Feature New Urban Transit Systems Tokyo’s New Waterfront Transit System Kazuaki Iwata Overview Figure 1 Route of Yurikamome AGT from Shimbashi to Ariake Yurikamome—Tokyo’s new waterfront Tokyo transit system, is a medium-capacity, au- Yurakucho tomated guideway transit (AGT) system connecting the centre of Tokyo with a new subcentre on the Tokyo Bay waterfront. Shimbashi It takes its name, Yurikamome, from the JR Keiyo Line black-headed seagull, Tokyo’s officially- Shiodome designated bird, seen widely around the JR Yurikamome waterfront area. Yamanote Toyosu The 12-km line with 12 stops starts at Line Takeshiba Subway Yurakucho Shimbashi, crosses Tokyo harbour on the Hinode Line double-deck suspension Rainbow Bridge with an overall length of 3.75 km linking Shin-Kiba Shibaura-Futo Rainbow the man-made islands of the waterfront Bridge with Tokyo, and ends at Ariake. The jour- Rinkai-fukutoshin Kaijo-Koen Ariake Line ney takes 24 minutes. Odaiba-Kaihin-Koen Before the inauguration of Yurikamome, Depot Daiba Control Room the current operator, Tokyo Waterfront Shinagawa New Transit, Inc., was worried that the Tokyo Teleport Kokusai-Tenjijo- Aomi Seimon line would not be profitable, because the Fune-no-Kagakukan initially projected scope of the new wa- Telecom Centre terfront subcentre had not been achieved due to lingering economic stagnation. (Tokyo Waterfront New Transit, Inc.) However, since its inauguration in No- vember 1995, the number of passengers Note: The currently closed Shiodome Station will open after redevelopment of the former JNR Shiodome freight terminal. has steadily increased with more-and- more commuters, visitors, and sightseers. This is attributed to the opening of new terfront area on 448 ha of reclaimed land, mum speed of 60 km/h with a normal op- waterfront facilities, holding of events, and 6 km from the city centre. The daytime erating speed of 30 km/h. the widespread popularity of the pleas- workforce was expected to be 110,000 with ant Yurikamome ride with its magnificent a night-time population of 60,000. Reasons for choosing AGT views of the Tokyo waterfront. Despite Yurikamome was planned to serve as the The AGT was chosen for the following the initial worries, the operators are now major mode of access to the subcentre. reasons. busy increasing capacity to meet demand, Construction proceeded towards comple- • The reclaimed land where the subcentre especially when large events are held in tion in 1995 along with the subcentre’s was to be developed offered plenty of the waterfront area, and the future of other facilities including roads, railways, space, making an elevated guideway a Yurikamome looks bright. utility tunnels, lifelines, the Rainbow lower-cost option than a subway. Bridge, etc. • The compact, lightweight train is ideal for crossing a suspension bridge. Waterfront Project • Unmanned operation matches the con- AGT System cept of a future subcentre with round- As part of a plan to decentralize Tokyo into the-clock activities. urban subcentres (JRTR 13, pp. 4–11), in Yurikamome is Japan’s 10th AGT; it is 1985, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government unmanned and runs on a dedicated, el- Specific advantages (TMG) started a project to develop an in- evated track using dual lateral guides. The Yurikamome has the following specific ternational information centre in the wa- carriages run on rubber tyres at a maxi- advantages. Copyright © 1998 EJRCF. All rights reserved. Japan Railway & Transport Review 16 • June 1998 15 New Urban Transit Systems Figure 2 Layout of Yurikamome Elevated Guideway and Train Car effort to ensure passenger comfort, inden- tations in girder joints were levelled with acrylic resin mortar and finished by a spe- YURIKAMOME YURIKAMOME cially designed, diamond-cutter/grinder vehicle. Reappraisal of Waterfront Project In June 1995, Yukio Aoshima—Tokyo’s newly elected governor—decided to fol- low through on his election campaign pledge and cancelled hosting the World City Exposition Tokyo ‘96, planned for the subcentre by his predecessor. This was followed by cancellation and suspension of commercial construction projects in the subcentre due to the lingering stagnant business conditions. The anticipated fall in passenger traffic cast serious doubts over the Yurikamome project. With more than ¥1 trillion already in- vested in the subcentre’s infrastructure, the (Tokyo Waterfront New Transit, Inc.) TMG re-appraised the project in relation to the changes in the economy. The 1996 revised plan cut the daytime workforce • Unmanned, automatic operation offers established the Tokyo Waterfront New to 70,000 and the night-time population flexible scheduling and an increased Transit Inc., a third-sector enterprise to to 40,000; the development period was number of trains. operate the entire AGT. The company extended by about 10 years, and more • The rubber tyres and elevated track en- handled the construction of the operation