JAPAN | Urban Transport Compilation

[quashlo]

Tōkyō Metro 15000 series enters service

First unit entered service May 7.

Inside a train from Takadanobaba to Nakano:


Source: tobu2181 on YouTube

Departing Nakano bound for Myōden:


Source: tobu2181 on YouTube

Departing Nakano bound for Tōyōchō:


Source: tobu2181 on YouTube

[quashlo]

Station daycare centers continue expansion
http://mytown.asahi.com/kanagawa/new...00231005260002

Movements to establish nursery schools and student daycare clubs outside stations or inside station tenant buildings have been surfacing frequently in Kanagawa Prefecture. And the entities behind the efforts are private railway companies. Targeting hardworking members of the younger generation, the railways are hoping to increase the attractiveness of living along their rail lines. Now, the magic phrase for private railways is “raising children.”

Camp and test prep programs: Unique student clubs
Inside the station tenant building at Tama Plaza Station (Aoba Ward, Yokohama City) on the Tōkyū Den’en Toshi Line, a student club targeting elementary school children will make a debut. Billed as “student daycare directly connected to the station” and a “community space focused on children,” the facility is a keystone of the Tama Plaza Terrace: Gate Plaza Phase 3 retail mall at the station, scheduled to open this autumn.

The company planning the student club is Tōkyū Corporation subsidiary Kids Base Camp (KBC; HQ: Setagaya Ward, Tōkyō), which operates student clubs at 14 locations focused primarily along the Tōkyū rail network.

The capacity of the Tama Plaza facility is 50 to 55 students, and daycare service can be extended to 10:00 pm in the evenings. The student club picks up children from their elementary school and brings them to the facility, and prepares programs such as English classes, farming fieldtrips, and outdoor camping. While the cost is more expensive than typical student clubs, at between ¥42,000 and ¥64,050 (five days a week), all the facilities are doing well. KBC spokespersons were not quiet about their success: “There are definitely more than a few mothers who are looking for service that you can’t find elsewhere.”

According to Tōkyū Corporation, they are also planning a nursery school at a new mall in Tama Plaza. Konishi Ikurō, a section chief assistant for the railway, says, “The rate of population increase of residents in their 20s and 30s is high in this area. We are hoping to attract the young families who live along the rail line.”

Meanwhile, Sagami Railway (Sōtetsu) Group will launch its fourth Yokohama City location of student club Sōtetsu Elfi Kids in July at Seya Station (Seya Ward, Yokohama City) on the Sōtetsu Line. The railway is making learning its selling point, billing private middle school exams as its goal. The railway is accepting applications for 16 students up to sixth grade for the new facility.

Since the beginning, the railway has been teaming up with cram schools, building up its expertise. In April 2007, the railway opened its first student clubs at Futamatagawa Station and Ryokuen Toshi Station, followed by another location at Tsurugamine Station. All three locations are performing well, and both the Futamatagawa and Ryokuen Toshi locations are at capacity.

Since 2001, Sōtetsu has been managing daycare facilities as well, opening three licensed facilities near stations and one Yokohama-recognized facility.

“Management of these facilities isn’t easy, but we want to increase the value of living along our network,” says Hiratsuka Daiji, general affairs section chief for railway group member company Sōtetsu Amenity Life. Neighborhoods along the Sōtetsu network are experiencing population aging, and securing younger residents is an issue of critical concern. “We are hoping to create as many facilities as possible and develop neighborhoods that today’s children will want to live in 20 years from now,” says Hiratsuka.

Picking up children on the commute home—“station daycare” growing in popularity
Keihin Electric Express Railway (Keikyū) isn’t falling behind either, with its Keikyū Kids Land Idogaya Daycare Center in Minami Ward, Yokohama City. During evenings, guardians come in waves, with the arrival of each train, to pick up their children.

