1001 Smart Cities
🇯🇵 Osaka

Nanko Port Town Line (New Tram) Driverless Guideway

🤖 AI-generated summary · ◆ 10 sourced claims · 🔎 Last verified

This overview was generated with AI from the public sources listed below and checked against them before publication. It has not had a complete human fact-check — treat it as a starting point and follow the sources.

10 sourced claims on this page, none individually verified yet — turn on “Sources in the text” to see each one.

How this atlas is made · What “last verified” means · What “source-checked” means · The full record behind this page

It opened as an automated line in 1981 yet carried staff until 1991. A runaway train injured more than 200 people in 1993; crews rode again until unattended running resumed in February 2000.

Outcome🔄 Ongoing
Evidence🏛️ Officialgrades the sourcing — this entry states no impact figure
what does this mean?The strongest source is the operator's or the city's own reporting — an official report, dataset or press release. It grades who did the looking — not how well the project went. All four grades →
Run byOsaka Metro (Osaka Municipal Transportation Bureau until the April 2018 privatisation)
Scale🏘️ District

Part of 1001 Smart Cities — 1,216 documented projects · 🏙️ 8 more in Osaka · 🚌 Public transport guide · 🚲 Mobility projects

Osaka's New Tram is a 7.9 km, 10-station automated guideway line serving the city's bayside artificial islands. It opened in March 1981, six weeks after Kobe's Port Liner, but ran with staff aboard until October 1991. A runaway train hit the buffers at Suminoekoen in October 1993, injuring more than 200 people; crews rode again until unattended operation resumed in February 2000. Osaka Metro finished replacing the whole fleet with 200 series cars in 2019.

Live 📅 since 1981

🎓 Lesson

Unattended operation has to survive a fault nobody can explain: investigators never found why a brake relay contact failed in 1993, so the remedy was redundancy — doubled brake wiring and trackside overspeed stops — with attendants aboard until February 2000.

🚲 MobilityPublic transportAutonomous vehiclesSafety & security

Sources

↗ Osaka Metro (NiNE) — New TramOperator's own media site: the New Tram is an unmanned, automatically driven automated guideway transit line; lists the ten stations from Cosmosquare to Suminoekoen.
↗ Osaka Metro press release, 14 March 2025 — extra New Tram services for Expo 2025Operator: from 9 April to 13 October 2025 three additional timetable patterns with trains every 2 minutes 30 seconds for Expo 2025, up to 377 and 380 trips a day per direction.
↗ The Japan News / Yomiuri Shimbun — Yokohama train crash proves need to check safety of driverless systems (14 June 2019)Independent established press, after the June 2019 Yokohama crash: a New Tram train in Osaka went out of control and crashed in 1993 — counter-evidence to the assumption that Japan's unmanned lines are inherently safe.
↗ Wikipedia (Japanese) — Osaka Metro Nanko Port Town LineTertiary but the fullest chronology: opening 16 March 1981 with crews aboard; 7.9 km, 10 stations; unattended operation from 20 October 1991; the 5 October 1993 runaway with 215 injured; service resumed with attendants on 19 November 1993; unattended operation resumed 20 February 2000; last 100A series cars retired 2019.
↗ Wikipedia (English) — Port Island Line (Kobe Port Liner)Kobe's Port Liner opened on 5 February 1981; used only to place Osaka in the lineage, not to claim primacy.
Show 1 more sourcesShow fewer
↗ Failure Knowledge Database, case 105 — runaway New Tram trainEngineering failure-case account based on the investigation committee's final report: the service brake failed because a relay contact passed no current for a moment; the train ran about 51 m past its stopping point at 35 km/h into the buffer; 215 injured; the cause of the contact damage was never established; remedies were changed contact layout and doubled wiring, a shared brake power supply that triggers the emergency brake, and trackside overspeed detection; attendants rode from 19 November.
Show your work What this page rests on and what it can’t tell you · all 10 claims with their sources · the forensic record

Evidence file · public beta 10 addressable claims, 6 source dossiers, one permanent baseline. The file is unreviewed — an AI-assisted structural migration, not a human or expert endorsement. Every revision keeps a permanent copy under revision history.

Inspect the claims, one by one — verbatim text, sources and caveats for all 10

The text below is copied verbatim from the published record. Each claim names the source dossiers that carry it; caveats stay attached to the claim they qualify.

Claim 1 clm-fa326d0fe8eb806a quantitative
Osaka's New Tram is a 7.9 km, 10-station automated guideway line serving the city's bayside artificial islands
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The operator calls it an unmanned, automatically driven AGT line along the bayside and lists ten stations; Wikipedia gives 7.9 km.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Osaka Metro (NiNE) — New Tram
  2. Wikipedia (Japanese) — Osaka Metro Nanko Port Town Line
Claim 2 clm-e38d9befc5c83ebe quantitative
It opened in March 1981, six weeks after Kobe's Port Liner
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
Japanese Wikipedia dates the opening to 16 March 1981 as Japan's second such line after the Port Liner; English Wikipedia dates the Port Liner to 5 February 1981.
Caveat
The interval is about five and a half weeks.

