Air-Rail Links in Japan 35 Years Old and Healthier Than Ever Ryosuke Hirota

Feature Railways and Air Transport

Air-Rail Links in Japan 35 Years Old and Healthier than Ever Ryosuke Hirota

tic and 860,000 international passengers. grown. Three airports: Haneda, Narita, Air-Rail Links in Japan Today In the same year, the monorail carried and Kansai International, each have two about 2.74 million people, including ARLs, using mostly conventional tracks During 1998, in many different parts of some non-flying passengers who used it (urban/suburban heavy rail, subways, or the world, getting to the airport became as a transit system. In 1978, airline traffic main line railways), while Haneda and easier due to construction of new air-rail in Japan grew to such an extent that a new Itami use monorails as one of their ARLs. links (ARLs). Three airports: Hong Kong airport serving Tokyo was opened for in- Japan was the first country to build a high- International Airport at Chek Lap Kok, ternational flights. This was the New To- speed train (the shinkansen), but the Copenhagen Airport at Kastrup, and Oslo kyo International Airport at Narita. honour of having the first high-speed train International Airport at Gardermoen, Haneda basically became Tokyo’s domes- serving an airport went to France when opened their first ARLs, while two other tic airport, but passenger traffic for both its TGV began linking Charles de Gaulle airports: London Heathrow and Haneda the airport and monorail continued to Airport to Paris. Unlike Frankfurt Airport Airport in Tokyo each gained a second rail grow. According to the ACI (Airports in Germany, Japan has no plans to bring link. 1998 was one of the best years ever Council International) Report, Haneda similar high-speed services to any of its for ARL construction and 47 airports served about 49.3 million airline passen- airports. When Narita Airport was still worldwide now offer rail access to the gers in 1997, while the Tokyo Monorail on the drawing board, the Japanese gov- cities they serve. carried even more people—about 65.2 ernment gave approval to a project to link Tokyo’s Haneda Airport (HND) was built million. the airport to the shinkansen network, but on Tokyo Bay, 14 km south of the heart of On 18 November last year—a little more the line was never finished. In my opin- the metropolis. When the Alweg-type than 34 years after the first monorail ser- ion, the decision to abandon construction (straddle-beam) monorail began linking vices began—Haneda gained a second was a mistake. the airport to downtown in September ARL. This second link is a 3.2-km exten- This article examines the ARLs joining 1964, Haneda was Japan’s gateway for sion of the Kuko Line operated by Keihin Tokyo’s two airports to the metropolis, and international passengers. The Tokyo Electric Express Railway Co., Ltd. (gener- discusses their early and later develop- Monorail, Japan’s first ARL, symbolized ally known as Keikyu). This company has ments. I will also discuss ridership on the start of the nation’s high-growth long operated a railway linking Tokyo and these and other ARLs in Japan, and then period, after the post-war chaos and long Yokohama, with trains also providing focus on public assistance for construc- process of recovery. The timing of the through services on Tokyo’s metropolitan tion of costly ARL infrastructure, and plans monorail’s inauguration was opportune Asakusa subway line. In fact, Keikyu’s for the development of future links. I will because the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games trains even carry passengers to Narita, also look briefly at factors to consider started 1 month later. The Alweg-type of using the Keisei Line operated by the when planning ARLs. monorail had been developed by a Keisei Electric Railway co., Ltd. Keikyu’s Swede, Dr Axel Leonard Wenner-Gren in rail link to Haneda Airport is projected to Air-Rail Links to Tokyo’s Airport West Germany in 1952, but its first prac- carry 50,000 people daily, and will surely at Haneda tical application was in Tokyo. Straddling cut into the market long enjoyed by the Japan is in the Far East—an apt term con- a single beam, the train took advantage monorail. sidering that the country is close to the of a unique system never seen before in At present, Japan has seven airports boast- eastern extremity of Asia, facing the railway history. ing ARLs (Table 1). In order of ARL con- Pacific Ocean. The four main islands of The Tokyo Monorail was the world’s struction, they are: Haneda Airport (HND) Japan stretch about 2000 km in a generally fourth major ARL, and the first built out- in Tokyo; Narita Airport (NRT) serving north-south direction (2800 km if smaller side Europe. The first three, all conven- Tokyo; Shin-Chitose Airport (CTS) serving Okinawa islands in the southwest of tional railways, were built to serve Sapporo; Fukuoka Airport (FUK); Kansai Japan are included). Tokyo is in central Brussels (1955), London’s Gatwick (1958) International Airport (KIX) serving Osaka; Honshu and close to the nation’s geo- and Berlin’s Schönefeld (1962). Miyazaki Airport (KMI); and Itami Airport graphic centre. Its central position in the Before the monorail started running, and (OSA) serving Osaka. Only two airports, archipelago, plus of course its importance for some years afterward, Haneda was Narita and Kansai International, were de- and size, have made it the largest trans- Tokyo’s only airport. In 1965, the year signed from the beginning with an ARL in portation hub in Japan and a gateway for after the monorail was opened, the air- mind—lines were laid to the other five flights from all over the world. port was used by about 3 million domes- airports after airline passenger loads had After several years of confusion follow-

8 Japan Railway & Transport Review 19 • March 1999 Copyright © 1999 EJRCF. All rights reserved. Table 1 Japanese Airports with Air-Rail Links (March 1999) No. of airline passengers per year World Minutes Wide (ACI Report, 1997) Airport location City/Airport rank (from city centre) ARL type ARL operator from area Total International Domestic In transit (1997) city centre service

