HOKKAIDO –
Sapporo deployed its distinctive Sasara snow-clearing tram for the primary time this season early on November seventh, the second-earliest deployment in 10 years, after snowfall reached 8 centimeters at 4 a.m., prompting a automobile to go away its depot to clear snow from the town’s streetcar tracks.
According to the Sapporo City Transportation Promotion Corporation, which operates the service, this 12 months’s first deployment got here sooner than in all however one of many previous 10 years.
With temperatures under freezing, the tram made its method by way of central Sapporo, its rotating bamboo brushes, generally known as “sasara,” sweeping snow from the tracks and sending it flying to both aspect.
The distinctive autos are a well-known sight throughout Sapporo’s lengthy winters, serving to preserve the town’s streetcar community working regardless of heavy snowfall.
Source: Kyodo