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Wikipedia (Japanese) — Osaka Metro Nanko Port Town Line
  2. Wikipedia (English) — Port Island Line (Kobe Port Liner)
Claim 3 clm-11f5fbb0bcfe9eb5 quantitative
but ran with staff aboard until October 1991
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
Wikipedia: crews rode at opening; unattended automatic operation began on 20 October 1991.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Wikipedia (Japanese) — Osaka Metro Nanko Port Town Line
Claim 4 clm-4118aeab1b504915 quantitative
A runaway train hit the buffers at Suminoekoen in October 1993, injuring more than 200 people
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The failure case: on 5 October 1993 an unmanned train overran at Suminoekoen and struck the buffer stop; 215 passengers injured.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Failure Knowledge Database, case 105 — runaway New Tram train
  2. Wikipedia (Japanese) — Osaka Metro Nanko Port Town Line
  3. The Japan News / Yomiuri Shimbun — Yokohama train crash proves need to check safety of driverless systems (14 June 2019)
Claim 5 clm-3cb00bbb120e5cfc quantitative
crews rode again until unattended operation resumed in February 2000
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
Service resumed on 19 November 1993 with attendants in the driving seat of every train; unattended operation resumed on 20 February 2000.
Caveat
Wikipedia notes the attendants held no driving qualification.

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Failure Knowledge Database, case 105 — runaway New Tram train
  2. Wikipedia (Japanese) — Osaka Metro Nanko Port Town Line
Claim 6 clm-f1f22288e4eb98d7 quantitative
Osaka Metro finished replacing the whole fleet with 200 series cars in 2019
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
Wikipedia lists the 200 series in service since 2016 and the last 100A series cars in service until 2019.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Wikipedia (Japanese) — Osaka Metro Nanko Port Town Line
Claim 7 clm-2473b42ce8fdd633 descriptive
Unattended operation has to survive a fault nobody can explain
Published field
lesson · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The failure case lists among its lessons that unmanned control can turn a momentary conduction fault into a major accident.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Failure Knowledge Database, case 105 — runaway New Tram train
Claim 8 clm-de2c7ec0682b7dbf quantitative
investigators never found why a brake relay contact failed in 1993
Published field
lesson · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
Repeated reproduction tests did not reveal how the roughened relay contact arose.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Failure Knowledge Database, case 105 — runaway New Tram train
Claim 9 clm-23557f95478197ba descriptive
so the remedy was redundancy — doubled brake wiring and trackside overspeed stops
Published field
lesson · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
Remedies: changed contact layout and doubled wiring for the brake command, and a trackside speed-check emergency stop at Suminoekoen.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Failure Knowledge Database, case 105 — runaway New Tram train
Claim 10 clm-84f3df17f4c81b15 quantitative
with attendants aboard until February 2000
Published field
lesson · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
Wikipedia: unattended operation resumed on 20 February 2000.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Wikipedia (Japanese) — Osaka Metro Nanko Port Town Line
Forensic record — source dossiers, gaps, hashes and the exact revision this page renders

This layer records what is known about each source, what is still missing, and the exact snapshot this page is rendering. A missing date, archive or hash stays visible as missing.

unreviewed Revision 2026-10-14-baseline effective 2026-10-14 · created 2026-10-14

Awaiting operator and domain-expert review; publication of this revision implies neither.

sha256:5d9dc2a98f4050b28104a1ca76e6a1f6a3cf2bc3a8408bab58501d612405e140
Revision history → Permanent version link → Machine-readable record → Evidence Constitution →
10
of 10 claims mapped
6
source dossiers
1
publication dates recorded
0
archives linked
0
exact locators
0
content captures hashed

Governance facts carried by the record

Operator
Osaka Metro (Osaka Municipal Transportation Bureau until the April 2018 privatisation)
Actor types
utility
Funding model
public
Funding description
Not recorded
Cost
Not recorded
Ownership
Not recorded
Decision rights
Not recorded
Exit conditions
Not recorded

6 source dossiers

Osaka Metro (NiNE) — New Tram metronine.osaka · 1 linked claim

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-eff7f743eeb1ce9a
Publisher
Name not classified · metronine.osaka
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
Not recorded
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-10-14
Dossier created
2026-10-14
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

Operator's own media site: the New Tram is an unmanned, automatically driven automated guideway transit line; lists the ten stations from Cosmosquare to Suminoekoen.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Osaka Metro press release, 14 March 2025 — extra New Tram services for Expo 2025 subway.osakametro.co.jp · background

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-bb7b6ad19bef464b
Publisher
Name not classified · subway.osakametro.co.jp
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2025-03-14
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-10-14
Dossier created
2026-10-14
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

Operator: from 9 April to 13 October 2025 three additional timetable patterns with trains every 2 minutes 30 seconds for Expo 2025, up to 377 and 380 trips a day per direction.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Background source; no baseline claim points here
The Japan News / Yomiuri Shimbun — Yokohama train crash proves need to check safety of driverless systems (14 June 2019) inkl.com · 1 linked claim