1. Tokyo/Haneda 49,300,000 840,000 48,430,000 20,000 6 14 km south1. Monorail Tokyo Monorail P 30 No (HND) 2. Urban/suburban Keikyu P 30 No heavy rail

2. Tokyo/Narita 25,670,000 22,940,000 800,000 1,920,000 26 55 km east1. Urban/suburban Keisei P 60 No (NRT) heavy rail** 2. Urban/suburban JR East 60 Yes heavy rail 3. Osaka/Kansai 19,750,000 10,800,000 8,290,000 660,000 42 35 km 1. Urban/suburban JR West 30 Yes (KIX) southwest heavy rail 2. Urban/suburban Nankai P 30 No heavy rail 4. Fukuoka (FUK)17,290,000 2,490,000 14,800,000 — 46 4 km eastSubway Fukuoka Municipal 10 No Government 5. Sapporo/ 16,840,000 380,000 16,460,000 — 48 38 km Main line JR Hokkaido 35 Yes Shin-Chitose southeast (CTS)

6. Osaka/Itami 13,740,000 — 13,740,000 — 67 14 km northMonorail Osaka Kosoku S Approx. 25 No (OSA) 7. Miyazaki (KMI)3,400,000* 10,000 3,390,000 — — 5 km southMain line JR Kyushu 10 Yes Notes: *: 1996 figures **:Plus subway P: Private railway S: Public/private corporation JR: Railway companies formed by privatization of JNR

ing World War II, the nation’s private air- Alweg-type straddle-beam monorail was most important railway terminal (Fig. 1). lines began flying again in the early 1950s. chosen for a number of reasons. First, the The 13-km line running south to the air- As the country’s economy expanded year president of the new company, Tetsuzo port on Tokyo Bay is a double-track line, by year, air passengers, both domestic and Inumaru (who was also President of the except for 1-km stretches at each end. The international, increased in number. In Imperial Hotel, one of Japan’s best hotels), only stations were the two terminals. 1959, when the plan to develop an ARL was an old friend of the monorail devel- (Four intermediate stations were built be- for Haneda Airport was unveiled, about oper, Dr Wenner-Gren, and had long been tween 1965 and 1985 as urban develop- 540,000 domestic and 370,000 interna- keen to introduce the technology to ment spread to the monorail corridor.) tional passengers were using the airport. Japan. Second, Hitachi, Ltd., one of The two-level station at the airport was This totals only about 910,000 people, but Japan’s most important manufacturers of constructed under the parking lot in front there was every reason to believe that the heavy electrical equipment, was very in- of the airport terminal building. figure would increase dramatically in terested in the new system and saw great The construction proceeded rapidly—ap- 1964, the year of the Tokyo Olympic potential in developing its technology. proval was obtained from the Minister of Games. Some people proposed extend- The Tokyo Monorail became Japan’s first Transport in December 1961, construc- ing the Tokyo Expressway to the airport ARL but one problem immediately be- tion began in May 1963, and the line was instead, but it was obvious that this would came evident to passengers—since the in operation by September 1964. The only worsen road congestion as it took trains could not run on conventional journey time from Hamamatsucho Station more than 1 hour to drive the 14 km from track, they could travel no further than the to the airport was 15 minutes, with de- downtown Tokyo to the Airport even then. ends of the track, forcing passengers to partures every 7 minutes and the fare was After some false starts, Japan Elevated disembark after a comparatively short ¥250. Total construction costs were ¥20 Electric Railway Co. was established in ride. Furthermore, the monorail track billion for infrastructure and ¥1.1 billion 1960 to push through a rail link to from the airport ended at Hamamatsucho for rolling stock, totalling ¥21.1 billion or Haneda. This company boldly chose an Station on the Yamanote Line, a loop line ¥1.6 billion per km. Incidentally, the to- Alweg-type monorail, which Hitachi, Ltd. surrounding central Tokyo. The station, tal cost for building the 515-km Tokaido was eager to build in Japan under a tech- however, is still 3 km south of the busi- Shinkansen was about ¥400 billion or nical cooperation arrangement. The ness centre and Tokyo Station, the nation’s about ¥0.8 billion per km, half that of the

Figure 1 Tokyo’s Major Railways and Airports

Tohoku/Joetsu/Omiya

ShinkansenHokuriku Musashino Line Joban Line

Abiko Minami-Urawa Narita Line New Tokyo Tohoku Line Shin-Matsudo International Airport (Narita)

Akabane Narita 20 km Ikebukuro

Nippori Mitaka Chuo Line 50 km Ueno Keisei ARL Nishi-Funabashi Shinjuku JR ARL Tokyo

Shibuya Keiyo Line Hamamatsucho Nambu Line Shinagawa Chiba Tokyo Monorail ARL Musashino Soga Line Tokyo International Tokaido Airport Sotobo Line Shinkansen (Haneda) Kawasaki Tokyo Bay Tokaido Line Yokohama Line Keikyu ARL Yokohama Uchibo Line

Tokyo Monorail. The Tokaido Shinkansen began operations on 1 October 1964, just 2 weeks after the monorail. It is worth noting that the monorail was developed and constructed solely by the private sector, without any financial assistance from the government, airport authorities, or the aviation industry. Op- erations first became profitable in 1972 and have been in the black ever since. Monorail ridership surged in the follow- ing years as air travel became more popu- lar. Then, in 1978, Tokyo’s second airport opened at Narita for international traffic, and Haneda was relegated to serving domestic air travel. As a result, both Haneda and the monorail experienced a drop in Tokyo Monorail ARL approaching Haneda (Author) passengers for some time, but domestic

