MLIT list of railway crossings that "need to be improved"

[bikkuri bahn]

Last month the MLIT released a list of 58 railway road crossings which were top candidates for improvement (or elimination via grade separation).  Keio Railway led the list with 25 railway crossings that posed safety risks and/or congestion choke points.  Second on the list was JR Kyushu, with 6 locations. Third was JR Tokai, with 5 locations.  The remaining railways had three or less candidate locations.  It must be noted that the Keio Railway crossings in question will be eliminated with the completion of the (currently under construction) elevation of the Keio Main Line between Sasazuka and Sengawa (7.2km).

 

http://toyokeizai.net/articles/-/118244

 

Actual list of those crossings, from the MLIT:

http://www.mlit.go.jp/common/001126608.pdf

[bill937ca]

There is also Shinsen station with its tunnel portal, railway crossing and enclosed station all together right in Shibuya.

 

 

[railsquid]

It's an interesting one, granted, but not on the list and the road is not particularly busy.

[railsquid]

The only crossing in Shibuya-ku mentioned is Yoyogi Hachiman No. 1 (Google Street view), which has a large section of road between tracks, and which according to Wikipedia will be moved, not removed, but the station will be rebuilt with an island platform and the entrance moved up to the recently expanded Yamate-dori bridge, presumably reducing the need for passengers to and from the station to use the crossing.

[kvp]

There is also Shinsen station with its tunnel portal, railway crossing and enclosed station all together right in Shibuya.

That crossing is in a local dip, so the most simple solution would be to just cover the tracks and raise the ground. Amost all streets are sloping upwards from there and only the corner building's unused looking ground floor would disappear under the foundation of the new street level. (and the station stairs/escalator could be replaced by a level entryway) That one actually seems like a no brainer, but it looks like there is not much of an incentive to do anything about it.

 

On the old photos, you can see that the station is in a cut between two tunnels and most of the platforms are actually underground. The best approach would be to bury the tracks fully. http://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/twkdal/16685868.html

Edited May 19, 2016 by kvp

[railsquid]

That crossing is in a local dip, so the most simple solution would be to just cover the tracks and raise the ground. Amost all streets are sloping upwards from there and only the corner building's unused looking ground floor would disappear under the foundation of the new street level. (and the station stairs/escalator could be replaced by a level entryway) That one actually seems like a no brainer

 

No - take a look on Streetview. There's no easy solution here, but it's not a busy crossing at all (yes I do go past there every now and again).

[kvp]

Took that look before i wrote it. If you turn around, you'll notice that the two sidestreets towards the station are going uphill. There is a very steep street on the tunnel portal side and a stairway. The only level street is the one crossing, but an overpass could be built to reach the same height as the tunnel portal. That would actually be the 1st floor of the station and the nearest building. The only enterances that would be buried are the stairs up to the station and the nearest corner building with the closed looking bar. Think of it as building an overpass over the tracks and burying the ground floors of two buildigns in the process where the ramp goes up. The rest of the streets would just have to be levelled out. The side effects would be that 3 nearby buildings (including the station) will have their 1st floor windows on the new street level and their groundfloors buried. 2 buildings are actually non keio properties, so that could pose a problem. And since it's a very lightly used sidestreet, nobody really cares about it.

 

ps: Considering this is the last non tunnel section in the area, it would seem logical that the company would have tried to clean it up during the recent reconstruction of the station, but for some reason, they left the street as it was.

[railsquid]

ps: Considering this is the last non tunnel section in the area, it would seem logical that the company would have tried to clean it up during the recent reconstruction of the station, but for some reason, they left the street as it was.

 

Ah well, there you see, it would cost  a *lot* of money to solve that problem  and involve a lot more construction and purchase of properties than you  think. No way would just three buildings be affected, unless you're imagining an implausibly steep overpass. The only way that crossing will ever disappear is if Tokyo decides to widen the road as a strategic link, which is highly unlikely.

[kvp]

Well, at least we'll still have one very unique grade crossing when the rest of them gets eliminated. Imho both the old and the new crossing would make a good diorama. (or ttrak module)

[bill937ca]

This is a web site by a railway engineer with a section on the railway crossings in the center of Tokyo.  There are maps with highlighted links to sequences of crossings on individual private railway lines (and three JR lines) plus a page with highlighted links to crossings on lines leading up to the Yamanote line.

 

http://ktymtskz.my.coocan.jp/f0/index.htm