International Railroad Discussion > Ueno-Tokyo Line, Quick Report

I made references to the Ueno-Tokyo Line inside pennengineer's great report from Tokyo several days ago:

http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?6,4095651

Here are some snapshots I took from the north end of the elevated section that straddles the Shinkansen Line, between Akihabara and Kanda back in May of 2015, 2 months after the line opened for revenue service:

1. I'm standing on the Yamanote Line platform at Akihabara facing south (toward Tokyo). The train set in the background behind the Yamanote Line train (E231 EMU) is descending the Ueno-Tokyo Line, heading north toward Ueno.

2. I'm looking through the unopenable window from the walkway above Akihabara Station, again, facing south. Joban Line EMU (E531) is descending the Ueno-Tokyo Line, heading north.

3. Northbound (outbound) Shinkansen E7, heading to Ueno, coming out from under the Ueno-Tokyo Line briefly, before descending underground to Ueno Station. I'm still at the walkway above Akihabara Station.

For those who want to see photos of the construction, check out the Huffington Post Japan's article published in July of 2014. Sorry, Japanese only, but picture is worth.. well, you know...

http://www.huffingtonpost.jp/2014/07/12/ueno-tokyo-line_n_5580038.html

The first video in the link talks about the purpose of the Ueno Tokyo Line. One phrase summary from me: one seat ride.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/22/16 22:31 by cchan006.

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JR East have an official YouTube channel (no advertisements), and you can view their excellent cab ride video. Just copy and paste the links:

Ueno to Tokyo (southbound): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIiIntZuue0

Tokyo to Ueno (northbound): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahrFr6Q0dZA

4. I caught 4 train sets here, Shinkansen E4, Joban Line E531, Keihin-Tohoku Line (E233?) stopped, and Yamanote Line (E231) in the distance. All are heading south toward Tokyo except the Yamanote Line train.

5. Joban Line Limited Express (E657) heading north.

6. Soon-to-be Tokaido Line train heading south. The cab display board says "Ueno Tokyo Line" in Japanese.
 

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Overheads and chainlink are not your friend there CC

Do people living and working so close to a busy rail line complain about the noise? Like they might in other parts of the world...
RB

up833 Wrote:
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> Do people living and working so close to a busy
> rail line complain about the noise? Like they
> might in other parts of the world...
> RB

Quick answer is yes, they do.

Majority of buildings adjacent to the Ueno-Tokyo Line are businesses, mostly office buildings, then bars, night clubs, eateries, and hotels. Don't know how much apartments are nearby, but I imagine not too many. Japanese contruction companies like to post signs with a cartoon of a bowing man in a hard hat apologizing for the inconvenience when they work on construction projects. Don't know if that calms people down, but when the "inconvenience" is really bad, neighbors will organize and ask for public hearings.

Otherwise, new house owners and tenants of apartments tend to deal with real estate agents and landlords about noise, since they are expected to be informed of that BEFORE they buy the property or sign the lease. The railroad tracks were already there, and usually, people don't argue about that over there. However, JNR (the precedessor) and JR Groups have built sound-resistant walls along the ROW for remedies when complaints about noise were justified.