10 Japan Railway & Transport Review 19 • March 1999 Copyright © 1999 EJRCF. All rights reserved. flights to Haneda continued to increase to such an extent that, in February 1983, the Ministry of Transport (MOT) began an Figure 2 Plan of Tokyo International Airport (Haneda) expansion project to boost Haneda’s annual passenger handling capacity from 22 million to 85 million. This expansion in- volves increasing the airport area from 408 to 1100 hectares, and constructing East Terminal two new terminal buildings (West and East Haneda Airport terminals situated between two parallel Station 3000-m class runways). Because the site for the new Haneda ter- West Terminal minal buildings was moved about 2.5 km east, the road and rail links had to be ex- Tokyo Keikyu Monorail tended. A plan to extend the existing Tokyo Bay Road ARL ARL monorail line to the new terminals was accepted, as was the request from Keikyu to extend its own line, which had termi- Central Tokyo nated west of the airport. No. 1 Metropolitan While 2 km of the existing track serving Expressway Tama River Tenkubashi the old terminal was closed, the mono- Station Central rail was extended 6 km to the new Haneda Tokyo Airport Station adjacent and parallel to the West Terminal (Fig. 2). Two kilometers of this extension are elevated, with the remaining 4 km underground. The 6-km extension is entirely double-tracked, and km to the new terminal. The extension is in the metropolis, such as Shibuya, has one new inermediate station. The line double-track and has one intermediate Shinjuku, and Ikebukuro. These new and from Hamamatsucho Station to the airport station (Tenkubashi Station). The Keikyu convenient connections pose an obvious terminal is now 4 km longer and it takes rail terminal, called Haneda Airport Sta- threat to the monorail. 22 minutes to travel the 17 kilometers. tion, is located conveniently between both Incidentally, the construction costs for This extension and the West Terminal terminal buildings. (The East Terminal is extending the monorail and the Kuko Line Building were both opened on 27 Sep- still under construction, so passengers were both approximately ¥80 billion. tember 1993. only have access to the West Terminal.) Figure 3 shows how the monorail has On the same day, the Kuko Line owned The 15-km journey from the airport to by Keikyu, was extended as far as Haneda Shinagawa, 6 km south of the city centre, Station (now Tenkubashi Station) (Fig. 2). now takes 16 minutes (Fig. 1). The Keikyu This arrangement was obviously of a pro- trains offer more convenience because visional nature, because Haneda Station they also provide through services to the was not adjacent to the airport terminal city centre and beyond on the Asakusa and passengers had to transfer to the subway line and the Keisei Line. This lat- monorail. This inconvenience ended last ter through operation has made it possible year on 18 November when Keikyu for passengers to travel directly by express opened its extended line to the new West trains from Haneda Airport to Narita Air- Terminal, permitting passengers to travel port in 1 hour 42 minutes (although there directly between the airport and down- are only four trains each day). Or, by town Tokyo. The extension involved transferring onto the Yamanote Line at moving 0.8 km of existing track under- Shinagawa Station, Keikyu passengers Keisei train at Haneda Airport Station, served by trains ground, and tunnelling an additional 3.2 have ready access to other major centres from four companies (Author)

Figure 3 Number of Airline Passengers (inc. International) at Haneda and Tokyo Monorail Users

50 48,264,000 (A)

23,306,000 Airline passengers (1977) Monorail passengers (Most international 36 No. of airline who are not airline airlines were transferred passengers to Narita Airport on passengers 20 May 1978.) 30,178,000 27 28,572,000 (B) 17,865,000 Monorail Airline passengers People (million) passengers using monorail 18

1964 count 9 started on 17 100% September 59.2% (B/A) Monorail share of airline passengers 0 1964 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 1997

Year Source: Tokyo Monorail

fared since its inception. Of the approxi- port is inconveniently situated from cen- airport, and the airport station shell. Later, mately 48 million people who flew into tral Tokyo, so ARLs were naturally part of when JNR was privatized and split into or out of Haneda in 1997, about 28 mil- the overall plan from the beginning. In the JRs in 1987, the government passed a lion used the monorail, giving a ridership 1966, when the First Sato Cabinet law that officially halted the Narita share of 59.2%. The share has remained approved construction of Narita, it also Shinkansen project. The debt and unfin- stable at around 60% for many years, but approved a policy promoting construction ished facilities passed into the hands of Keikyu’s new Kuko Line will surely reduce of railway lines from Tokyo to the new the JNR Settlement Corporation. the share. This is a matter of obvious in- airport. Planners projected construction But this did not mean that the MOT had terest for all parties concerned. of two ARLs, one operated by JNR (now forgotten the issue after Narita Airport JR), the other by the Keisei Electric Rail- opened. In May 1981, the Ministry es- Air-Rail Links to Tokyo’s way Company, Ltd. Neither plan had tablished the Committee to Study High- International Airport at Narita reached fruition when the airport opened; speed Rail Access to New Tokyo JNR had plans to build a shinkansen to International Airport, making it a consul- Narita Airport (known officially as New the airport but the plan ran into tremen- tative body to the Head of the Railway Tokyo International Airport) opened in dous opposition from municipal govern- Supervision Bureau with power to recom- 1978. Located some 55 km east of the ments and people located near the mend a substitute for the cancelled Narita metropolis, it is Tokyo’s second airport and proposed line as soon as they realized Shinkansen. The Committee examined the country’s largest international gateway. there would be no benefit to them and proposals that the existing rail network be The large majority of flights are interna- that their environment would suffer. linked to the airport using parts of other tional, except for a few connecting do- When construction was suspended in lines that had already been constructed mestic flights. Compared to Haneda’s 1982, the only part of the line constructed or were still in the planning stages. The location close to central Tokyo, Narita Air- was a 9-km stretch of roadbed from the Committee announced its findings in May

