We've heard lots of stories about the Tokyo Subway system. What is it?
It's Big
There are 13 subway lines serving 285 stations covering 204 kilometers (125 miles) with a daily ridership of 9.3 million people. By comparison, Boston has 4 subway lines serving 51 stations covering 61 kilometers (38 miles) with a daily ridership of 1.3 million people. (Note that neither numbers include buses, commuter rail or light rail.
It's Complicated
Here's the subway map:
 |
| Need I say more? |
What's most interesting is that four of the subway lines are owned by one company and nine are owned by another company. They operate on separate rails though they share some subway stations. They do not accept transfers from the other company so a "simple" transfer from one line to the other might involve buying a new ticket.
Imagine the MBTA in Boston. Imagine the Green Line owned by one company and the Red, Orange and Blue by another company. They share Park Street Station but have completely separate ticketing and turnstiles. Oh, and the MBTA commuter rail is another company, as is the Silver Line and the Mattapan trolley. And don't get me started on buses!
The Stations are Big
 |
| Station map showing 19 exits (I think) |
A typical station has more than a dozen exits. These are not just exits on the four corners of an intersection; some exits may be two blocks away (500 meters or a third of a mile.) Some underground arcades connecting nearby stations are even longer.
 |
| At rush hour this would be packed with people |
Many stations serve four different subway lines; one serves five.
We made one transfer (inside one station) with a suitcase: we walked 800 feet, went up or down four flights of stairs totaling 60 steps. That seems pretty typical and certainly not long.
 |
| Multiple levels; be sure and take the right set of stairs! |
 |
| An escalator that goes up, then level, then up again |
Multiple Stations cause Multiple Headaches
One big station is called Shinjuku. But there are also nearby stations named Shinjuku-nishiguchi, Shinjuku-sanchome, Shinjuku-gyoeinmae, Nishi-shinjuku, Nishi-shinjuku-gochome and Seibu-shinjuku. It's possible that all of these are connected underground
. Don't quote me: we got very, very lost in this network of stations.
It's Crowded
Over 9 million people ride the subway every day. The trains are crowded, especially at rush hour. Some trains have 10 cars and the trains come very frequently (every couple of minutes) so they can move a lot of people.
Because it's so crowded, they have a "Women Only" car during rush hour
And Yet, It's Manageable
If you know how to ride the MBTA in Boston, you can ride the Tokyo Subway. You'll walk a lot, make a mistake here or there and walk some more, but you will get where you're going. They make it easy for you. There are signs in English and the stops are numbered. You can easily figure out that if you're in station M10 and you're going to M13 you have three stops to go on the train that's going towards higher numbers.
People are Orderly
The subway cars stop at exactly the same place every time. Some stations have safety gates in front of the doors. There are markers on the floor showing where to stand while you wait for the train so that you don't block people exiting the train. When the train comes, everyone waits for passengers to leave the train before getting on. If there are too many people to fit on the train, people wait on the platform for the next train.
 |
| Lined up, waiting for the gates to open... |
 |
| ...letting people off... |
 |
| ...then getting on board... |
 |
| ...and finally the doors and gates close. |
People are Quiet and Considerate
Mobile phones are banned, of course. People will talk, but not often and not loudly. And everyone is asked to be considerate of others:
The subway cars have displays showing the current station, the next station, and other helpful information, in English and in Japanese.
Finally, for all the crowds, it's remarkably quiet during rush hour:
No comments:
Post a Comment