The first zoo monorail in the world

Inaugurated in 1958 as an experiment for new ways to improve urban traffic, the ultra-short Ueno Zoo Monorail Line - by its full name Tōkyō-to Kōtsū-kyoku Ueno Kensui-sen 「東京都交通局上野懸垂線」 - was the first monorail in Japan and, since it was built inside the Ueno Zoo, it became the first zoo monorail in the world.

Although it was only 300 meters long, the monorail proved very successful, drawing over a million passengers during the first year, so it was a perfect validation of the monorail's popularity in Japan and as a result many other systems were built.

Since then, it remained in operation until today (but since it is inside, it operates only when the Ueno Zoo is opened) and it departs every 7 minutes, for a trip that takes 90 seconds...