12 Japan Railway & Transport Review 19 • March 1999 Copyright © 1999 EJRCF. All rights reserved. 1982, making three alternative proposals This extension cost about ¥10 billion. This was exactly the same time as that it labelled A, B and C. Keisei spent another ¥12 billion to up- scheduled runs by Airport Limousine Proposals A and B each promoted con- grade its terminal at Ueno, as well as ad- buses serving Tokyo City Terminal (TCAT) struction of a conventional narrow-gauge ditional money to permit faster speeds on in downtown Hakozaki. However, the line instead of a shinkansen line, while existing tracks. This enormous invest- buses were not always on schedule be- Proposal C was only an interim plan. Pro- ment, and the company’s zeal in pushing cause they frequently encountered traffic posal A envisaged a 72-km route running through construction as fast as possible, congestion. partly on JNR’s Keiyo Line, that the Japan brought no fruit for several years because Act I in this sorry tale was the start of air- Railway Construction Public Corporation the airport opening was delayed until May port traffic on the Keisei Line in 1978. Act (JRCC) was constructing at the head of To- 1978. Needless to say, Keisei found itself II was the abandonment of construction kyo Bay. The line would be operated by in financial difficulties during the delay. of the Narita Shinkansen in 1987. Act III JNR. Proposal B suggested a 65-km route Furthermore, once the trains started run- starred Shintaro Ishihara, the Minister of over lines owned by a number of differ- ning, passengers immediately began com- Transport who was also a well-known ent companies: the Keisei Line, the met- plaining about the airport station’s novelist. After reviewing the situation, in ropolitan Asakusa subway line, the location and the need to change to a bus. June 1988, Ishihara announced that his Hokuso Line (under construction at the Keisei’s special Skyliner express train took Ministry would ensure that the under- time), and a railway line built and oper- 60 minutes to travel the 68 km between ground station built for the abandoned ated by the Housing and Urban Develop- Ueno and Narita Airport, but the incon- Narita Shinkansen adjacent to the airport ment Public Corporation (also under venience at the airport kept Keisei’s rider- terminal (now Terminal 1) would be made construction at the time). The route would ship share low. available to Keisei and JR trains. His plan be operated jointly by the owners of each During the year after regular flights started was similar to the earlier Proposal C. of these lines, meaning the involvement at Narita, about 8 million passengers used Under the plan, Skyliner passengers of both the public and private sectors. In the airport. The figure climbed steadily would benefit because they would no November 1984, the MOT announced each year, reaching 15 million in 1987 longer have to make a bus connection to that it would proceed with Proposal B, but and 20 million in 1990. A survey in No- the airport. The new JR East would also once again the momentum collapsed and vember 1987 showed that only 19.3% of benefit because it would be able to offer met the same fate as the Narita all passengers at Narita Airport used the a direct connection from central Tokyo to Shinkansen. Keisei Skyliner—the vast majority opted the airport terminal. Keisei Electric Railway Company, Ltd. al- to go by road instead. At that time, the Ishihara’s decision broke new ground in ready had trains running on the Keisei Line Skyliner took 70 minutes from Ueno to another sense as well. The construction from Ueno, near the city centre, to Narita the airport, including the bus connection. of the elevated railway infrastructure and City (about 8 km from the airport) and sensing an excellent return on the investment, decided to extend the line to the airport. The plan was approved by the Minister of Transport in November 1969. Construction began in November 1970 and the line was finished in November 1972. The extension was double-tracked over its entire length of 7.2 km, and had no intermediate stations. Unfortunately, the station serving the airport was constructed halfway between Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 (Terminal 2 was in the planning stages at the time), so passengers had to board a bus between the station and terminals. The change took only a few minutes but was a source of great annoy- ance. Keisei Skyliner at Ueno Terminal (Author)

tion of national railway lines) and the 1919 Local Railway Act (controlling Figure 4 New Tokyo International Airport (Narita) private railway businesses) had assumed that each railway enterprise should be Higashi Kanto responsible for building lines, maintain- Expressway (Proposed second runway) ing tracks, and running trains. However, No. 51 National Highway the Railway Enterprise Law opened a new RL era by classifying railway businesses into JR A New Airport Terminal 2 three categories—Category-I responsible Road Narita Line No. 295 No. 295 for both infrastructure and operations, Cat- National National Highway Terminal 2 Highway Station egory-II engaged only in operations, and Higashi Narita Category-III in charge of infrastructure. Station Narita Narita Airport As a result, the Narita Airport Rapid Rail- Interchange Station way Co., Ltd. was established to construct Terminal 1 a Category-III project. In very little time, Runway A Keisei ARL the company has completed all the JR bureaucratic procedures and was ready Narita Station Keisei Narita Station for action. Construction began in March 1989 and JR and Keisei trains began pull- Central Tokyo ing into the new airport station on 19 March 1991 (Figs. 1 and 4). Other improvements soon followed, with the opening of Terminal 2 on 3 December 1992, the provision of loans to JR and Keisei a Category-III railway business that pro- and the opening of Terminal 2 Station would be entrusted to a new company vides rail infrastructure. Accordingly, on adjacent to Terminal 2, 1 km from the end using investments from both the public this particular section, JR East and Keisei of the line. and the private sectors. In accordance were named as Category-II railway enter- As Fig. 4 shows, the JR East and Keisei with the 1986 Railway Enterprise Law prises, which run trains on leased tracks. lines take slightly different routes. The (enacted as part of the JNR privatization Prior to this law, both the 1922 Railway new JR East line to the airport branches process), the company was classified as Construction Act (regulating the construc- from its Narita Line in the Tsuchiya district of Narita City. The 8.7-km spur is a single track laid on one of the two roadbeds built for the now-cancelled Narita Shinkansen. Keisei’s line to the airport branches off in the Komaino district of Narita City, 1.1 km before its old termi- nus, then extends 2.1 km to the two airport stations. This spur is double-tracked to the Keisei station at Terminal 2, beyond which, the track is laid on the other roadbed built for the shinkansen. In other words, JR East uses part of the double-track built for the Narita Shinkansen, which had been laid from Tsuchiya on the Narita Line, and JR and Keisei both use the underground station built for the shinkansen adjacent to the airport terminal. With the completion of JR’s single track on one of JR East Narita Express (NEX) at Ikebukuro Station (Author) the shinkansen roadbeds, an additional