This is a “station daycare center” located within the paid area of the station. With 59 students from newborns to five-year-olds, the center is virtually at capacity. With the opening of the center at 7:00 am, many guardians come to drop off their children before boarding a train for the commute to work.

The two-story daycare center building is bright and clean. The daycare center garden abutting the station building is somewhat narrow, constrained by adjacent apartment buildings, but the schoolchildren run around happily. The surrounding area is full of parks, and the children go out on walks daily.

Railway group member company Keikyū Service began its daycare facility business in spring 2000, opening a non-licensed daycare facility with capacity for approx. 30 students near Kanazawa Bunko Station in Kanazawa Ward. The company later expanded the business as the dilemma of young children without proper daycare became an increasing problem for Yokohama City. By making active use of Keikyū-owned station tenant buildings and idle land near train stations, the company later opened daycare centers at Kami-Ōoka and Kami-Nagaya Stations, in addition to the one at Idogaya. All four facilities are now licensed daycare facilities and extremely popular, with a wait list for open spaces.

The Kami-Ōoka Daycare Center is located beneath the elevated railway tracks near the station. Trains roll by every few minutes, but even with the windows fully open, there’s little train noise to be heard. The center is narrow, following the shape of the elevated viaduct, but the layout is efficient. “We’re full, with 62 students. And thankfully, it’s rare that guardians will drop their children from the program mid-year,” says principal Takano Yoshimi.

Wakutsu Kazuo, amenities business department chief for Keikyū Service, says, “Daycare isn’t a business to be in for the money, but it can help increase the value of living along the railway line. We’ll be watching market conditions, and if there’s a need, we’ll look to expand our business.”

[k.k.jetcar]

Thanks again quashlo for all the info and updates. I especially liked the TV program, as that one is not broadcast up here in Hokkaido. Very interesting about the proposed Kita Umeda-Shin Osaka Hankyu link. It's remarkable the number of projects Hankyu has been doing or will do, it reminds me of Tokyu's seemingly constant upgrades of their infrastructure in Tokyo.

[nouveau.ukiyo]

Yes, thanks again for all the updates. I very much admire your translation skills. What is your native language, if you don't mind me asking?

[quashlo]

English (US).

I can't take all the credit, though, since I have some assistance:

http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/c...wwwjdic.cgi?1C
(Best JPN-ENG dictionary out there)

[dale88]

Thanks for all the pictures, the information and videos about japanese railways. By the way I have a question, I saw that Keisei will soon open a new narita line via the Hokuso line that will allow trains to go as fast as 160 km/h.

So what will happen to the already existing keisei narita airport line, especially with the trains used on the current Skyliner express service.

[quashlo]

See here:
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpo...postcount=1286

Service to / from Narita Airport via the Keisei Main Line will still remain, but on a smaller scale than currently. They will still have a limited express train (no extra fare), as well as a version of the existing Skyliner known as the "City Liner" that only runs hourly during the midday and has an additional stop at Aoto.

[nouveau.ukiyo]

Originally Posted by quashlo

English (US).

I can't take all the credit, though, since I have some assistance:

http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/c...wwwjdic.cgi?1C
(Best JPN-ENG dictionary out there)

I use this dictionary often as well...but still, you got some pretty impressive skills. The number and length of translated articles you post are immense! That's some crazy dedication man! It must take a good deal of time; I'm actually curious to know as to why you put in so much effort...

[quashlo]

Yeah, good question... Not so sure of the answer myself. But I work in transportation / urban planning, so reading all these articles gives me some creative ideas that I can use in my career (or a least I hope so). Japan has many unique situations in regards to transportation that aren't found in many in other places:

• the private railway model (department stores, amusement parks, zoos, sports stadiums, hotels, convenience stores, supermarkets, office buildings, etc. all owned by the railway)
• high degree of competition between lines
• complexity of train services (different stopping patterns, different passenger markets, etc.)
• high degree of schedule complexity (interlining, passing, coupling / decoupling, etc.)
  etc.

