Slope Car (Surōpukā)

A slope car (スロープカー surōpukā^?) is a small automated monorail, or a fusion between monorail, people mover, and rack railway. It is a brand name of Kaho Manufacturing.

Since this mode of transportation is relatively unknown, it lacks widely accepted generic name, other than the simple "monorail". The system, however, is different from normal modern monorails in many ways. It is a development from industrial monorails used in 1960s orchards.

Slope cars are installed in more than 80 places in Japan and South Korea. ^[1]

As the name suggests, the system is introduced generally when there are steep slopes or stairs between entrance gates and buildings. Slope cars generally function as amenities that provide accessibilities for elderly or handicapped people visiting particular places, such as parks, golf courses, or hotels. As most lines move fairly slowly, people without disabilities often find it faster to walk the same routes on foot, rather than to use slope cars. However, there are also places where slope cars climb very steep slopes which people without disabilities can not climb unless there are stairs. In Japan, slope cars are not legally considered as railways.

In 1966, Yoneyama Industory, an agricultural machinery maker in Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture, invented "Monorack" (モノラック Monorakku^?), a freight-only rack monorail system. It soon became wide spread in mikan citrus orchards in the prefecture, and in other parts of Japan. Other makers also started to build similar systems. Later in 1990, a company called Chigusa developed a passenger rack monorail system. These rack monorails were first used to transport workers in construction sites or forests. However, from 1990s, public facilities such as parks also started to use the system. Kaho Manufacturing started to sell their "slope cars" in 1990.