Urban transit / 都市圏公共交通

[starrwulfe]

Originally Posted by Sr.Horn

¿How is possible to operate two different services in a subway line only with 2 tracks?

There are places where the express trains overtake the locals on the system, either by outright passing them without stopping (like at Higashi Shinjuku station on the Fukutoshin line) or allowing for cross-platform transfers (like at Jyuu-ga-Oka station on the Tokyu Toyoko Line.)

[starrwulfe]

Originally Posted by quashlo

Tōkyō Metro Fukutoshin Line / Tōkyū Tōyoko Line through-services to launch March 16, 2013

I am a very happy commuter now!

[quashlo]

Originally Posted by starrwulfe

I am a very happy commuter now!

Well, I imagine it will take them some time to "acclimate" to the new schedule, just like it did when the Fukutoshin Line opened to Shibuya.

Originally Posted by Sr.Horn

¿How is possible to operate two different services in a subway line only with 2 tracks?

Miyamaedaira will be a four-track station on two separate levels. It's approximately in the middle of the line, which is the ideal arrangement to have when local and limited-stop services share track.

[2co2co]

Originally Posted by starrwulfe

I am a very happy commuter now!

But soon the entire makeover of Shibuya station whole of the surrounding area begins According to a magazine "Nikkei Architecture", the redev will take 16 years

http://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXNAS...20C12A7000000/

[ukiyo]

Ministry tells train companies to cut power use by 20%

The transport ministry on July 30 encouraged railway operators to reduce their power use by 20 percent by 2030 relative to 2010 levels.

The ministry hopes the companies will implement their own energy-saving technologies, some of which are already in development, to meet the goal.

The transport ministry set a numerical target to encourage railway operators to implement the technologies they are developing more quickly.

Sources said the ministry will also consider financial assistance from the government, because some railway operators have voiced concerns about implementation costs.

http://ajw.asahi.com/article/economy...AJ201207310043

[quashlo]

Chōfu Station pre-opening tour

Sorry for the lack of updates… Haven’t had much time to post.

But… Here’s a few teasers of the new underground Chōfu Station from a pre-opening tour on 2012.08.04, attended by members of the press and 3,000 randomly selected members of the public. Didn’t realize it, but the new underground stations will have platform doors (makes sense since it’s a new build anyways). I’m quite pleased with the design—I was expecting something more basic given that this project is being executed by the Tōkyō Metropolitan Government.

First set:
Source: http://ikiikilife-ikiikilife.blogspot.com/

[quashlo]

Second set:
Source: http://www.nire.com/

[starrwulfe]

Train platform safety doors in works

The transport ministry plans to adopt new lightweight platform safety doors at train stations to reduce installation costs, officials said Tuesday.

The current type of safety door assembly requires major platform reinforcement work to accommodate their weight.

Because of the work required, as of the end of March only 32 of all 235 stations with at least 100,000 users a day were equipped with doors to prevent people on platforms from falling onto the tracks.

New vertically opening platform doors under development will be light enough to not require reinforcement work and thus help cut installation costs drastically.

The ministry, jointly with door makers and railroads, will test the new system at selected stations in Tokyo suburbs by the end of fiscal 2012. The one-year trial will be mainly aimed at checking the safety of the new doors.
-- http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nb20120815a6.html

No locations have been announced yet, but I'm guessing it will be soon since the end of FY2012 is 7 months away. Since the article says something about vertically opening platform doors, and the need for them to be lightweight, I'm guessing the design should approximate something like these:


overhead rope platform screen gantry as seen on Gwanju Subway

[starrwulfe]

I'm kicking myself for not being able to get over to the Keiō line's Chōfu undergrounding project opening... I got tied up with appointments, but I'll be sure to check it out this week and post whatever pix I take... But there's one project I can't help but notice since I live about 100m from the tracks...

As we have just under 7 months until opening day on what will be Tokyo's biggest (and most complicated) joint thru-servicing operations, construction is at a feverish pace now.

(all proceeding images are from So-net Blog; news is compiled from my own observations along with other sources.)

Shibuya Station


Looking toward the Ikebukuro end the big wall that was here last month is gone. Also this area had been a big open platform over the two tracks where you could stand and watch trains approach from Jingu-mae/Harujuku; that's gone too. The outer platforms continue on the other side of the contreet wall here, making the outer platforms 2 car-lengths longer than the inner platforms.
This effectively makes the inner platforms serve only 8 car trains (and because the Tōyoko line's local stations aren't long enough to handle 10 car trains, the inner platforms will be for local trains only.)


