Riding the Yamanote line-tips and suggestions

[Steve4031]

I will be staying at the shinjuku hilton. One of my goals is to do a circle trip on the Yamanote line. I understand this takes about 1 hour and these trains can be crowded. How busy is this line on a Sunday night(Easter Sunday)? Do all of the services have the same equipment?

 

Thank you

[Claude_Dreyfus]

I cannot speak for Easter service, but presume they will be the same as any other Saturday night operation in Tokyo. At present Yamanote line trains are all in the hands of the 11-car E231 units. An excellent feature of these units is the ability for passengers to see out of the front (or rear) windows of the train...you get some great views.

Edited May 30, 2015 by Claude_Dreyfus

[Densha]

I don't think Japan actually celebrates Easter at all, do they?

[Steve4031]

I didn't think so. Do things slow down on Sunday in japan? Or is this a normal day.

[railsquid]

In the last couple of years, enterprising confectionary manufacturers have got wind of the Bunny-Egg celebration and are trying to make something of it, though as it's a moving target I suspect it might not catch on the way the Midwinter Date Nite Festival (the one shortly after the Emporer's birthday) has.

 

Presumably this will be Easter Sunday 2016? If so there might be some of the new-fangled E235 trains in service.

 

How crowded it is at "night" depends how you define "night". From about 10pm it will be crowded with people heading home from weekend entertainment etcetera, though less crowded than Friday and Saturday nights. Before then it will be reasonably full, but with a good chance of getting a seat after a few stations, if that's important...

 

Top tip: avoid it when there's an earthquake resulting in shindo 4 or above in the Tokyo area, like there was tonight at around 20:30, as according to the TV service on the Yamanote Line have only just resumed (ca. 23:30). Presumably it took them that long to check for fallen catenary masts.

Edited May 30, 2015 by railsquid

[Steve4031]

Thanks for the earthquake tip. How often is that an issue. I know that earthquakes are somewhat routine there. How serious is shindo 4?

[kvp]

Between 0.25–0.80 m/s² surface level acceleration. Should be around the same as a ride on an older tram or a car running on stone pavement.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan_Meteorological_Agency_seismic_intensity_scale

[Steve4031]

How often do earthquakes happen? I know there have been some big ones, but these smaller ones are a trip to think about too!!

[katoftw]

Tokyo has peak hours 7 days a week.  4pm on a Sunday afternoon is no different from 8am Monday morning.  Shibuya up to Ikebuburo is probably the largest busy section of the Yamanote Line due to the shopping and youth culture districts involved.

 

Last trip I remember getting on around 4pm at Harajuku and getting off at Shinjuku, and you couldn't see you feet the train was so crowded.  Platform at Shinjuku was just as busy.

[Densha]

You'd wonder whether there would be alternatives available, to the Yamanote line that is. There are so many railway and subway lines in Tokyo that you'd think that for some parts there should be other lines you could take.

[Steve4031]

I thought the circle trip would be cool. There is the monorail.

[kvp]

Afaik one of the episodes in the railway report talked about this. They showed 3 different routes to get from Shibuya to Tokyo station, saying there are more alternatives, but those are less practical.

[railsquid]

Tokyo has peak hours 7 days a week.  4pm on a Sunday afternoon is no different from 8am Monday morning.

 

Oh yes it is. Very different patterns of travel. Go to Harajuku Station at 8am on a weekday morning and the platform is comparatively empty. I know 'cos I used to live there. Not fun on an Sunday afternoon, as you found.

 

Also try the Yamanote Line at 10:30am on a weekday. World of difference to the rush hour.

[railsquid]

How often do earthquakes happen? I know there have been some big ones, but these smaller ones are a trip to think about too!!

 

"Biggish" (shindo 4, which is enough to shut down train lines temporarily) ones like this are comparatively rare, it's only the second one this week. Which is admittedly quite rare, they occur maybe a few times a year (at the moment, very quiet compared to the 2nd quarter of 2011...)

