Passenger Service Technologies Koichi Goto

T Technology

echnolo Railway Technology Today 11 (Edited by Kanji Wako) Passenger Service Technologies Koichi Goto

volume passenger transport typified by the during rush hours due to the extremely Introduction metropolitan areas, especially Tokyo. high density of passengers. Passengers commonly change between This environment makes speed and This article describes passenger service lines run by different companies to ride accuracy the first requirements for ticket technologies on Japanese railways. The from a suburb well outside Tokyo, into the reservation and automatic fare collection main topics are trends in seat reservation heart of the city, and then out to another systems. If automatic ticket machines and systems (especially for express trains), suburb, all without ever stepping outside ticket-checking gates are unable to automatic ticket machines in stations, and a station. perform as needed, stations would soon automatic fare collection systems, such as This kind of commuter network has be in chaos. Companies in the JR group automatic ticket checking machines. developed in the major cities, but the JRs’ begin accepting seat reservations at 10:00 Ticket systems using contactless IC cards, high-speed shinkansen services on standard one month before the reservation day, and which have the potential to revolutionize gauge also link major cities. The each day’s reservation requests are passenger services, are also described. shinkansen lines are linked to narrow- transmitted from over 8000 terminals Another recent topic is making railway gauge express lines at main stations, nationwide. The number of reservation facilities barrier-free in order to facilitate forming a railway network linking every requests is really high around the New their use by elderly and disabled people. major city in Japan. In addition to the JRs, Year and other holidays so the computer Some of these activities are also described. most larger private railways also operate systems must be high performance and express train services with reserved seating. highly reliable or else glitches are reported Characteristics of Japanese The JRs alone offer over 1 million reserved on TV and in newspapers. gy Railway Environment seats each day, and these seat reservations Platforms at Japanese stations are usually must be managed efficiently. built level with the train floor, making it The decision about what passenger All entrances to Japanese train stations possible to board without having to step services to provide, and what technologies have ticket barriers, unlike many stations up or down. However, these platforms and systems to develop in order to achieve in Europe, the USA and elsewhere, where are rarely built at ground level, passengers these services is closely linked to a tickets are not checked between entering must use stairs, escalators, and lifts to get country’s railway environment. A the station and boarding the train, with from ground level outside the station to distinguishing characteristic of Japan’s tickets being collected on board. the platforms. If the station is elevated railway environment is the existence of However, with the exception of some low- (over the tracks), the up and down walking many railway companies (for example, traffic lines in rural areas, this method is distance becomes significant. This is a the JRs and other publicly and privately not used in Japan, partly due to historical major problem for elderly and disabled owned railways), forming a complex precedent and partly because on-board passengers and even for passengers network providing high-density, high- ticket checking is almost impossible carrying heavy items. This problem is said

Old ledger-based ticketing system (JR Systems) Latest MARS terminal for automatic seat reservation and ticketing (JR Systems)

50 Japan Railway & Transport Review 24 • July 2000 Copyright © 2000 EJRCF. All rights reserved. MARS central computer room (JR Systems) CyberStation home page providing ticketing information (JR Systems) to be driving passengers away from trains replaced ledgers, and computer terminals actions quickly. There are also machines to cars, so it must be solved if passenger replaced telephones, but at the time, there in stations that can be operated directly services are to be improved. was nothing similar in all Japan. In fact, by passengers. JR Systems Co., Ltd. also this system represented a world first. The allows passengers to access train ticket research started with the most fundamental information from their home computers. Ticket Reservation System aspects of the system, including the computer hardware. As a result, the first Automatic Fare The old ticket reservation system was run ticket reservation computer made up of Collection System by people, telephone lines, and ledgers. 12 terminals called MARS 1 was installed When there was a reservation request for in the ticket office of Tokyo Station in June In the past, tickets were issued by station a train, the station staff would transmit the 1959. At that time, the system could only staff from ticket windows, and tickets were request to the office that managed the be used to make reservations and could checked by a guard at the ticket barrier. reservation ledger for that train by not issue tickets, but it was subsequently Ticketing and ticket collection are now telephone. The person at that office would improved, and when the Tokaido mostly handled by machines in order to then look up the ledger for the train in Shinkansen started operations in 1964, improve efficiency and free employees question, and if there were seats available, MARS 101, a full-scale system including from this laborious task. Ticket sales were would record the reservation in the ledger. automated ticketing, was put online. automated first. Currently, almost all If a seat was available, the station staff Continuous improvements yielded tickets except reserved seats, long- would hand-write a ticket. The increasingly better performance and when distance tickets, and special discount photograph on p. 50 shows a turntable JNR was split up and privatized in 1987, tickets are sold by automatic ticket used to switch between ledgers quickly. the Railway Information Systems Co., Ltd. machines. Early machines could only sell Although this system was designed to (JR Systems) took over operation and single-fare tickets, but they were improved allow more seating reservations to be management of the system. The latest seat and one machine can now sell many handled, there are clear limitations on reservation system consists of MARS different fares. Similarly, the first machines how far a manual system can be taken. terminals and the central computer room could only accept coins, but they can now In the 1950s, the Japanese National issuing 1.5 million reserved and open- handle banknotes of all denominations. Railways’ research institute—the seating tickets each day. It also handles When a passenger inserts money into the predecessor of today’s Railway Technical hotel reservations and tickets for a wide machine, every button for less than the Research Institute (RTRI)—began variety of events, and allows payment by inserted amount lights up. When the researching a computerized seat credit card. The man-machine interface passenger presses a button, the ticket is reservation system. An online system was using touch screens was designed to allow issued and change is given if the inserted built whereby computer-managed files operators to conduct many complex money exceeded the fare. However,