diversified use of the land, including sure a quiet smooth ride for passengers and maintenance centre, electrical facili- amusement facilities, was permitted. It and are environment-friendly. ties, guideways, etc., finishing and furnish- was also decided to call the area ‘Rain- • The 2.47-m wide and 8.5-m long two- ing of stations, and building of carriages. bow Town’. door carriages are slightly larger than Construction started in 1988 and was com- This revised plan has been in progress ever the standard AGT size. pleted in 1995 after overcoming various since. • Large, curved-glass windows and booth difficulties. The total cost was ¥170 bil- seats enable passengers to enjoy the lion, ¥115 billion for infrastructure and ¥55 splendid view. billion for everything else; this works out More Passengers than Expected • Space for wheelchairs inside carriages at ¥14 billion/km, which seems compara- as well as elevators, escalators, etc. at tively expensive for an AGT. However, the Yurikamome officially entered service on stations, enable people with physical cost-effectiveness is high considering the 1 November 1995 as a forerunner of the disabilities to use the services easily. scale and quality, as well as the number of waterfront development project, despite passengers. Moreover, this cost was still anxiety over its future and criticism as only 50% of that required for a subway. ‘aerial transport through a wilderness’. Construction In an effort to make the ride as comfort- The waterfront development attracted able and pleasant as possible, enormous media attention, causing an influx of far The TMG built the main elevated struc- care was taken over the level of the track, more passengers than predicted right from ture and infrastructure using national gov- which was finished mechanically to a pre- the opening day. On 3 November 1995, ernment subsidies. In 1988, the TMG cision of better than ±2 mm. All in an a national holiday, the platforms were 16 Japan Railway & Transport Review 16 • June 1998 Copyright © 1998 EJRCF. All rights reserved. completely packed with waiting passen- daily volume of 43,000. coupons account for only about 25% of gers and extra trains had to be run on an In 1997, when the Fuji Television Network the total, which is still roughly 75% of the altered timetable. From November 1995 (Fuji TV) moved its operation to the target volume. On the other hand, there to March 1996, the daily average of pas- subcentre, the number of passengers in- are 1.8 times more sightseers and visitors sengers was 27,000—very close to the creased by 25% over 1996. On 4 May, to events or amusement facilities in the original estimate of 29,000. during the ‘Golden week’ national holi- area than originally forecast. As many as In 1996, following the successive open- days, the trains were so jam-packed that 20% of the passengers take Yurikamome ings of The International Exhibition Cen- many people had to give up taking them for the pleasure of riding it, viewing the ter, Hotel Nikko Tokyo, and other and the day marked the record of 130,000 landscape, and enjoying the night view facilities, the daily passenger traffic grew passengers. Since 1997, the daily aver- of the illuminated Rainbow Bridge and the to 60,000 in April to June. In July 1996, age passenger traffic has exceeded Tokyo skyline. restaurants, game centres, and other 70,000, and in the 27 months since open- Morning rush hours are made up of office amusement facilities were completed and ing until February 1998, more than 50 workers; groups of housewives take the the passenger traffic increased again to million people have taken Yurikamome. Yurikamome to enjoy the ride and sights 78,000 a day. On the occasion of a fire- during the day. Both office workers and works display on Tokyo Bay, as many as sightseers contribute to the evening rush, 100,000 people swamped the system and More Sightseers while groups and couples take the train in ticket issuing had to be suspended from the other direction into Rainbow Town for time-to-time at some stations. As a re- Saturdays are peak traffic days for evening entertainment. On Sundays, there sult, the average passenger traffic in the Yurikamome. Since many office build- are all kinds of passengers as well as more April 1996 to March 1997 period was ings in the waterfront area are still vacant, children. Yurikamome is even now a fea- 64,000 a day, or 1.5 times the predicted passengers using season tickets and fare ture of many Tokyo sightseeing tours. Passengers prefer Yurikamome Seventy percent of people going to the subcentre use Yurikamome, instead of cars. Their reasons are as follows: • Good views and comfort • Excellent accessibility to facilities, most of which are directly connected to sta- tions • Convenient starting point in downtown Tokyo The panoramic view from the elevated track and the sight of the Rainbow Bridge have turned this modern urban transit sys- tem into a popular pleasure line.