Just following this forum in general also helps keep me abreast of the latest news in public transport around the world and gives me an edge over others in my industry.

[orulz]

Originally Posted by quashlo

Narita Sky Access to open July 17
http://www.keisei.co.jp/keisei/kouhou/news/22-017.pdf



Interesting that they appear to be reviving (or at least attempting to revive) the Narita-Haneda direct services. According to the press release, this journey will still take 100 minutes.

Don't be so modest Quashlo, your work is phenomenal. Anybody who has ever tried to do this knows that actually translating an article into something that is consistent and makes proper sense in English is much harder than just reading the article.

I wonder has there been any official updates on the Asakusa Bypass Line? That project was going to bring that 100 minute trip down to under an hour, including a stop at a so-called "shin-tokyo" station to be built underground nearby to Tokyo Station.

[quashlo]

Thanks.

I don't think there's been any news on the Asakusa Bypass Line recently—I think the MLIT is still continuing with their cost analysis / engineering studies of the line.

[quashlo]

Mitsubishi and Hitachi team to tap urban rail market overseas
http://www.mhi.co.jp/news/story/100622.html

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI; CEO: Ōmiya Hideaki) and Hitachi, Ltd. (CEO: Nakanishi Hiroaki) have signed a basic agreement to join forces on projects involving urban rail systems for overseas clients, with the aim of strengthening competitiveness in the global market and expanding our business in the industry. Our two companies will now work together on efforts starting from marketing to construction and maintenance for urban rail projects, where we can take advantage of our overseas competitiveness.

Currently, it's forecasted that growth in the social infrastructure market, including power systems and railway systems, will be concentrated in developing countries. But even in developed countries and regions which have already established some level of social infrastructure, there is a demand for the renovation of such social infrastructure, supported by high-performance information transmission systems.

In particular, eyes are turning towards railway systems—one form of "green mobility"—as a mode of transportation with low environmental load but the capability to move large volumes of passengers. In addition, the market for railway systems overseas is expanding, with new construction, network expansions, and upgrades through rolling stock and systems improvements becoming more and more active in most regions of the world, including Europe, Asia, the Middle East, North America, and Central and South America.

The latest agreement between MHI and Hitachi is in response to these market trends, and will advance cooperation between our two companies on overseas urban railway projects, in everything from suitability and marketing to development, design, manufacturing, engineering, construction, and maintenance. In addition, by being able to offer the product lineups of both firms, our two companies will be able to meet a complex array of railway system needs for urban transport, including commuter rolling stock such as subway trains; "new transit" systems including fully-automatic trains such as the APM (automated people mover) and light rail transit (LRT); monorails; and other systems.

Both MHI and Hitachi possess cutting-edge products, technology, and knowhow in general railway systems as well as the various composite elements, including rolling stock, signalling, power, and rail. In particular, MHI's technology development capabilities, experience in overseas projects, plant engineering knowhow, and partnerships across a wide variety of fields, together with Hitachi's railway systems hardware and software development capabilities and systems engineering capabilities have earned much trust in the industry.

Under this latest agreement, MHI and Hitachi will put each other's experience and knowhow to good use in actively expanding our railway systems business into overseas markets.

[quashlo]

Blue lighting to be installed at Nippō Line grade crossings in Beppu City
http://mytown.asahi.com/oita/news.ph...00001006300003

In an effort to prevent railway suicides and accidents at grade crossings, JR Kyūshū’s Ōita Branch Office has installed blue illumination—believed to have a calming effect on people—near 13 grade crossings between Kamegawa and Beppu Stations on the Nippō Line in Beppu City. Spokspersons for the Ōita Branch Office say, “It’s generally believed that scientific proof of the benefits is difficult to find, but we want to do everything we can to prevent suicides, accidents, and the resulting service disruptions.”

