Tokyo area track level in station crossings

[bill937ca]

Recently I have been researching interesting aspects of Japanese rail lines that appeal to railfans like Tokyo area stub lines, stations with two separate head houses but no connections between platforms and track level in station crossings of which at least four can be found in the Tokyo area and there are many lines I have not investigated.

 

Tokyu Oimachi line Todoroki Station

 

Tokyu Todoroki station is 17 minutes off the Keihin-Tōhoku Line in Tokyo.  Todoroki Station is located between the two tracks of the Oimachi line and passengers have to use a track level grade crossing to access the fare machines, fare gates and reach the platforms.

 

There are plans to underground Todoroki station which date from 1993, but these plans have been stalled by environmental concerns.

 

Photos of Todoroki Station.   http://ku-gyou.net/shitetsu/tq-todoroki.html

 

 

Tokyu Ikegami line Ikegami Station

 

Tokyu Ikegami Station is located 18 minutes off the Yamanote line in Tokyo. The passenger entrance is located off the bus turnaround. After passing through the fare gates passengers headed towards Gotanda use a grade crossing across the Ikegami line in the station.  Three car trains run every 2-3 minutes in the morning peak and about 6-7 minutes at other times on weekdays.

 

Photos of Ikegami Station:  http://ku-gyou.net/shitetsu/tq-ikegami.html

 

More photos of Ikegami Station: http://funini.com/train/tokyo/ikegami_station/

 

 

Enoden Hase Station 

 

Enoshima Electric Railway's Hase Station is the closest station to the Great Buddha in Kamakura.  The crossing is inside the fare gates and a second crossing for the local road is just outside the station.  Enoden`s in station crossing gates are often manned by company staff.

 

Photos of Hase Station:  http://ku-gyou.net/shitetsu/eno-hase.html

 

Other photos:  http://tnk-ko.a.la9.jp/enoden/eno/Enoden305-355_1052-1002__10_20061124n_s1024_I13_Hase.jpg

 

                        http://tnk-ko.a.la9.jp/enoden/eno/Enoden501_20080326bn_s1024_I13_Hase_75.jpg

 

Enoden Enoshima Station

 

Enoshima Station is near the middle of the Enoden line.  Again the crossing between platforms is inside the fare gates.

 

Photos of Enoshima Station:  http://ku-gyou.net/shitetsu/eno-ehoshima.html

 

Another photo:  http://tnk-ko.a.la9.jp/enoden/eno/Enoden551-501_20070621an_s1024_I23_EnosimaSt_uM.jpg

 

Tokyo is not the only Japanese city line with track level crossings in stations.  The Nankai in Osaka has several locations with this feature too.

Edited May 24, 2013 by bill937ca

[bikkuri bahn]

There are also JR-E stations with level crossings inside stations.  Perhaps the most famous is at Kita-Kamakura Station:

 

Crappy quality, but here's a unique one- Keikyu Zushi Line Jinmuji Station, with a ticket office/entry gates exclusively reserved for US military personnel and dependents:

 

I think there are fewer of these types of crossings in the Kanto region than Kansai, especially on main line routes.  As far as I know, the king of these types of station arrangements is Kintetsu, they are practically a standard type, particularly in the outer suburban and rural areas. Kaminotaishi Station on the Minami Osaka line is a representative example:

 

If you're interested in these types of crossings, they are called kounai fumikiri (構内踏切).  Plugging that into a youtube search will yield a goodly number of examples.

Edited May 24, 2013 by bikkuri bahn

[bill937ca]

If you're interested in these types of crossings, they are called kounai fumikiri (構内踏切).  Plugging that into a youtube search will yield a goodly number of examples.

 

 

Thanks for the info, BB.

[bill937ca]

A couple more videos of Tokyu Todoroki station.  Those crossing gates come down fast!

 

 

 

Edited May 27, 2013 by bill937ca