14 Japan Railway & Transport Review 19 • March 1999 Copyright © 1999 EJRCF. All rights reserved. lion (including interest on money borrowed during the construction phase). The company’s capital resources totalled only ¥9 billion so the remaining funds were provided by loans from city banks. In other words, the project was completed without public assistance.

Air-Rail Link Usage in Japan

Haneda Airport The ACI Report states that 49.3 million passengers used Haneda in 1997, making it the world’s sixth busiest airport (the fifth is London Heathrow). However, Haneda now caters to very few interna- Coupling NEX cars at Tokyo Central Station (Author) tional passengers—in 1997, only 850,000 were on international flights and only 7.7 km of bed is still unused, a possible at underground platforms in Tokyo Station. 20,000 were international passengers in candidate for future expansion. The last Riding JR East’s Narita Express (affection- transit. part from the newly constructed Terminal ately called NEX) or Keisei’s Skyliner An MOT survey at airports throughout 2 to the end of the line at Terminal 1, has requires a surcharge in addition to the Japan on 25 October 1995 showed that two tracks, one for JR East and the other regular fare, but this can be avoided by 86,000 domestic passengers used for Keisei, with both companies using the taking one of many rapid, though slower, Haneda. Of these, 62% used ARLs, while same station facilities. commuter trains. These services do take 25% went by road. (The remaining 13% After this improvement in Narita ARLs in a little longer—about 80 minutes for JR either did not respond or went by other 1991, competition between the two car- East and 70 minutes for Keisei (which means.) The ARL-to-road ratio is 62:25, riers has ensured even greater levels of operates 35 shuttles per day). or 71:29 if the remaining 13% is appor- convenience. Both companies offer spe- The construction of the infrastructure for tioned between the two groups (Table 2). cial express services in new, comfortable these extensions cost the Narita Airport Other figures supplied by Tokyo Mono- cars departing once or twice every hour Rapid Railway Co., Ltd. a total of ¥50 bil- rail show the relationship between the (with 23 shuttle runs each way daily). JR East’s fastest train takes 53 minutes on the 79.2-km run between Tokyo Station and the airport. This is nearly matched by Table 2 Land Transport used by Domestic Airline Passengers and Keisei, at 57 minutes for its 69.3-km run Estimated Shares (25 October 1995) Unit: People/day from Ueno. JR East’s trains from the air- No. of port do not terminate at Tokyo Station but Airport airline Rail Road No answer/ Rail : road continue on, providing direct (and well- passengers Other ratio used) services to other major stations in Haneda (HND) 86,226 52,972 21,864 11,390 71 : 29 (100) (62) (25) (13) the Tokyo area, terminating in Shinjuku, Shin-Chitose (CTS) 29,152 10,346 15,635 3,171 40 : 60 Ikebukuro, and Ofuna (trains formerly (100) (35) (54) (11) terminated in Yokohama). Many of the Fukuoka (FUK) 27,768 11,386 13,164 3,218 46 : 53 express trains running on the Tokyo– (100) (41) (47) (12) Narita Airport track are composed of cars Kansai International 17,093 7,524 6,662 2,907 53 : 47 that originate and return to different lines, (KIX) (100) (44) (39) (17) so JR East has developed simple and rapid Source: MOT techniques to couple and uncouple trains