Fluorescent lights emitting blue light were installed on existing poles near grade crossings. The one to two lights at each grade crossing illuminate the surrounding area from sunset to sunrise. The project is a three-year trial installation, and the lights first began operating on March 26. The Ōita Branch Office says it also plans on installing the lights at another two grade crossings this fiscal year, between Beppu and Higashi-Beppu Stations.

The track section selected for the installation has a high frequency of accidents and suicides. Of the 59 railway suicides that occurred within the Branch Office’s area of jurisdiction between 1999 and 2009, 13 (over 20 percent) occurred on the tracks between Kamegawa and Higashi-Beppu Station. With regards to accidents at grade crossings during the same time period, of the 49 cases in the Branch Office’s area, seven occurred on this section of track.

Blue lighting is spreading across the country. JR West introduced the lighting in December 2006, and JR West has also installed it at all stations on the Yamanote Line. In Kyūshū, blue lighting has already been installed at seven grade crossings on the JR Kagoshima Line between Kyūsandai-mae and Hakozaki Stations in Fukuoka Prefecture.

[quashlo]

Kumamoto Station plaza to become an architectural masterpiece
http://www.asahi.com/travel/rail/new...007030039.html

In an effort to increase awareness of the design for the Kumamoto Station area, which is awaiting the opening of the full length of the Kyūshū Shinkansen next spring, the architects and others held a symposium for Kumamoto Prefecture residents on July 2 in Kumamoto City. As many as 350 people participated in the symposium, including residents living near the station and students studying architecture. The symposium revealed the intentions and inside story behind the design.

The east and west station plazas and police boxes have been selected as part of Kumamoto Artopolis, which enlists famous architects to design public buildings. The eye-grabbing piece is the police box outside the station, designed by Italian-born Astrid Klein. The police box is a friendly, but unique design, with a second-floor exterior that features round cutouts similar to a polka-dot pattern, while the inside will be painted in rainbow colors.

Panelist and Kumamoto Artopolis commissioner Itō Toyoo was particularly eager for the project: “I think we’ll have a station plaza that can’t be found anywhere else in the country. I have no doubt that it will become a destination to visit for architects and others interested architecture coming from Asia or around the world.”

[quashlo]

Bus connections a major issue for new Kyūshū Shinkansen stations
http://www.nishinippon.co.jp/nnp/item/178935

On June 17, it was revealed that Chikugo City mayor Nakamura Seiichi has requested that Nishitetsu (HQ: Fukuoka City) and Horikawa Bus (HQ: Yame City) run bus services to the Kyūshū Shinkansen's Chikugo Funagoya Station (Tsushima, Chikugo City), scheduled to open in March of next year.

According to the city, the mayor requested that Nishitetsu extend its current bus service between Nishitetsu Kurume Station and Funagoya (National Route 209) by approx. 1.5 km to serve Chikugo Funagoya Station. The mayor also asked Horikawa Bus to establish a new line running between Nishitetsu Yanagawa Station, Chikugo Funagoya Station, and the Fukuoka Prefecture Chikugo Regional Park entrance (Oshima, Chikugo City).

The city began concrete discussions with the two operators starting last fiscal year. In order for the route extension and new bus line to make it in time for the opening of the new station, the discussions must be wrapped up by the end of the year, but the two companies are asking for additional funding to compensate operating deficit in the event the lines end up in the red. As a result, an agreement has yet to be reached.

In a response, Mayor Nakamura hinted that he would continue talks with the two bus operators: "With only private auto and taxi access, we'll have difficulty getting people to use the station. We're going to need a little more time."

Fixed-route bus services stopping at new stations on the Kyūshū Shinkansen have also become an issue of concern in Ōmuta City.

The only buses currently passing by Shin-Ōmuta Station (Iwamoto, Ōmuta City) are on Nishitetsu Bus' Yoshino Line. Ōmuta City had petitioned Nishitetsu Bus to extend the Yoshino Line to serve the station, but was told in late March of this year that the Nunowada – Nankan (9.25 km) section of the Yoshino Line, including the route portion passing by the new station, is scheduled to be eliminated at the end of April next year.