before using this type of ticket machine, settled on using a magnetic coating on the the passenger must look up the cost of the back of the ticket to store information. Contactless IC Card System ticket on a fare chart. More recently, a Japanese ticket gates are set up so that touch-screen interface is used to reduce passengers insert their tickets while The automatic ticket-checking system the burden on the passenger by allowing walking through the barrier. When the described above is a showcase of leading- passengers to choose stations rather than passenger inserts a ticket on the near side, edge technology, but has the following monetary amounts. The photograph a belt carries it through the machine to problems: below shows this type of automatic ticket the point where the information is read. • Before adoption of automatic ticket- machine, operated by JR East. There is After determining the ticket validity, the checking machines, passengers only also a prepaid fare system that frees machine writes necessary information on needed to show their commuter passengers from the need to purchase the ticket, and if the passenger requires passes to station personnel, but now tickets. With this system, the passenger the ticket for further parts of the journey, they must remove the pass from its inserts a prepaid card into the automatic another belt carries it to the far side of the holder and insert it into the machine. ticket gate at boarding and the fare is barrier to be taken by the passenger. If • Because the passenger releases the deducted automatically later when the the ticket is invalid, a barrier blocks the ticket and picks it up at the other side passenger passes through the exit gate. way, preventing the passenger from of the ticket barrier, passengers may There are also extremely popular stored passing. In order to speed up passage mistakenly take other people’s tickets. fare (SF) cards that can be used on lines through the gate, two tickets can be • The high-performance machines cost of several railway companies. inserted in quick succession. The a lot of money and have many moving As mentioned earlier, in Japan, tickets are machines can also recognize and handle parts, making maintenance very time checked at the ticket gate. Any automatic commuter passes and SF cards by the size consuming. gate to take the place of human ticket and information stored on them. • The tickets do not have a very high checkers must be able to handle large Moreover, passengers can insert tickets level of security. Since information is passenger volumes accurately and either face-up or face-down, forwards or stored in a magnetic strip, anyone with quickly. Automatic ticket gates were first backwards. specialized knowledge can read (and used widely in the 1970s, mainly by change) the stored information. private railways in the Kansai region. The information on the ticket must be machine-readable, so systems of punching holes and magnetic bar-code systems were tried, but the final system

JR East automatic ticket vending machine (JR East) Latest magnetic automatic ticket gates (JR East)