number of airline passengers using domestic flights. Shin-Chitose is served by a railway line Haneda Airport and the number of people Of the 14,500 arriving at the airport by operated by JR Hokkaido, Fukuoka using the monorail (Fig. 3). Of all airline rail, approximately 7500 used JR East’s ser- Airport by the Fukuoka Municipal Gov- passengers using Haneda Airport in 1997, vices, while about 6900 used Keisei’s. ernment subway line, and Kansai Inter- 59.2% took the monorail. As Fig. 3 also Twice as many of these rail travellers national Airport by JR West and Nankai shows, 58.7 million took the monorail chose express services over cheaper (but Electric Railway Co., Ltd. in the same year, although 30.2 million slower and less comfortable) commuter —more than half—were not airline services; 5700 took JR’s Narita Express and Higher Levels of passengers. The monorail corridor has 3600 took Keisei’s Skyliner. The advan- Public Assistance for seen considerable urban development tages offered by JR East’s NEX are evident. ARL Infrastructure Development over the last few years, so it is being used A total of 83,300 people, including the increasingly both as an ARL and a form of 36,300 airline passengers, arrived at the Financing for construction at urban transit. From the company’s point airport by land on the day of the survey. Haneda and Narita of view, this trend is certainly favourable, (Note that the figures do not include pas- As explained, no government assistance but when a transportation mode serves sengers flying into the airport then taking was provided for the construction of two very different types of passengers, some form of land transport.) Of these Japan’s first two ARLs (Haneda’s Tokyo problems can arise at certain times of the 83,000, only 22,500 (27.2%) came by rail. Monorail, and Narita’s Keisei Line). day. Putting such potential disadvantages This shows that the actual rail share is With increasing numbers of airline pas- aside, the Tokyo Monorail carries more lower when people other than departing sengers, both airports were forced to ex- airline passengers than any other ARL in airline passengers are included. pand their capacity. This involved the world (60,000 to 80,000 daily, ap- A similar survey was conducted previ- relocating Haneda’s terminal and con- proximately 60% to 70% share of its total ously in 1991 (the year the airport gained structing a second terminal at Narita. In ridership). its second ARL and improved its first). On both cases, existing ARLs had to be ex- that day, of the 25,000 departing airline tended and upgraded. Narita Airport passengers, 10,500 (42%) arrived at the At Haneda, the lengthening of the mono- I have explained how Narita Airport had airport by rail. Comparing these 1991 fig- rail and extension of Keikyu’s line were inadequate ARLs until 1991 (years after ures with those for 1997, there has been the first in Japan to obtain some degree of the airport opened in 1978), although its a 145% increase in the number of pas- public assistance. In the case of the mono- inconvenient location called for a high senger departures, but almost no change rail, part of the new line had to be built standard of rail service. However, over (from 42% to 39.9%) in rail’s share. under runways, taxiways, aprons and the past 8 years, passengers have been other airport facilities. The task of con- able to choose between two well-travelled Other Japanese Airports structing the tunnel was assumed by the rail routes to downtown Tokyo. In addition to Haneda and Narita, five government because it owns the airport A total of 25.7 million airline passengers other Japanese airports are linked by rail and the government now leases the tun- used Narita Airport in 1997, making it the to nearby cities. They are Shin-Chitose nel to Tokyo Monorail. Construction of 26th busiest airport in the world. Of these, (CTS) serving Sapporo; Fukuoka (FUK); other parts qualified for public financial 22.9 million (89%) were on international Kansai International Airport (KIX) serving assistance under the Private Line (non-JR) flights. Domestic passengers numbered Osaka; Miyazaki Airport (KMI); and Itami regulations that permit public assistance only 800,000, with an additional 1.9 mil- Airport (OSA) serving Osaka. for rail transit development projects. This lion in transit. The last two were connected by rail only was the first time the regulations were A survey by the New Tokyo International recently, and no ridership data have been applied. Large construction projects in Airport Authority on people coming to the released yet for them. Data for the other Japan are generally financed through non- airport on one day in March 1997 from three airports are given in Table 2 using subsidized loans procured by the builder, places within Japan (including departing the results of the MOT survey mentioned but under these regulations, the national airline passengers) showed that of the above. Air-rail links at each airport have and local governments pay any loan in- 36,300 departing passengers, 14,500 an estimated share of at least 40%. How- terest exceeding 5%. (39.9%) had come to the airport by rail, ever, actual levels may be somewhat dif- The infrastructure for the monorail exten- while 20,900 (57.5%) had come by road. ferent because passengers on international sion cost about ¥80 billion but the national The remaining 900 (2.6%) had arrived on flights were excluded from the survey. government provided about ¥12 billion for