As a result, the city is discussing a vision for transport access between the station and the city's urbanized areas, including strategies to preserve the Yoshino Line.

[quashlo]

Nishitetsu likely to overtake Love FM radio in northern Kyūshū
http://www.asahi.com/business/update...006050016.html

On June 5, it was revealed that discussions are underway to transfer the broadcast business of radio station Kyūshū International FM (Love FM; HQ: Chūō Ward, Fukuoka City), which broadcasts across the northern Kyūshū region in multiple languages, to Nishi-Nippon Railroad (Nishitetsu; HQ: Fukuoka City). Nishitetsu already has community broadcasts under its Tenjin FM radio station, but Nishitetsu is considering accepting the offer as a means of broadcasting information about Fukuoka’s Tenjin area, where an increasing concentration of retail facilities is attracting people from all across Kyūshū, across a wider area.

Kyūshū International FM was established in August 1996 with ¥499 million in investment capital from Fukuoka City, Kita-Kyūshū City, Fukuoka Prefecture, and major local firms including Nishitetsu and Saibu Gas. Broadcasts begin in April 1997. The biggest shareholder is Fukuoka City, with 10 percent ownership of the radio station.

The studio was set up inside the main building of the Iwataya department store in Tenjin, Fukuoka. The station broadcasts in ten different languages, including Japanese, English, Korean, Chinese, Tagalog, and Spanish and its broadcast zone covers all of Fukuoka Prefecture, as well as parts of Saga, Kumamoto, Nagasaki, Ōita, and Yamaguchi Prefecture.

According to spokespersons for the radio station, advertising revenue dropped substantially after 2008 as a result of the economic downturn. Revenue (unconsolidated) at the end of FY2009 (March 2010) reached ¥292 million, the fourth consecutive year of declining revenue. While the station took efforts to reduce costs, as a result of cumulative deficits, the station is still insolvent on its debt.

Although the station is past the typical ten-year mark to upgrade its broadcast equipment, the prospects for assembling the necessary capital for equipment investments are unclear, and its multilingual broadcast business in the northern Kyūshū region will now likely be transferred to Nishitetsu.

The station is currently evaluating employment options for the six company employees and two contract employees.

Official website of Love FM:
http://lovefm.co.jp/pc/ln_top.php

[quashlo]

JR Kyūshū to expand SUGOCA’s presence
http://www.asahi.com/national/update...006230019.html

JR Kyūshū will expand the number of stations accepting SUGOCA, the railway’s IC farecard with electronic money functionality, to 270 stations, approximately twice the current number. With the addition of Nagasaki and Kagoshima Prefectures, passengers will now be able to use SUGOCA to board and alight trains in six prefectures on Kyūshū. As infrastructure investment and staff would be required, the expansion will occur after FY2012.

SUGOCA debuted in March 2009, and can now be used at 146 stations focused in Fukuoka Prefecture and surrounding Saga, Kumamoto, and Ōita Prefectures, with 360,000 cards in circulation. Use of the card for payments at stores is expanding throughout Kyūshū, but after the expansion, passengers will also now be able to use SUGOCA for fare payments at approximately half of the railway’s stations.

Afterwards, the railway will put its weight behind efforts to increase passenger convenience, including increasing the number of affiliate stores accepting SUGOCA electronic money and allowing use of the card on limited express trains. The railway says it is currently not envisioning expansion of the system into stations in Miyazaki Prefecture.

In addition, JR Kyūshū will also allow the card to be used at convenience stores and mini-stops starting in July of this year. As a result, the 137 stores throughout Kyūshū currently accepting the card for payment will jump to 5,555 stores.

[quashlo]

JR Kyūshū inks deal with Indian IT firm
http://www.asahi.com/business/update...006080017.html

On June 8, JR Kyūshū held a press conference in Fukuoka City, announcing that it had teamed up with Indian information technology (IT) firm Patni Computer Systems to launch a joint venture business in corporate financial management and manufacturing systems.

