The is a transportation company in Okayama City

Okayama, Okayama

is the capital city of Okayama Prefecture in the Chūgoku region of Japan.The city was founded on June 1, 1889. As of August 2010, the city has an estimated population of 705,224 and a population density of 893 persons per km². The total area is 789.88 km²....

, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

. The private company operates tram

Tram

A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...

 lines and bus

Bus

A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...

 lines.

The company was founded in 1910, while their first tram line was opened in 1912. This is one of the few Japanese railway operators that maintain their original corporation names from the foundation in Meiji Period

Meiji period

The , also known as the Meiji era, is a Japanese era which extended from September 1868 through July 1912. This period represents the first half of the Empire of Japan.- Meiji Restoration and the emperor :...

. The company or its lines are truncated as . The company is a core member of Ryōbi Group, another core member being Ryōbi Bus. From October 1, 2006, together with Ryōbi Bus and Shimotsui Dentetsu, another bus company, Okaden introduced Hareca

Hareca

is a rechargeable contactless smart card ticketing system for public transport in Okayama, Japan, introduced by Okayama Electric Tramway , Ryōbi Bus, and Shimotsui Dentetsu , from October 1, 2006. The name comes from hare and card, meaning the card for Okayama, the sunny city...

, a smart card

Smart card

A smart card, chip card, or integrated circuit card , is any pocket-sized card with embedded integrated circuits. A smart card or microprocessor cards contain volatile memory and microprocessor components. The card is made of plastic, generally polyvinyl chloride, but sometimes acrylonitrile...

 ticketing system. They accept PiTaPa

PiTaPa

is a contactless smart card ticketing and electronic money system used in the Kansai region of Japan. The name PiTaPa is an acronym of "Postpay IC for Touch and Pay"...

 and ICOCA

ICOCA

The card is a rechargeable contactless smart card used on JR West rail network in Japan. The card was launched on November 1, 2003 for usage on the Urban Network, which encompasses the major cities of Osaka, Kyoto and Kobe...

 as well.

Tram lines

With just 4.7 km in total, the tram lines are known to be one of the shortest in Japan.

Lines

■ Higashiyama Line: Okayama-Ekimae — Yanagawa — Higashiyama

■ Seikibashi Line: Okayama-Ekimae — Yanagawa — Seikibashi (Officially, the section between Okayama-Ekimae and Yanagawa belongs to Higashiyama Line.)

Bus lines

Generally speaking, Okaden operates lines with shorter distances within Okayama City, while Ryōbi Bus operates lines with longer distances. They also operate limousine bus linking Okayama Station

Okayama Station

is a railway station located in the ward of Kita-ku, city of Okayama, Okayama Prefecture, Japan. The station is operated by West Japan Railway Company ....

 and Okayama Airport

Okayama Airport

is an airport in Okayama Prefecture, Japan.It is located northwest of central Okayama City and northwest or 30 minutes by bus from Okayama Station. It is about 10 minutes from the Okayama interchange, Sanyo Expressway.-Airlines and destinations:...

, while Okaden Express is a highway bus that links Okayama and Kōbe / Kōbe Airport

Kobe Airport

is an airport on an artificial island just off the coast of Kobe, south of Sannomiya Station Japan. It primarily handles domestic flights, but can also accommodate international charter flights. In the first year of operation the airport handled 2,697,000 passengers with an average load factor of...

.

Supporting other railway lines

Okaden is known for its active stance to try to support other railway lines, when their operators announced to close them. So far, they have considered supporting 4 lines of Meitetsu

Nagoya Railroad

, often abbreviated as , is a railroad company operating around Aichi Prefecture and Gifu Prefecture of Japan.Some of the more famous trains operated by Nagoya Railroad include the Panorama Car and the Panorama Car Super, both of which offer views through their wide front windows...

 (Gifu City Line, Ibi Line, Minomachi Line, and Tagami Line), as well as Hitachi Dentetsu Line, Nankai

Nankai Electric Railway

is a private railway in Japan. IC cards are accepted.Nankai Railway Company was founded on June 16, 1884, then became one of the companies that merge to form Kinki Nippon Railway Co., Ltd. in 1944. However Kin-nichi transferred the former Nankai Railway Company Lines to present Nankai Electric...

 Kishigawa Line, and Hokkaidō Chihoku Kōgen Railway Furusato Ginga Line. Among them, they succeeded to support Kishigawa Line, now operated by Wakayama Electric Railroad, their subsidiary company.

External links

Official website