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Post by orienteer on Dec 4, 2015 20:33:30 GMT
Saw a Japanese programme about the new E235 trains for the Yamanote line. Briefly, the line is 34km long and uses 24 trains clockwise, 23 anticlockwise, giving a train every 2min 20 sec, each 11 cars long. Every train has sensors to check the overhead and track for faults, and there is an app so passengers can check the temperature and loading of each car in every train. Many digital displays inside. From my experience they tell you which side the doors will open at the next station, and show where all the platform exits are. PEDs are gradually being introduced, so the horizontal green stripe (each line has a unique colour) has been replaced by colouring the doors, the most visible part of the train behind the PEDs, which are waist high.
At each end of each car the floor is pink, to denote the wheelchair/buggie spaces and seats for the infirm.
The E235s will be introduced over the next few years, the old stock being cascaded to other JR lines.
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Post by spsmiler on Dec 4, 2015 23:16:06 GMT
I bet their real-time information includes a route map with every station that the train will pass on that specific journey illuminating.
I've seen this on other trains (eg: DART, Dublin) and it makes life so much simpler for the passengers. More than anything else this is what is lacking on London's S Stock. Especially the S7s which operate over many services and by having two separate sets of maps in the same train confuse passengers who are not local.
Simon
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Post by snoggle on Dec 4, 2015 23:38:46 GMT
I've used the Yamanote line on both visits to Tokyo. It is extremely busy but very efficient. In London we run for trains all the time as if they're the last train on earth. In Tokyo I quickly learnt that the trains are very frequent and reliable and stopped hurrying for trains. The Yamanote Line is extremely useful and probably the most recognisable line in the City. The Chuo Line (east - west) is probably second in terms of recognition. Obviously the subway networks are separate.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 5, 2015 2:01:04 GMT
I loved getting around by railways in Tokyo a few weeks back (and as far as Nikko partly by shinkansen plus Fuijsan) as a complete newbie to the city I loved how the in train (bilingual) information systems, with upcoming stations and journey times. this was particularly helpful as I was travelling in the Chou rapid a lot and needed to know if the train was calling at Asagaya where I was staying.
It was helpful too that the carriage exteriors are colour coded to help identify the corresponding line, something we missed at LU was the side dot matrix on the s stock only has amber text on a black background, something better would have been colour coded text to identify the line that train is running on.
We at LU could defiantly learn much from JR east on in train information, and should LU ever want to send me on a fact finding mission, well I guess I could oblige
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Post by Deleted on Dec 6, 2015 11:59:58 GMT
Look forward to having a ride on one next time I'm in Tokyo! Tokyo know how to run railways that's for sure and it's mainly down to staffing! All stations in Tokyo as well as the Yamanote line are very well staffed, all JR trains in Tokyo also have a Guard/Conductor onboard who operates the doors and the trains are manually driven. The UK and most other countries in the world seem to use new technology to replace humans but in Japan technology is used to supplement humans, which is why it all works so well!
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Post by orienteer on Dec 6, 2015 22:54:35 GMT
Apparently the Yamanote line is no longer manually driven; automation reduced the headway from 2min 30sec to 2min 20sec!
One of the lessons we could learn is quite a simple one: all warning sounds are melodious rather than the harsh, head-splitting tones used on our railways. Even emergency vehicles use warbles, they are still noticeable and distinctive.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 7, 2015 1:35:24 GMT
Apparently the Yamanote line is no longer manually driven; automation reduced the headway from 2min 30sec to 2min 20sec! One of the lessons we could learn is quite a simple one: all warning sounds are melodious rather than the harsh, head-splitting tones used on our railways. Even emergency vehicles use warbles, they are still noticeable and distinctive. I last used the Yamanote line in March this year and it was manually driven then. I try to keep up to date with Japanese railway news and I'm sure automation would be quite a major change. Though I think from watching what the Driver was doing, platforms with PEDs did seem to have some kind of braking assistance system but everything else was manual. The improvement in headways must have been when the Yamanote line was upgraded from the conventional ATC signalling system to D-ATC. |
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Post by tomek on Dec 9, 2015 14:44:13 GMT
Apparently the Yamanote line is no longer manually driven; automation reduced the headway from 2min 30sec to 2min 20sec! One of the lessons we could learn is quite a simple one: all warning sounds are melodious rather than the harsh, head-splitting tones used on our railways. Even emergency vehicles use warbles, they are still noticeable and distinctive. I find it surprising that with automation they've only reduced the headway from 2min30 to 2min20. In Paris on the RER A since the introduction of the SACEM system (which is not automation but just some kind of moving-block in cab signalling) in the 1990' there are trains every 90 seconds in each direction. |
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Post by orienteer on Dec 13, 2015 13:45:33 GMT
I last used the Yamanote line in March this year and it was manually driven then. I try to keep up to date with Japanese railway news and I'm sure automation would be quite a major change. Though I think from watching what the Driver was doing, platforms with PEDs did seem to have some kind of braking assistance system but everything else was manual. The improvement in headways must have been when the Yamanote line was upgraded from the conventional ATC signalling system to D-ATC. From watching another programme, yes, it seems approaches to PED platforms are automated to ensure accurate positioning, so maybe this was what the headway improvement is due to. |
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Post by Tomcakes on Dec 13, 2015 20:54:27 GMT
It would be interesting to see how the technology for measuring loading works. Sensors on the bogies responding to mass?
As TfL experience severe capacity problems could this be part of the solution to 'nudge' people away from the busiest trains by using this data. For example if the train in the platform is 150% full, but the train behind is 80% full, a suitable message could be displayed or announced over the tannoy.
It could also provide useful statistics and again, if made available to the public, could influence e.g. journey planning apps. (e.g. a journey from Waterloo to an address near Great Portland Street might offer the faster route (Northern to Warren Street) or the quieter route (Bakerloo to Regents Park then walk), for those who are happy to take a slightly longer journey in return for a less crowded train - thus freeing up capacity on other routes for those who need it more.
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