, the

fourth is semi-underground, and the

remaining 18 are elevated. In other

words, the Astram Line is a unique mix

of “subway and elevated railway.”

AGT subways actually have a distinct

advantage over conventional rail

subways:the tunnels are smaller in

diameter, which means much lower

construction costs. Because the

vehicles are compact, they don’t

need large tunnels.

In Japan, the Astram Line is the only

AGT that runs underground. But in

France, it’s a different story.In Lille,

Toulouse, and Rennes, all five AGT

lines run entirely underground.

These French AGTs use a system

called VAL, developed by MATRA.

The design philosophy is to make the

tunnel diameter as small as possible,

so the trains themselves are built to

be extremely compact.And the result?

The cars are so cramped that there’

s barely any standing space in front of

the long benches!

In fact, on Korea’s Uijeongbu Light

Rail Transit, which also uses the VAL

system, one side of the long bench

seats was removed just to make room

for standing passengers.

Compared to that, Japan’s AGT

systems feel much more spacious and

comfortable. They strike a good

balance—plenty of room inside the

trains, yet still benefiting from small

tunnel diameters.

Stay tuned for the next AGT blog!