Hakone Mountain Railway

photo by 小田原 (Odawara) · CC BY-SA 4.0

photo by 663highland · CC BY 2.5

At three switchbacks the train reverses direction, on an 80‰ gradient, a record for adhesion.

From Hakone-Yumoto the little train climbs towards Gōra on a gradient of 80 per mille, the steepest of any adhesion railway in Japan. To manage it, it uses three switchbacks, where the train stops, the driver and the conductor change cabs, and it sets off again in the opposite direction on another track. The 8.9 kilometres take about 40 minutes, and from mid-June hydrangeas bloom along the tracks.

Opened in 1919 between Hakone-Yumoto and Gōra, the Hakone Mountain Railway is part of the Odakyu group together with the funicular that continues to Sōunzan. Typhoon No. 19 of 2019 caused landslides and collapses along the trackbed, closing the line for nine and a half months before it fully reopened on 23 July 2020.

ℹ️ Runs from the first to the last train of the day; the Hakone-Yumoto–Gōra journey takes about 40 minutes. Single tickets or the Hakone Free Pass, which is also valid on the funicular, ropeway and boats. From mid-June it runs as the ‘hydrangea train’ (あじさい電車, ajisai densha), with slower evening services on the illuminated stretches; the end of the flowering varies and should be checked each year.

🚉 Hakone-Yumoto · in front of the station

Sources: hakonenavi.jp · hakonenavi.jp · nippon.com

All series · Open the map