Sapporo Snow Removal Trains Begins Readying for Winter

The Yomiuri Shimbun

20:00 JST, October 10, 2023

To prepare for winter, workers began readying sasara densha, which are special trains that brush snow off the tracks, for the Sapporo streetcar system in Sapporo on Sunday.

Workers attached 400 sasara brushes, which are bundles of 30-centimeter-long pieces of split bamboo, to the front and back of five sasara densha. The workers then checked the brushes by rotating them and adjusting their height.

According to the Sapporo Transportation Bureau, the sasara densha are normally sent out before the first streetcar of the day from November to March.

“I try to stay focused until the entire process is complete,” said an employee who helped prepare the sasara densha.