By Anthony Robins
from 'Bullet-in' #55 July - October 2005 edition
NEWS UPDATE July - October 2005 by Anthony Robins
New Faces Tetsudo Daiya Joho/Tetsudo Fan
Tokyu has reformed a ten car type 5000 used on its
Denentoshi Line and followed JR East's lead in using
six door cars. The change sees new 'saha' cars 5 and 8
with six doors and eight other cars from the original
set.
In spite of a further cutback in its mileage on 31st
March leaving it with services just between Nanao and
Anamizu, the railway introduced four new 'NT200' cars
from 1st April. With a capacity of 36 (seated) and 76
(standing), the NT200's livery is blue (lower bodyside
and roof) and white with grey windowsides between
them.
JR West has introduced its own type 700 based 'Doctor
Yellow', numbered 923-3001 to 3007 (M+M+M+T+M+M+M),
following JR Tokai's which was introduced in 2000.
JR West has started test running of its first
seven-car 321 this Autumn, with 36 sets to be
delivered in 2006. Due to operate on the Kobe and
Kyoto (Tokaido) Lines, they will replace
type 201s and 205s. It is an unpainted type with blue
stripes, reminiscent of the type 207 which has been in
the media's focus since the Amagasaki accident.
Thai State Railways started operation on 12th March of
their ex JR West type 14 set. Sporting the original
blue livery but with yellow ends, the first working
was a seasonal overnight limited express from Bangkok
to Chiang Mai.
Three more E3s Tetsudo Journal
March to July saw the delivery of three more E3 Akita
Shinkansen sets. The first, set R24, arrived at Akita
from Kawasaki Heavy Industries on 21st March, with
haulage by brown liveried EF65 57. R25 was due to
follow on 26th June and R26 on 11th July.
Refreshed Tetsudo Daiya Joho
Refurbishment of JR Kyushu's 3 five-car and 5
seven-car Sonic 883s has begun. There is a new
exterior colour, a darker metallic blue, and change to
orange-brown interior, albeit still with more subdued
'Mickey Mouse' shape ears!
New Stations Tetsudo Journal
Opened in September 2005 was a new station, Kyudai
Gakkentoshi, on the Chikuhi Line used by JR Kyushu and
Fukuoka Underground between Imajuku and Susenji.
Construction starts in 2006 for a planned opening in
Spring 2008 of a new Sanyo line station west of Himeji
at Harima Katsuhara between Agaho and Aboshi. With
more than a hundred trains due to stop there in each
direction, expected number of daily passengers is
5,000.
Spring 2007 will see the branch of the Osaka Monorail
extended from Osaka Byoin-mae (Osaka Hospital) 4.2 kms
to Saito-Nishi, with an intermediate station at
Toyokawa. It is later planned to extend it another
two stations.
A major new station building is underway ready for
extension of the Kyushu Shinkansen with planned
completion in Spring 2011 at Hakata, JR Kyushu's main
station in Fukuoka. With 10 above ground floors and
three basement floors, it will have a total area of
approximately 200,000 square metres. Total cost is
between sixty and seventy billion yen.
Centenarians Tetsudo Fan
Trains on both the Hanshin system and Meitetsu's Seto
Line (the former 'Setoden') have been carrying
nameboards commemorating their 100 years of operation.
Looking Back Tetsudo Fan
Running from 5th April through to November 2008,
Kintetsu's 3-car set 623/563/523 is back in the
company's former all-red livery used on non limited
expresses. It operates on the 1067mm Yoro Line from
Ogaki to Kuwana.
Going Ahead The Japan Times
22nd May saw a groundbreaking ceremony at Hakodate to
mark the start of work on the inter island shinkansen
line linking Shin-Aomori and Shin-Hakodate, first
announced in 1972. The construction cost of the 149
kms line which will pass through the 54 kms Seikan
Tunnel is expected to be 470 billion yen, with
two-thirds coming from the national government and a
third coming from local governments. Journey time is
expected to be 40 minutes. Work on the Toyama to
Kanazawa section of the Hokuriku Shinkansen also
started on 4th June.
One year on Tetsudo Journal
The 1st anniversary of the Kyushu Shinkansen was
celebrated on 13th March. During its first year
trains carried 3,228,884 passengers who were very
evenly spread in direction (1,615,028 down and
1,613,856 up) and quite evenly spread through the
year, with the first million reached on 15th July
(115th day), the second million reached on 22nd
October (224th day) and the third
million reached on 15th February (340th day).
The Tsukuba Express Tetsudo Journal
24th August saw the start of operation of the Tsukuba
Express over the 58.3 kilometres between Akihabara and
Tsukuba. The pattern of services consists of three
types: Kaisoku (Rapid), with seven stops en route and
covering it in 45 minutes, and the Kukan Kaisoku (Area
Rapid), with fourteen stops, including all those after
Moriya, together giving two trains an hour. Moriya
itself is the terminus for the four hourly stopping
services. 5th February saw a ceremony at Akihabara
Station unveiling its 'Spiify' character.