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-66ef651843c52431
Publisher
Name not classified · inkl.com
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
Not recorded
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-10-14
Dossier created
2026-10-14
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

Independent established press, after the June 2019 Yokohama crash: a New Tram train in Osaka went out of control and crashed in 1993 — counter-evidence to the assumption that Japan's unmanned lines are inherently safe.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Wikipedia (Japanese) — Osaka Metro Nanko Port Town Line ja.wikipedia.org · 7 linked claims

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-f5c0292af41a25f1
Publisher
Name not classified · ja.wikipedia.org
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
Not recorded
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-10-14
Dossier created
2026-10-14
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

Tertiary but the fullest chronology: opening 16 March 1981 with crews aboard; 7.9 km, 10 stations; unattended operation from 20 October 1991; the 5 October 1993 runaway with 215 injured; service resumed with attendants on 19 November 1993; unattended operation resumed 20 February 2000; last 100A series cars retired 2019.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Wikipedia (English) — Port Island Line (Kobe Port Liner) en.wikipedia.org · 1 linked claim

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-2da17c7c30182e17
Publisher
Name not classified · en.wikipedia.org
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
Not recorded
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-10-14
Dossier created
2026-10-14
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

Kobe's Port Liner opened on 5 February 1981; used only to place Osaka in the lineage, not to claim primacy.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Failure Knowledge Database, case 105 — runaway New Tram train sydrose.com · 5 linked claims

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-bca0f74ec401e62d
Publisher
Name not classified · sydrose.com
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
Not recorded
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-10-14
Dossier created
2026-10-14
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

Engineering failure-case account based on the investigation committee's final report: the service brake failed because a relay contact passed no current for a moment; the train ran about 51 m past its stopping point at 35 km/h into the buffer; 215 injured; the cause of the contact damage was never established; remedies were changed contact layout and doubled wiring, a shared brake power supply that triggers the emergency brake, and trackside overspeed detection; attendants rode from 19 November.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Known limits of this file
  • Publisher names and source languages have not yet been classified; domains are recorded without guessing.
  • Existing source notes are descriptive locators, not page- or paragraph-exact citations.
  • A missing archive, publication date or content hash is shown as null rather than inferred.
  • The project-level evidence grade ranks the strongest source in the entry; it is not a truth score for every claim.

Continue exploring

Compare this project

🇨🇳 Shanghai Metro's Driverless GoA4 Lines · Shanghai Shanghai's 2011 crash happened while the automation was down; Osaka's 1993 runaway put crews back aboard until February 2000. 🇨🇳 Yanfang Line: Driverless Metro on Home-Grown Signalling · Beijing Yanfang waited two years to go unattended; Osaka did it in 1991, put crews back after the 1993 runaway, and only returned in 2000. 🇮🇳 Delhi Metro's Driverless Lines: Magenta & Pink · New Delhi Delhi's driverless launch took to 2025 to lose its operators; Osaka lost, regained and lost them again between 1991 and 2000.

Driverless: who actually sits in the cab?

Four automated rail systems and the question that separates the label from the reality. Two have genuinely nobody aboard — and two are the atlas's documented automation rollbacks, where the staff came back after a crash.

ProjectSinceStatusOutcomeEvidenceRun byCostWho sits in the cab
Santiago Metro Automation: Two Cabless Lines and CBTC on the RestSantiago, 🇨🇱 2017 Live Succeeded Media Utility or public operator US$451.9M (2013 CAF-Thales trains and CBTC for lines 3 and 6) No one — and no cab to sit in: the trains carry only a concealed console for manual recovery.
Réseau express métropolitain: a pension fund's driverless metroMontreal, 🇨🇦 2023 Live Ongoing Independent Utility or public operator, Private company CA$8.34B construction (CDPQ Infra); ≈CA$9.4B project total (Auditor General, Nov 2024) No one aboard since opening; the network is owned by a pension fund that is paid per passenger-kilometre.
Nanko Port Town Line (New Tram) Driverless GuidewayOsaka, 🇯🇵 1981 Live Ongoing Official Utility or public operator not public Automated in 1981, staff back aboard after the October 1993 runaway, unattended again only from 2000.
Washington Metro's automatic train operation, switched off for 15 yearsWashington D.C., 🇺🇸 1976 Live Ongoing Official Utility or public operator not public Self-driving from 1976, switched to manual within about a day of the 2009 Fort Totten crash — automation returned line by line only from December 2024.

Explore the wider context

🔑 Your Smart City Is Owned by Someone Else📖 CBTC (communications-based train control)📖 Grades of Automation (GoA)📖 Personal rapid transit (PRT)
📎 Cite this project

1001 Smart Cities (2026). “Nanko Port Town Line (New Tram) Driverless Guideway” — Osaka, Japan. The Smart City Atlas. https://1001smartcities.org/projects/osaka-new-tram-agt/ (last verified 2026-10-14). Data: CC BY 4.0.

The underlying data is free to reuse with attribution — see the open data page.

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