The Yamanote line runs on an elevated track for most of its course. Some other trains share adjacent right of ways for short runs, such as between Ikebukuro and Shinjuku on the NW edge, but I believe the Yamanote has it's own dedicated track throughout.
Most stations connect to Tokyo's subway system, which mostly serves the area inside the Yamanote, although a few lines do run outwards as well. Several larger hub stations link up with other Japan Rail lines and the lines of two private rail companies. Only one surface rail line runs inside the Yamanote line's ring, the JR Chuo line, which runs East-West across the middle of the line. Monster stations like Shinjuku, Ikebukuro, Ueno, and Tokyo link up with 5 to 10 other rail lines, and two or three separate subway lines.
Some cars have four doors on each side, some have six. Except for rare occasions midday and in the dawn hours, most passengers stand. It takes about 45 minutes to make a full loop, but most stops are between 3 and 5 minutes apart from each other.
Yamanote line stations are significant hubs for retail and commercial developments, perhaps none so much as Ikebukuro. Ikebukuro station has both JR connections to the Yamanote and three or four other lines, the Seibu Ikebukuro line, and the Tobu Tojo line. Seibu and Tobu are both rail/retail/amusement comglomerates which build train lines, built department stores at the stations, and build amusement destinations to draw people onto the trains. Ikebukuro has their flagship department stores, which at some point not too long ago ranked as the second and third largest department stores in the world.
Interestingly, inter-line ticketing has only really started this year. The JR lines introduced their Suica electronic ticket/debit card several years ago, good both for tickets and for purchases in the area around the station - this is a major innovation for Japan, which is still primarily a cash society. However, the Suica cards were not good for the subways, buses, or the private lines. This just changed in April.
Once I post the second episode on dKos (rapid transit), would you repost this as comment there, then maybe with pictures?
Also, for a later episode, do you know something about Japanese trams and their development? I know woefully little, I know more about trams exported to the USA than those running in the home country... *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
I've always been amazed by the efficiency of the Moscow metro - there are trains every 2 minutes most of the day (which means that you never wait) - and they're pretty much always full. And it's stunningly beautiful and clean too. In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
Moskovskie Novosti #25/2007 (my translation)
I'll modify the text to exclude subways. *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
Aside from surface rail like the Yamanote (which I'm gathering would be called Heavy Metro - I think the cars and track are more or less JR standard), and the subway, there is one monorail line in Tokyo (which makes a short run from a Yamanote line station to Haneda airport, Tokyo's domestic hub), and there are several streetcar lines.
Streetcars are a holdover from the days of yore, and are enjoying something of a revival recently. In fact, an old line was just re-opened last year. The cars are really quite small, no longer than your average bus, and some of them are REALLY old - warped wooden floors and railing in places attest to the age. I've ridden these a few times in Tokyo, and they seemed quite popular - standing room only every time, which admittedly was not hard given the small car size. I've also ridden streetcars in Kagoshima and Kumamoto, both of which also continue to operate legacy lines from the early or mid 20th century.
As things stand, the first diary will be up probably on Tuesday, so the rapid transit one on thirsday or Friday.
I've STILL never figured out how to post photos properly
Do you need any help beyond the New User Guide?
Yamanote (which I'm gathering would be called Heavy Metro
Well, categories are blurred... With lots of standing space and an elevated line, it really looks more like a (heavy) metro, but being JR standard and being part of JR East, and not being considered part of the subway network (which is heavy metro), I'd say let's stay with 'rapid transit'. By the way, here is a 2004 list of Japanese (or just Tokyo?) rail lines with weekday ridership over one million, you see that suburban rapid transit beats subways:
So not many late-seventies-to-present modern trams in Tokyo, then? Maybe in other Japanese cities? *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
A note here. The ridership of a line is a rather loose measure of traffic density. traffic volume (in passenger-kilometres) per line length would be more like it if you want averages, or numbers for individual stations to get the maximum. But the picture with those measures is not that different when comparing similar type lines. *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
