Monday 15 September 2014

Tokyu-Denentoshi Line: 78,358 Passengers per Hour

EMU Tokyu 8500 series arrives at Aobadai Station on the Denentoshi Line
 
Tokyu is a major private railway company in the Tokyo metropolitan area. They have a labyrinthine railway network in Tokyo and Kanagawa Prefecture. Tokyu group does 20 billion dollars a year in sales on a consolidated basis.

One of the large profit contributions to the company is the Denentoshi Line. Connecting Shibuya, a sub-center of Tokyo, and Chuo-Rinkan, a junction station on the Odakyu-Enoshima Line, the total route length is 31.5 km. The gauge size is 1,067 mm and the electric system is 1,500 V DC overhead. The trains are directly operated onto the Tokyo Metro Hanzomon or the Tokyu-Ooimachi lines.

What does "the large profit contribution to Tokyu" imply? It implies "crowded". According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, the number of passengers carried by the Denentoshi Line trains was 78,353 persons per hour in the morning rush hour in 2012, which was the second largest in Japan (the largest one was the JR East Chuo-Rapid Line). The congestion factor was 183%, which means that the trains were packed.

Tokyu can't keep their arms crossed. They have been reinforcing the transportation capacities of the Denentoshi Line over the decades. For instance, the construction of a double-double track between Futako-Tamagawa and Mizonokuchi was an effective solution. The introduction of 12 door cars was also effective to reduce the boarding and alighting time, but it is still crowded.

The Denentoshi Line is a representation of transportation in a super-high density city.

 
EMU Tokyu 6000 series arrives at Aobadai Station on the Denentoshi Line