16 Japan Railway & Transport Review 19 • March 1999 Copyright © 1999 EJRCF. All rights reserved. the tunnel construction under its own Financing at other airports cause of this international status, ARLs to property. The remainder was procured Sapporo’s Shin-Chitose Airport became the airport were constructed under an through loans with JRCC as the builder. the third airport in Japan to gain rail ser- arrangement similar to that for Tokyo’s Keikyu received more public assistance vice in October 1980. The line was op- Narita Airport. Construction of Kansai because all the Keikyu Line extension was erated by JNR, which constructed a new International Airport occurred around the inside the airport and was built by the station on its intercity Chitose Line, at a time of JNR’s privatization and breakup national government as the airport owner. location nearest to the terminal building into the JRs. This was opportune timing, Keikyu infrastructure costs were about ¥80 (a similar choice was made for London since it affected the terms under which billion and the national government pro- Gatwick). Later, when the airport termi- the new government-related entity, Kansai vided about ¥14 billion of this amount. nal was moved, a 2.6-km spur was built, International Airport Co. Ltd. operated. Keikyu was not eligible for a Private Line part of which runs under the airport fa- The company built the airport and pro- subsidy so it borrowed part of the remain- cilities. In this sense, the extension was moted Category-III construction of rail der at a low interest rate from the Japan similar to that of the monorail at Haneda, infrastructure on most of the route. JR Development Bank. Since the railway so the national government agreed to pro- West and Nankai Electric Railway were companies use facilities built and owned vide some public assistance. The new designated Category-II railway companies by the government, they pay the govern- service opened in April 1992 operated by with the right to serve the airport. The ment an annual rent equivalent to 2.3% JR Hokkaido. airport was built on a man-made island of the value of the facilities. Fukuoka Airport was linked to the in Osaka Bay, 35-km southwest of I have already explained how the Narita Fukuoka Municipal Government subway central Osaka, meaning that JR West and Airport Rapid Railway Co., Ltd. was made in March 1993, becoming the first Japa- Nankai Railway had to build spur lines responsible for Category-III improvements nese airport to be served by subway. The to the airport from their Hanwa and to Narita Airport’s ARL, and how JR East line from downtown Fukuoka City was Nankai lines, respectively. Neither com- and Keisei began offering services as Cat- extended to the airport as part of a gov- pany received any public assistance for egory-II railway companies in an arrange- ernment programme to encourage devel- construction on the landward side of their ment that was different from anything seen opment of municipal subways. This spur lines between the branch-off points until then. The Narita Airport Rapid Rail- qualified the line for public assistance and and the newly built Rinku Town Station way Co., Ltd. spent ¥50 billion on infra- about 70% of the construction costs were facing the bay. However, the 6.9-km structure—¥28 billion of this was used to paid by the national and municipal gov- stretch between Rinku Town Station and purchase the facilities of the cancelled ernments. the airport was built and paid for by Kansai Narita Shinkansen from the national gov- Osaka’s second airport, Kansai Interna- International Airport Co., Ltd. that owns ernment. Actually, the construction cost tional Airport, opened in September 1994 this part of the line and leases it to the of the cancelled line was ¥94 billion and is Japan’s second most important gate- railways. No public assistance was given including interest on loans, but the pur- way for international travel. Partly be- for infrastructure construction, unlike the chase price was set at the much lower figure of ¥28 billion to ensure that the new company remained financially viable. This lenient approach reflected the government’s policy of encouraging construction by the company, JR East and Keisei, and was in effect, a form of public assistance. JR East and Keisei lease the completed facilities from Narita Airport Rapid Railway Co. Ltd. that uses the revenue for operation expenses and loan repayment. According to the company’s long-term financial plan, it will start making an operating profit in 2005 (14 years after the opening) and will pay off its debts Kansai International’s Airport Station, offering express train services by Nankai Electric Railway and JR West in 2019 (28 years after opening). (Nankai Electric Railway)

situation for other airports, but the com- as airport owner, to construct tunnels, ARLs: Boston Logan International; Wash- panies did borrow some money at good bridges and other rail infrastructure ington National; Philadelphia Interna- rates from the Japan Development Bank. on parts of the route within airport tional; Chicago O’Hare International; The company plans to use the revenue boundaries and to lease these facilities to Hartsfield Atlanta International; Chicago’s from rent paid by JR West and Nankai the railways. Other public funds are avail- Midway and South Bend Michiana Re- Railway to repay its construction loans. able under the Private Line regulations gional; and Lambert-St. Louis Interna- This lease-repay situation is similar to that and through local government assistance. tional. Japan ranks second after the USA, adopted by Narita Airport Rapid Railway Public assistance was not available in with one ARL under construction, and Co., Ltd. Japan until about 30 years after construc- links to another five airports in various Miyazaki Airport in south Japan gained tion of the first ARL, the Tokyo Monorail stages of planning or study. The line un- an ARL in July 1996. The track to the air- to Haneda. der construction is a monorail to link port, operated by JR Kyushu, is a 1-km Railway companies were seen as enter- downtown Naha in Okinawa to its airport spur from the existing Nichinan Line. The prises responsible for their own financial (OKA). When this straddle-beam mono- line’s infrastructure on airport land was affairs, and MOT policy has encouraged rail opens in 2003, it will be Okinawa’s built and paid for by the national govern- the three transport modes—rail, road, and first rail-based urban transit system. ment in accordance with the principles air—to compete freely, each sector Two separate ARLs are in the planning described above. The cost for building taking advantage of its own unique stage: one for Sendai (SDJ), the other for those parts of the line not on airport prop- strengths. However, over the last few the planned Chubu International Airport erty was divided equally between JR years, governments have boosted public at Nagoya. Sendai’s plans call for a spur Kyushu and the Miyazaki prefectural gov- assistance to railways with a view to im- line to be built from a JR East line to the ernment. In other words, much of the cost proving urban transit and facilitating high- airport with JR East offering direct services did not fall on the railway’s shoulders. speed travel between cities. Municipal between the airport and downtown. Osaka’s Itami Airport was the seventh air- governments and public/private corpora- Nagoya is Japan’s fourth largest city, with port in Japan to gain an ARL when the tions are increasingly funding develop- a population of 2.1 million, and is the site Osaka Monorail began services in April ment of urban transit systems, rather than of Expo 2005. The city’s second airport 1997. Like the Tokyo Monorail, the Osaka depending entirely on the private sector. is to be built on reclaimed land offshore Monorail is a straddle-beam system. One In addition, private companies now with an ARL to be provided by Nagoya difference is that it was built not so much receive more public funds for the devel- Railroad Co., Ltd., on an extension of its as a downtown-to-airport link but as a opment of rail transit services, and the Tokoname Line. If the construction sched- form of urban transit to facilitate travel in construction costs of inter-city shinkansen ule is on time, the airport will open in the suburban loop corridor, with the air- infrastructure are, in principle, now com- 2005 for the Exposition. port at the westernmost part of the line. pletely covered by public assistance plans Air-rail links are at the conceptual stage The line, which took many years to build, (with the national government paying at three other airports: Hiroshima (HIJ), is not very convenient for airline passen- double the amount paid by local govern- which is studying the feasibility of a High gers. However, because it was built as an ments). Increased public financing for Speed Surface Transit system (HSST) us- urban transit system, the line qualified for ARLs is part of this trend. ing electromagnetic levitation technology financial assistance from the national and developed in Japan; Niigata (KIJ), where local governments that paid 60% of the shinkansen track could be extended to the costs. The builder, Osaka Monorail Corp., Future ARLs in Japan airport; and Kochi (KCZ), where a spur received investment funds from the pub- line might be built from the narrow-gauge lic and private sectors. For all its impressive advances in rail tech- Asa-Sai Line under construction. nology, Japan is not the country with the Public Funding for Railway world’s greatest number of ARLs. That Ideal Conditions Projects—A Growing Trend honour goes to the USA. The first ARL for Future ARLs built in the USA was for Cleveland Government funds are increasingly being Hopkins International. This was a transit Planning of future ARLs must proceed made available for ARL development in rail extension to the airport, opened in No- carefully because each situation is unique. Japan. As we have seen, current policy vember 1968, a few years after the Tokyo Variable conditions include the location, now permits the national government, Monorail. Eight other US airports have size, type, and raison d’être of each air-

