Watch Your Step!

[bill937ca]

A Rail Note video of Series 115 trains on the Shinano Railway.  Watch that first step (on the red train)!  Definitely not accessible!!

 

 

 

Simiarily a JR Series 115 at Naoetsu Station.

 

[Sacto1985]

I think the Shinano Railway will keep their 115 Series fleet active for a long, long time, especially now they can get ex-JR East 115's that used to run in the Niigata area. 

[JR 500系]

Why is there such a huge difference in platform heights for the 115 series? Is it due to the taller chassis of the 115? My, that huge step looks hideous, especially for the eldery or the mobility-challenged....

[ToniBabelony]

I saw a bunch of 115 being worked on in the Omiya works today (ex-Ryomo line presumably). It wouldn't be surprising to see these ending up at Shinano as well.

 

At some point Shinano needs to invest in more accessible platforms if they want to attract tourists. Especially tourists from the Kanto area where everything is level and accessible by law (as much as space permits) won't be expecting and/or appreciating this feature very much.

[kvp]

Some kiha-s and loco hauled stock had a step inside behind their doors. The platforms look like are meant for those cars (and other older stock), while the relatively newer 115 series were built for urban and suburban high platforms. A quick fix is one small concrete ramp at the first door, but that assumes stepfree access to all platforms, which might be the harder problem.