NHK World Wide

[Guest ___]

Watching at the moment on NHK World Wide a news program about the operations of the Tozai Line where the operational diagram schedules trains down to the 5 second mark. The operating diagram they showed printed out to about 5m and had over six hundred lines to show every movement to every train on the line in 15 second intervals. (The 5 sec intervals are shown as a hook) The show goes on to talk about how Ueshida-san went from childhood rail otaku to chief of scheduling for the Tozai Line.

[Guest ___]

It is part of the "Professionals" Series.

[bikkuri bahn]

Yes, I saw that one too.  A good program, I'm glad it's been broadcast on NHK World Wide so more could have seen it.  Btw, the people doing this  diagramming job are called sujiya, "suji" referring to the lines that criss-cross the operating diagram.  

 

Here is a shorter segment about this particular profession, this time at JR West's Osaka office(Japanese language).  Very interesting also, and covers some things not mentioned in the NHK program, such as the role of computerization.  Previously all diagrams were drawn by hand (every year, several hundred sujiya would meet at a hotspring for a week and mash out a new nationwide operating diagram), but much has been taken over by software programs.  JR West switched to software in 1994.  However, software takes care of the preliminary diagramming only, the sujiya prefer to do the detail work by hand, using pen and paper.  Reason- it's easier to see the big picture and connections on a big sheet of paper than on a computer screen (much the same as using a JTB paper timetable versus online ones like Hyperdia, I must say).  Also, and this was shown on the NHK program also, the sujiya don't just work at a desk, they go out to the stations to see the trains in action and the flow of passengers and connections, so as to find new ways to fine tune and increase services.  I reckon few, if any other railway systems in the world go to these lengths.

 

 

*at 2:00 there is an interior shot of the Asahiya Bookstore railway section- epicenter of railfan geekdom in Kansai

[Guest ___]

This was sort of the way I did my job as Technical Writer (Engineering Tech) at bp solar prior to the plant shutting down. I spent more time on the floor on the front liens than in the office writing, creating, editing or modifying SOP. It's the only way one can really modify or work with process is directly.