18 Japan Railway & Transport Review 19 • March 1999 Copyright © 1999 EJRCF. All rights reserved. port, as well as the size and type of the The third ideal condition has been exam- transport systems and people movers. But urban rail network. Having said this, I ined by some people, but only conjec- even if magnetically levitated cars can will venture to suggest three ideal condi- turally. The focus of these studies is either carry people at 500 km/h, the scenario tions that should be considered when a shinkansen or MAGLEV cars joining still faces considerable obstacles. Plan- planning possible rail links. three of Japan’s international gateway air- ners should first develop ways for their First, the ARL should offer far greater con- ports—Narita, Chubu International Airport new system to link with airports and high- venience than the roads leading to the (planned for Nagoya), and Kansai Inter- speed trains—this would offer passengers airport. Planners should reject out of hand national. Narita serves as a global hub greater mobility. In the meantime, what any system that forces passengers to make and is centrally located in Japan, so its type of rail link should be constructed for train-bus connections. Indeed, they role as a transit point for passengers trav- Nagoya’s future international airport? should make every attempt to avoid even elling to and from different Japanese Air-rail links began as a way to offer road a single transfer from one train to another. cities will surely increase. If Narita Air- users another choice, but they are becom- In the case of cities already possessing an port were connected to a nationwide high- ing the main form of transport to some advanced rail transit system, the line speed train network (for example, the large airports due to the increase in air should link the airport to the existing rail shinkansen network), passengers would travel, and because of the tendency to network and permit direct connections enjoy a far greater level of convenience. build airports far from city centres. There with several major stations within the net- Trains to and from cities within 800-km are many forms of ARLs, ranging from work. For this reason, an unconventional radius of the airport would be superior to monorails to transit-system railways to transport system, such as a monorail or any other form of transport. As high-speed high-speed trains. Planes used to be about electromagnetically levitated train, is not train development plans in Europe show, five times faster than trains, but some trains really suitable. trains travelling at 300 km/h are well have reduced the ratio to 3:1 or even close Second, ARLs should be able to carry pas- placed to serve long-distance passengers, to 2:1. Motor vehicles, too, will one day sengers at about 100 km/h over the exist- and they can do so using less energy and travel faster through the introduction of ing rail network to destinations 100 or with less environmental impact than the Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) even 200 km from the airport. JR trains planes. When we consider these points, and other technical advances. At a time fulfill these conditions to a certain extent the decision to cancel the Narita when sustainable development is viewed for airports such as Narita, Kansai Inter- Shinkansen from downtown Tokyo to as an essential goal for the entire world, national, Shin-Chitose and Miyazaki. For Narita Airport created problems that will what is the ideal way to move large num- example, passengers can take the NEX have to be solved later. bers of people comfortably, quickly, and from Narita Airport to Yokohama and be- The proposal to use JR’s MAGLEV tech- in an environmentally friendly manner? yond, or a rapid commuter train even fur- nology to link Narita to Chubu Interna- Further study is needed to identify the re- ther to Yokosuka. The NEX takes only 90 tional Airport in Nagoya and Kansai spective advantages and disadvantages of minutes from the airport to Yokohama. International in Osaka (a total distance of airplanes, railways and motor vehicles, (Yokohama and Yokosuka are respectively 500 km) will raise the potential of these and to develop systems that make best use about 80 and 90 km southwest of the air- airports as international gateways. The of the advantages of each transportation port, as the crow flies). In another ex- cars would travel at more than 500 km/h. mode in a complementary fashion. I ample, the Haruka special express takes In effect, such a scenario envisages not believe that Japan has a duty to study these only 85 minutes from Kansai International three airports but one airport with three issues seriously and to develop ideal sys- Airport to Kyoto (75 km northeast of the groups of terminals joined by magnetically tems that the world will want to adopt. airport). The JR group of companies op- levitated trains much like airport ground I erates a nationwide rail network with many urban and inter-urban lines, and Ryosuke Hirota could provide even more convenient, extensive services within this network. Mr Hirota is presently Senior Managing Director of Kajima Corporation, a leading construction com- The rail links to airports in Frankfurt and pany in Japan. After graduating from the University of Tokyo in civil engineering, he joined JNR and held a number of senior posts at JNR and the Ministry of Transport. He served as the Vice-President Zurich could perhaps serve as a model in of the Japan Railway Construction Public Corporation prior to his current post. He is the co-author of this regard. Conversely, subways and Railways in Asia, and Railways in Europe and Africa (both in Japanese). small private railways cannot meet the objectives set out here.