Tokyo Mega Loop

[miyakoji]

I'm mostly interested in JR West and to lesser degrees Shikoku and Hokkaido, but I'll readily admit the impressiveness of JR East's huge conventional-line network and latest, greatest, shiniest stuff.  In Tetsudo Fan's August issue (link) there's an article about the Tokyo Mega Loop (東京メガループ), something of which I had not previously heard.  Here's a nice pdf provided by JRE.  Not new physical infrastructure, but apparently a new way to use the existing Musashino Line, Keiyo Line, Nambu Line, and Yokohama Line.  The Musashino itself appears to be a sort of outer loop.  Some sections, particularly in the northeast, are surprisingly "out there" iirc for places that aren't that far from Tokyo.

[westfalen]

There's nothing really new about it, I did it in 1996, took about two and a half hours as I recall.

[bikkuri bahn]

"Tokyo Mega Loop" is probably Tetsudo Fan's term, but yes, it does provide a route bypassing the center of the metropolis.  The Musashino Line and Keiyo Lines were conceived originally to be freight bypass routes (the Musashino Line, in particular, to displace freight from the Yamanote Loop).  Now they are also important passenger routes, and the Musashino line remains an important route for freight, in combination with the Nambu Line, which provides access to the Keihin Industrial Zone as well as the Tokaido Main Line.  The Yokohama Line is kind of an orphan, it doesn't connect with much other than the end points (Hachioji/Higashi Kanagawa) and the Sagami Line in Hashimoto, I'm not sure if any freight runs on it at all (probably not).

 

Apparently back in the 80's, riding the Musashino Line was a favorite of junior and senior high school students to play hooky from school, due to its length, remoteness, and relative lack of crowding.

[westfalen]

Video of my trip around the 'mega loop' in 1996.