700 Meters from Ground Zero
On the morning of August 6, 1945, Streetcar No. 651 of the Hiroshima Electric Railway Company was running its usual route near Chuden-mae station. At 8:15 a.m., the atomic bomb exploded just 700 meters away. The blast ripped the tram from its tracks, shattered its body, and blew off its doors and rooftop electric pickup. Every pane of glass was destroyed. What had been a functioning streetcar became a shell of twisted steel within seconds.
Back on Track
Despite the devastation, Hiroshima’s tram system was among the first forms of transport to return to service after the bombing. In March 1946, just seven months later, Streetcar No. 651 was repaired and back on the rails. It resumed carrying passengers through a city reduced to rubble. The tram, built in 1942 by Kinami Sharyo Seizo of Osaka Prefecture, was originally designed with a rotating bogie truck, advanced for its time. That same mechanism, never replaced, still moves it through the streets today.
An Artifact Still in Motion
The No. 651 tram normally rests at the Senda depot, but Hiroshima Electric Railway occasionally puts it into service during the morning rush or on special occasions. From the outside, it shows no sign of the destruction it once endured. Its steel frame and rivets have aged to a reddish brown, evidence of their wartime origin. According to Hiroshi Nakamura, an inspector at the depot, both the frame and bogie truck remain original. Though the tram has been updated with air conditioning and new fittings, its structure and mechanical heart are the same ones that endured the explosion.
An Ongoing Journey
Three other trams from the same series also survived and are preserved by Hiroshima Electric Railway. Together they continue to operate within the city’s modern network. Nakamura, who maintains No. 651, notes that its analog systems allow issues to be spotted by sound and feel rather than digital sensors, requiring hands-on skill. The tram continues to run as a functioning piece of history, powered by parts built before the war and kept moving by those who know how to read its rhythms.
Streetcar No. 651 stands as one of the oldest operating vehicles in Japan, built before the bomb and still in service nearly eight decades later. It first rolled out in 1942, was derailed in 1945, repaired in 1946, and continues to carry passengers through Hiroshima today.
Just 700 meters from the atomic blast on August 6, 1945, a streetcar in Hiroshima was torn from its tracks and left a mangled shell.
Yet that same tram, No. 651, built in 1942, still runs today through the city’s streets, carrying passengers nearly eight decades later…🧵👇 pic.twitter.com/2lsZnjg09g
— Fascinating True Stories (@FascinatingTrue) October 22, 2025