The new company, JR Kyūshū Patni Systems, will launch in July with ¥100 million in capital. The headquarters will be located in Hakata Ward, Fukuoka City. JR Kyūshū System Solutions (JRQSS; HQ: Fukuoka City), which handles railway-related computer systems including JR’s IC farecard SUGOCA will have a 51 percent stake, and Patni will have a 49 percent stake in the new company. The president of the new company will be selected by JRQSS.

Faced with struggling revenues as a result of an aging population and discounts on expressway tolls, JR is accelerating the diversification of its business, such as in retail.

Up until now, JRQSS’s primary client was almost exclusively JR Kyūshū. At the press conference, JR Kyūshū president Karaike Kōji emphasized, “We are hoping our group businesses individually work to expand their reach into new areas, contributing to the growth of JR as a whole. JRQSS can provide a high level of IT services to clients outside of JR Kyūshū Group.” Karaike also expressed his hopes for the deal: “I hope to eventually expand annual revenues from our IT business to several billion yen.”

Patni was founded in 1971, entering the Japanese market in 1995. The company’s revenues in FY2009 were approx. ¥60 billion, but only five percent of the total is in the Japanese market. At the press conference, Patni CEO Jeya Kumar was hopeful of the new joint effort: “With this deal, we can expand our wins for manufacturing management systems and other products.” Kumar also remarked that the high number of factories in Kyūshū was also a factor in deciding to work together with JR Kyūshū.

[quashlo]

Fukuoka City Subway to introduce station numbering
http://kyushu.yomiuri.co.jp/entame/r...OYS8T00236.htm

The June session of the Fukuoka City Council held an open question and answer period on June 16. The Fukuoka City Transportation Bureau expressed its plan to consider introducing a “station numbering” system that pairs station names with numbers in order to make it easier for foreigners and other passengers to use the Fukuoka City Subway.

“I see foreigners who are clearly having trouble with the name of their station. Shouldn’t we introduce a station numbering system immediately?” remarked members of the City Council. In response, transportation operations administrator Kano Itaru said, “Such a move will help in creating urban development that has potential to attract international visitors. We will now be taking active steps in evaluating how to implement such a system.”

According to the City Transportation Bureau, station numbering schemes have been introduced primarily in cities with a large foreign tourist presence, including Tōkyō, Kyōto, and Sapporo. The most common scheme involves taking a letter of the alphabet indicating the name of the line and adding a number at the end. The system is likely to be introduced on all three lines and 35 stations in the subway. No date for implementation has yet been finalized.

[quashlo]

JR West posts first monthly year-over-year increase in revenue in 22 months
http://www.asahi.com/kansai/travel/n...006180039.html

On June 17, JR West announced that transport-related revenues during May showed a 3.7 percent increase above May 2009, marking the railway's first monthly year-over-year increase in 22 months, since July 2008. At a press conference the same day, JR West president Sasaki Takayuki remarked, "While we haven't returned to the same levels as two years ago, the decline has come to an end."

The railway says that the reasons for the year-over-year increase are partially due to a bounceback in ridership from the low passenger numbers in May of last year as a result of the swine influenza scare. However, transport-related revenue for June 1 to June 16 also posted a 0.8 percent year-over-year increase, and it’s expected that the railway will post year-over-year increases for two months straight. It's believed that the railway's groupwide efforts at promotional campaigns in coordination with the 1300th Anniversary of Heijō-kyō Capital festivities have paid off, and ridership at Nara Station posted monthly year-over-year increases of 35 percent for May and 27 percent for June (June 1-15).

However, transport revenues are 8.8 percent down when compared to May 2008 and 8.6 percent down when compared to June 2008 (June 1-16), indicating that revenue has yet to return to the levels seen before the downturn in the economy. Sasaki said the railway will actively expand its planned tour programs, "working to create new passenger demands."