Looking up at the ceiling, you'll notice they've installed the stanchions for the overhead rail (not cantenary; most Japanese subways all use something like an "overhead 3rd rail" instead of wire in the tunnels-- it's lower maintanence.)
All the platform gates are also installed and ready to go here as well.


This is the southern (Yokohama-bound) end of platform 3, looking into the newly viewable tunnel. They're installing overhead in there too.


Crossing over to Platform 4, and looking in the same direction, we see that they're working on installing the rest of the platform gates.


And finally we're looking in the same direction still, but the outer part of platform 4. This is going to be a walkway of sorts to another entrance into Shibuya Hikarie (a large Tōkyū owned building with shops and offices that just opened) and a street level entrance that hasn't opened yet IIRC.


Above ground, one big change is that the old pedestrian bridge that linked Shibuya station to Miyamasu-zaka across Meji-dori is gone! They've totally demolished it, and will likely start construction of the new Ginza line Shibuya station next year. That new station will actually be an island platform right next to Shibuya Hikarie extending out over the street. They'll need to get it to the point of being operational before they can do any reconstruction of the current complex.

Daikanyama Station


This is one of the most complex examples of construction I've ever seen. They have to rebuild half of this already compact station UNDERNEATH the existing station and at an incline; the new tunnel portal is about 200m east of here and needs to slope down at about a 20º angle starting in the middle of the current station in order to clear an overpass (that's currently an at-grade crossing)
That white plastic is protecting the new platform and workers who are crawling around down there making the new floors! The incline starts right where you see the stairway end on the platform. People are standing on plywood decking, and every night, parts of it are pulled up to work on the new floors below where workers can't crawl around on. (I've seen them doing it once)


Here's a better look.

Naka-Meguro Station


The new platform extentions are FINALLY going in. They are actually over newly reinforced bridges so it took a while to do.


As you can see here, they're just in the positioning stage while they weld the prefab sections together. They'll lower them into place soon I'm sure.

along the Seibu Ikebukuro line


A few pics of Tōkyū 5050-4000 series doing testing on the line.



Also, I've ridden on 4103F as it's running in 8-car formation on the Tōyoko line to test performance with passengers. I've also notice they've been running more 9000 series trains more... Today, I boarded nothing but 9000 series trains. They don't have any ATS/TASC equipment on them to help them line up the platform gates; I reckon these trains are being used because a lot of the 5050 series trains are over at JTRAC getting retrofitted with this stuff right now. It'd be cool to see them run 9000 series trains in the Fukutoshin subway but they'll probably end up splitting them up and running them on the Oimachi, Tamagawa or Ikegami line... Some have already been showing up over there actually.

Tōkyō Metro Yūrakuchō/Fukutoshin line interchange

The area between Senkawa and Kotake-Mukaihara stations is under heavy construction as they build new slip tunnels to eliminate the crossover that happens as trains route to-from the Yurakucho, Fukutoshin, and Seibu-Yurakucho line, making all stops at Kotake-Mukaihara cross-platform transfers, and increasing throughput. Part of the new tunnel construction is visible from Senkawa station's Yurakucho platforms.

Inbound side.



Outbound side.



As you can see, work is going at a steady pace and needs to be completed in 6 months so the new timetable can go into effect coinciding with the Toyoko line's additional trains.

[ukiyo]

Thanks for the update, seems quite complicated.

[manrush]

I wonder, has Japan ever had anything similar to the rail franchise setup that is found in Britain?

[quashlo]

Not that I know of, but I suppose you could try to draw some similarities... Newer lines in Japan are usually implemented in a type of PPP, with the infrastructure publicly-owned but the operations contracted out to a separate party—a "third-sector railway", which could be considered somewhat analogous to a "train-operating company" (TOC) in Britain.

On a national scale, the JNR was split up into different companies responsible for service in specific regions of the country similar to a franchise system, but these companies own their infrastructure, and are not strictly in the business of operating services like in Britain… There is no analogous entity in Japan to Network Rail in Britain. Likewise, comparing the regional railway networks in Tōkyō and London, there is some similarity in how specific companies have their "domains" in the metropolis, but the operators in Japan still own the majority of their infrastructure.