Now and Then Chunichi Shimbun
After initial teething problems, the 'Linimo' linking
Fujigaoka (Nagoya Underground's Higashiyama Line) and
Banpaku-Yakusa (Aichi Loop Line) saw ridership
increase from a daily average of 45,923 in March (6th
to 31st) to 80,766 in April and 97,129 in May, with a
peak of 120,000 on 3rd May. Obviously, this reflects
heavy use during the Aichi International Expo and
projected use in the post-Expo future is in the range
31,500 to 35,000.
Tram Developments
Tetsudo Fan/Tetsudo Journal/Asahi Shimbun
Tosa Dentetsu, operator of trams in Kochi, now has a
new track across its central Kochi crossover, allowing
direct running from Kochi Ekimae (Kochi Station) to
Ino in both directions, with 18 daily (16 on holidays)
services between the station and Kencho-mae
(prefectural offices). A new stop is provided to allow
trams coming from the station to stop just after
negotiating the new link. Another recent development
at Tosaden is that its 702 has been repainted in the
livery it operated in at Shimonoseki until 1971.
Also provided with a new stop from 31st March is the
centre of Toyohashi. Extension of the system into the
station had created a greater gap in stops and shops
in the centre were not well served. The 33.6 million
yen cost of the new stop comes from a combination of
national government (11.2), city government (17.1) and
Toyotetsu (5.3). An 'okaeri' (return home) ticket is
available from participating shops for 150 yen (80 yen
for children).
Former Kobe City car 1155 is looking much smarter
after refurbishment which was completed in mid-April.
It is an outdoor exhibit at the city's Motoyama
Transport Park in that city's Higashi-Nada ward.
Delays, delays The Japan Times/Yomiuri Shimbun
At 0525 on 25th May a fault with a signal in the
Yokohama Station area for Tokyo bound trains on JR
East's Tokaido Line led to it remaining at red. This
was followed by a similar fault on the Yokosuka Line
in the same area. Trains were affected in a large
area ranging from Odawara to Utsunomiya and an
estimated 175,000 passengers on 157 trains were
affected over a period of four hours. Passengers
transferred to other train operators and buses.
27th May saw Chuo Line timetables disrupted when three
Tokyo elementary school boys aged 11 threw stones at
an evening train crossing the Tama River at Hino. A
window was broken and two passengers were slightly
injured. Six trains were cancelled and a further
eleven were delayed, affecting an estimated 13,000
passengers.
An early morning earthquake which occurred at 0416 in
Kumamoto Prefecture on 3rd June delayed Kyushu
Shinkansen trains and ten early services were
cancelled on local lines while tracks were inspected.
Normal service resumed from 0645.
Reflecting its scenic but rural environment, just two
passengers were on a four-car train on JR East's
Tadami Line near Aizukawaguchi Station when a girder
of the Kamiigusa Bridge which was being replaced
dropped onto the train at around 2125 on 9th June.
The roof of the train was damaged but nobody was
injured.
More on their way out Tetsudo Journal
Hokkaido's only 3rd-sector line, the Hokkaido Chihoku
Kogen Tetsudo, which was covered on the Summer 2001
JRS tour, is now due to close in April 2006.
Passengers who peaked at an annual one million have
dropped to fewer than half of that and it faces a loss
of more than 400 million yen. Replacement will be by
buses.
Kobe Dentetsu (Kobe Electric Railway) ceased use of
its Kikusuiyama station, one stop south of its depot
and junction at Suzurandai on 25th March, first opened
in October 1940.
Making up the difference Tetsudo Journal
Faced with loss of revenue from cement traffic
(Sumitomo Osaka Cement), the third-sector Tarumi
Railway in Gifu Prefecture increased its fares by an
average of 19.5% on 1st April, the first increase
except those related to consumption tax. Ogaki to
Motosu rose from 420 yen to 510 yen, while a journey
along the whole line rose from 830 yen to 900 yen.
Hanging On Yomiuri Shimbun
The Amagasaki crash has reinforced the need for more
ways for passengers to hang on. While the average
congestion rate on trains operated by private railways
in the Tokyo area decreased from 238% in 1965 to 152%
in 2002, the average area allowed for a standing
passenger is just 0.3 square metres. Speed of
services has also accelerated during this time. JR
East carried out a questionnaire of 20,000 passengers
on its Chuo Line in October 2004 and responses led to
the company installing more hand straps and handrails
to hold onto. Other companies had previously carried
out similar measures, including Keihin Kyuko and Toei
(Tokyo municipal subway), while Kintetsu, Tobu and
Tokyu have installed more child-friendly longer hand
straps.
Remembering Yomiuri Shimbun
A memorial service was held on 8th March 2005 to mark
five years since the Hibiya Line which killed 5
passengers and injured 64. While Tokyo Metro
executives were there, none of the victims' family
members have attended the annual commemorations.