Hakodate Transportation Bureau
| Hakodate Transportation Bureau | |||
|---|---|---|---|
A Hakodate City Tram type 9600 at Hackodate Dock-mae station | |||
| Overview | |||
| Locale | Hakodate, Hokkaido, Japan | ||
| Transit type | Tram | ||
| Number of lines | 2 (routes), 4 (lines) | ||
| Number of stations | 26 (20 shared) | ||
| Annual ridership | 3,474,783 (2021) | ||
| Operation | |||
| Began operation | 12 December 1897 (horse-drawn), 1913 (electrified) | ||
| Rolling stock | 32 | ||
| Technical | |||
| System length | 10.9 km (6.8 mi) | ||
| Track gauge | 1,372 mm (4 ft 6 in) | ||
| Electrification | 600 V DC via overhead line | ||
| |||
The Hakodate City Tram Department (函館市企業局交通部, Hakodate-shi Kigyōkyoku Kōtsūbu; lit. "Hakodate City Enterprises Bureau Transportation Division") is a public transport authority in Hakodate, Japan. The bureau currently operates only trams, although until 1 April 2003 it also ran a number of bus routes.
The Kikan Horsecar Railway (亀函馬車鉄道, Kikan Basha Tetsudō), a private horsecar operating company, opened Hakodate's first tram line in 1897. It was the first tram in Japan to be located north of Tokyo. The network was electrified in 1913. Following several changes of ownership, the Hakodate City Government finally took over control of the lines in 1943.