[ukiyo]

東急全線・全駅で自前の無線ＬＡＮ　来夏めど完了

東京急行電鉄は全線・全駅で公衆無線ＬＡＮ（構内情報通信網）サービスの提供を始める。まず９月に田園都市線の全駅で利用が可能になり、来年夏ごろには全路線の駅で対応を完了する。自前の通信設備と光回線を活用する。乗降客は駅構内やコンコースで気軽に高速インターネットサービスを使えるようになる。

　田園都市線に続き、12月に東横線、来年４月に目黒線・大井町線、来年夏をめどに池上線・東急多摩川線・世田谷線で「Ｗ…

http://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXNAS...C1EB2000/?dg=1

Tokyu plans to have wireless lan in its entire network by next summer.

[starrwulfe]

The countdown has officially started.



I found this display in a corner of Tokyu Shibuya station on the Toyoko line. The digital display shows days left until the start of interlining with the Fukutoshin line in March 2013. The cute mascot character is based on the 5000 series trains that fly the line every day. He doesn't have a name yet, so there is a naming contest it runs into the end of the month to name the little guy. Whoever wins the contest gets a 50,000 yen gift certificate for the Tokyu department store! Of course you know I'm going to try my best!



Just off to the right is the rest of the display. On the video, they are showing clips and pictures of the old Tokyu interurban service that used to run off until the late 60's.

[k.k.jetcar]

On the video, they are showing clips and pictures of the old Tokyu interurban service that used to run off until the late 60's.

That's a 5200 series leaving the Shibuya terminal on the Toyoko Line, before the overall trainshed was erected and the expressway was built over it. You can see the Toyoko Department Store in the background, it was much more prominent at that time compared to the forest of buildings that exist now.

[ukiyo]

JR East to provide free Wi-Fi at airports, stations

East Japan Railway Co. announced it will begin providing free public Wi-Fi services from Oct. 1 to provide greater Internet access for foreigners visiting Japan.

The company, known as JR East, said it decided to set up the free wireless Internet service in response to popular demand for increased Internet accessibility.

The service will be made available via JR East's Travel Service Center in Tokyo Station, and other such centers at Haneda Airport International Terminal Station and Narita Airport starting Oct. 1. The service will also be accessible from 13 JR East stations including Tokyo, Shinjuku and Akihabara.

JR East will display stickers in these places to indicate Wi-Fi hotspots. Visitors within a 50-meter radius of the sticker will be able to access the service.

Once users register their e-mail addresses, they can connect to the Internet for three hours at a time, as many times as they like. Registration can be made in English, Chinese, Korean and Japanese.

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/business/T120905003337.htm

[ukiyo]

New Tokyo Subway Line Mulled To Cut Travel Time To Airports

TOKYO (Nikkei)--The central and Tokyo governments are considering building a subway line that would speed the transit time from the heart of the capital to Haneda and Narita airports.

The plan is aimed at making Tokyo more traveler friendly at a time when other major Asian cities are improving access to local airports.

A likely proposal would call for constructing a new by-pass line directly linking Oshiage and Sengakuji stations on the Toei Asakusa underground rail line. Along the roughly 11km section, a new station would also be built near Tokyo Station.

This would allow travelers to get to Haneda airport from the envisioned station in just 18-19 minutes without transferring. Currently passengers traveling from Tokyo Station must switch trains and spend an average of 27-36 minutes getting to the airport.

For those catching flights from Narita, the travel time would be shortened to 36 minutes from 53-55 minutes at present.

The Ministry of Transport and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government will soon form a task force with railway operators to examine the project's feasibility and profitability, as well as which railroad firm would run the new line. The ministry plans to request 250 million yen in the fiscal 2013 budget to cover exploratory costs.

More: http://e.nikkei.com/e/ac/tnks/Nni201...m?slider=title

[starrwulfe]

Tokyu begin information campaign to alert passengers on through servicing for next year


These posters just started rolling out across the entire Toyoko line as of this weekend. The date mark 16 2013 is prominently shown. What interested me though is the fact that in the lower right hand corner in Japanese it says "from every station you can get as far as Ikebukuro". I wonder this mean that even local trains will not turn around and shibuya station. well we have 6 more months to go so I guess we will find out a little bit before then when the schedules are published

[k.k.jetcar]

According to this Tokyu press release (page3), 4 trains/hour will terminate/originate at Shibuya.

http://www.tokyu.co.jp/contents_inde...f/120724-1.pdf

[starrwulfe]

True. That means that most local trains will continue on to Wako-shi then. Awesome. I like taking the slow trains home from work-- means I can sit down and get some sleep all the way to Hiyoshi going home...

Also according to this, it should take about 40 minutes for me to get from Hiyoshi to Shiki station on the Commuter Express. That saves me 30 minutes!! I can SLEEP more!!