[railsquid]

Thanks for the earthquake tip. How often is that an issue. I know that earthquakes are somewhat routine there. How serious is shindo 4?

 

This is my personal interpretation of the shindo scale:

 

1: was that an earthquake or am I just tired? Not noticeable outside. Nothing happens.

2: I think that was an earthquake. Not noticeable outside. Nothing happens.

3: definitely an earthquake. Probably not noticeable outside. Monitors on my desk shake.

4: oh sh*t is this earthquake going to suddenly get suddenly stronger like it did in 2011? Hold on to desk monitors, or dive for baby, as appropriate. Light, poorly-positioned objects may fall from shelves. Trains may shut down temporarily. Overhead wires will sway visibly. Tall buildings not good for people who suffer motion sickness,

5-: oh sh*t oh sh*t, prepare buttocks for clenching. Trains come to an emergency stop and be suspended for many hours. Gas meters will automatically switch off the supply. Things will fall off shelves, bits may drop off buildings.

5+: Like 5-, but buttocks tightly clenched, bigger bits may drop off buildings. Around this intensity unlucky people will become fatality statistics.

6-, 6+, 7: do not want to experience.

Edited May 31, 2015 by railsquid

[gmat]

Shinjuku is a party town so the Yamanote Line at that station will be crowded most of the night and will get very crowded towards the last trains running. Weekends would be worse than usual. But as mentioned before, not all stretches would be overcrowded. If you do wish to get a seat, the best bit is to wait until the train arrives at a major transfer point, like Ikebukuro or Shibuya Stations. But if you wish to appreciate the ride, then ride it in the afternoon when it is less crowded and with better visibility, and as others have said, stand at the front. If you want to experience a jam packed train, one or two stops would be more than enough to satisfy it. You know the Yamanote Line has no crossing, save one? 

Grant

[katoftw]

Oh yes it is. Very different patterns of travel. Go to Harajuku Station at 8am on a weekday morning and the platform is comparatively empty. I know 'cos I used to live there. Not fun on an Sunday afternoon, as you found.

 

Also try the Yamanote Line at 10:30am on a weekday. World of difference to the rush hour.

Sorry.  I was referencing the train he will be riding on.  Not the platform he wont be boarding from.

[lurkingknight]

been there a total of 4 weeks... felt nothing of ground shaking.... nothing before... nothing after either.

 

My friend who's 2nd trip in 2011 was cancelled when the tohoku earthquake happened on the day he was supposed to fly out.

[railsquid]

Sorry.  I was referencing the train he will be riding on.  Not the platform he wont be boarding from.

 

Well 4pm on a Sunday afternoon still isn't quite the same as 8am on a Monday morning... Your post made it sound like it's all rush-hour all the time.

 

To recap: outside the weekday morning rush hour, and maybe the last few trains at night, especially on Friday and Saturday, the Yamanote line is pretty civilized. There may be localized crowding, such as around Harajuku on a busy Sunday afternoon, or if there's a big event somewhere, or another line has stopped, but in general nothing to worry about. Earthquakes do happen, but are pretty seldom .other incidents such as suicides/accidents do also happen, but these are becoming rarer thanks to platform doors.

[katoftw]

I think you choose to take one sentence from a full paragraph and take it out of context by ignoring the rest of the sentences in the paragraph.

 

If I was to ride the Yamanote Line near Shinjuku.  I would not ride it around the hours or 4-6pm.  People going home and people going to dinner.  Although 10 minute each side to Shinjuku would be empty.

 

I remember getting on a Shonan-Shinjuku train heading down the Tokaido at 8:41am Monday morning.  Couldn't see my shoes the train was packed.  By Shibuya, my family of 5 made up the carriage of 10 people.  Went from 200 people to 10 people in 2 stops. haha

Edited May 31, 2015 by katoftw