R&D on a new automatic fare collection checking machines have been made, and passengers will be one-day able to use a technology—the contactless IC card— evaluated by JR East employee monitors single card to ride on trains and buses, aims to resolve these problems. These several times. The first real-life test was paying fares with electronic cash. This cards have an embedded IC chip that can in 1992 at Ueno Station. JR East went on type of system depends on reliability and store vast amounts of data. Since these to develop ever more successful systems, security and the contactless IC card is well cards have their own data processing making it feasible to meet the stringent suited to this purpose. functions, they are also called smart cards. requirements of Japanese railways. The Ordinary IC cards have a contact that is company plans to commercialize the used to transfer data, but contactless IC cards in 2001. The automatic gates used Barrier-free Access cards communicate with the automatic in tests can handle both magnetic tickets ticket-checking machine via an and contactless IC cards. The new Most Japanese train stations cannot be embedded antenna, obviating the need for contactless Super Urban Intelligent Card accessed without some vertical contact. This type of card allows (Suica) combines a commuter pass and an movement. This is a huge impediment to passengers to pass through the automatic SF card into one. When a passenger travels people with physical disabilities. ticket-checking machine while holding outside the section covered by the Moreover, many stations do not have their cards. The card security is also vastly commuter pass, the ticket gate sufficient room to retrofit elevators or improved, because third parties cannot automatically calculates and deducts the escalators without altering the easily read the information contained in excess fare from the SF part of the card. construction of the building at great cost. them. And because they can store large This enables replacement of the present fare However, awareness of the need to create amounts of information, they can more adjustment machines that must be used to a barrier-free environment has increased easily be used to begin new business purchase a separate excess fare ticket. recently and subsidies from national and services as well as be put to non-railway Use of contactless IC cards will not only local governments have given a great uses. make tickets easier to use, it will also boost to station improvement. New types R&D mainly by RTRI and JR East on ticket- reduce the number of mechanical parts, of lifts have been developed for stations checking machines for contactless IC making automatic ticket-checking where it would be impossible or cards has been underway since the JR machines simpler and reducing prohibitively expensive to construct group was first established in 1987. manufacturing and maintenance costs. normal elevators or escalators. The photo Several prototype cards and ticket Although some way off in the future, on p. 54 shows a lift that can be installed

on stairs to carry a wheelchair up and computer makes its way increasingly into vision often have a difficult time getting down. It is designed to fold away when the home and office, software is appearing information. With this system, IC chips not in use, keeping out of the way of that calculates optimum routes and fares. programmed with location information people passing on foot. In addition, an However, even with all these are embedded in tactile tiles used to mark escalator has been developed that can improvements, information services are paths for visually impaired people; this extend three steps horizontally flat if the still far from perfect. information is read by a cane with an mode is changed, allowing wheelchairs Until now, all railway information was embedded antenna, and verbal directions to be carried safely. only announced or displayed on screens; are given by a pocket-sized portable Another indispensable service for passengers have to listen to or view all machine. For instance, if the user tells passengers is information. Japan’s urban this information, and select the the device ‘I want to take a train to Tokyo’, railways have a mind-boggling number of information relevant to them. This type the machine will guide him or her to the lines and fares, sometimes confusing of system makes it nearly impossible to right platform by voice instructions. The people unused to the system who are provide the kind of attentive service that machine can also be used to inform the trying to figure out how much it will cost will gain passenger satisfaction. The best person of their present location. We are to get to their destination as well as how choice would probably be to give also looking into equipping the machine to get there. In addition, complaints are everyone individualized guidance, but it with a wireless device that can pick up sometimes heard that accurate is not possible for station employees to information from trains and tell the user information is not given when there are attend to every passenger individually. whether to get on a particular train arriving delays or other problems. Railways have We feel it is necessary to develop at the platform. We plan to continue our installed a variety of signboards and machines and computer systems that give research in order to extend this service to computerized display screens in response individualized guidance with a provide personalized information to to these problems, and various conversational interface, even though they people with other disabilities, and to improvements have been made, including may not function as well as a person. A ordinary passengers as well. linking computerized display screens guide system for visually impaired people A holistic approach to a barrier-free directly to the transport management is currently being developed by RTRI environment is universal design—in this system, in order to provide information (Figure 1). Since information is often concept, barrier-free does not mean instantaneously. And as the personal presented visually, people with impaired providing facilities for specific types of

Stair wheelchair lift (JR East) Latest computerized timetable display screens (JR East)

Voice User information Voice recognition Processor Voice synthesis Audio information Receiver

Radio Guide system for visually impaired persons (RTRI) Cane Tag reader Transmitter people, but instead aims to design stations that are easy to use for everyone. Japanese train stations still have a lot of construction Tag Tag Tag and environment issues, but I think we Information on Information on Information on roads, train, seats, are making rapid improvements in these platforms, aisles, etc. traffic signals, etc. areas. destination, etc. Station Train Road Conclusion (RTRI)

This paper has outlined passenger service technologies on Japanese railways. These services are closely intertwined with new information technologies, and the breakneck pace of change will transform railway passenger services in many ways. Japan’s railway engineers are working to contribute to society by making railways Kanji Wako I even more passenger-friendly. Mr Kanji Wako is Director in charge of Research and Development at the Railway Technical Research Institute (RTRI). He joined JNR in 1961 after graduating in engineering from Tohoku University. He is the supervising editor for this series on Railway Technology Today.

Koichi Goto

Mr Goto is Senior Engineer in the Transport Systems Development Division of RTRI. He Joined JNR in 1980 after obtaining a Masters Degree in Information Science from Kyoto University. He co-authored Railways and Computers (in Japanese), published by Kyoritsu in 1998.