2020 Summer Olympic Games go to Tokyo

[bill937ca]

The 2020 Summer Olympics have been awarded to Tokyo.  It will be interesting to see what upgrades are made to the JR network and the Tokyo are private railways over the next 7 years.

 

http://news.yahoo.com/tokyo-host-2020-olympics-203017356--spt.html

 

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/madrid-deliver-joy-spain-2020-olympics-race-015006466--oly.html

[ToniBabelony]

Oh man! I knew this was coming. :P

 

Not sure about the upgrades that are going to be made, but I'm sure a one or two lines towards the island south of Odaiba will be built. A possible option seems the extension of the Keiyo/Rinkai Line yard in front of Tokyo Heliport near Shin Kiba. I'm not sure what is feasible in 7 years though. It seems a very short time span to built something elaborate, but then again, they work FAST here.

[E6系]

I would be more than satisfied if the Fukushima issue is resolved in that time.  But I hold little hope.

[Sacto1985]

They're supposed to build a concrete "coffin" to cover over the remains of the reactors starting very soon--something similar to what was done at Chernobyl.

 

But getting back on topic, the big issue is how will they upgrade the JR East Keiyo Line, the Tokyo Waterfront Area Rapid Transit Rinkai Line, and the Yurikamome automated transit system to accommodate all those extra visitors to the numerous Olympic venues on Odaiba and Aomi artificial islands.

[Davo Dentetsu]

Blue trains.  Plenty of them.  I wouldn't be disappointed by that. :P

[Mudkip Orange]

Judo in the Budokan once again. Kick. Ass.

[Guest keio6000]

Congratulations to Tokyo.  While unfortunately for this year's olympics there were for once two credible candidates (Istanbul and Tokyo), both of whom have been long pining for the games, Tokyo really deserves it.

That said, honestly, Tokyo is more prepared than any city in the world to host the games in every possible aspect.  I honestly don't think they need to build much of anything, though I'm sure they will.  I mean, London built basically nothing in terms of infrastructure and got by just fine.

 

I never wish ill for the olympics, but I sure hope that it doesn't snow in Sochi and that it turns into a disaster.  Will put egg on putin's face and hopefully will put a more critical eye on the incredibly corrupt bidding process that got them the olympics (and the WC).  It already may be the least attended winter games in recent history simply because Sochi is such a nowhere.

[the_weird_one]

So glad that Tokyo got the games and hope that these games bring Baseball/Softball back.

 

And I know I'm going to be out there for the games, as soon as it was announced yesterday a group of 20 of us started planning the trip.

[cteno4]

sorry wrestling is back in and beat out baseball/softball and squash... interesting to see they went back on the wrestling!

 

would be fun to attend but as i get older the idea of going to huge events just feels more daunting... 

 

tokyo should be able to do the games right and certainly knows how to efficiently move people as well as build things quickly. fukoshima will be the big looming for a while i expect. interesting that they chose to gamble on the environmental disaster vs economic or war... it should really invigorate japan and im sure japanese pride will make sure that things are very nicely done.

 

looking forward to what they will do for the opening show. i hope its a bit more sedate and has some sort of better story line. they all seem to be going for how over the top and wild they can do things in the last few and its just loosing the story.

 

jeff

[westfalen]

Time to start planning a trip somewhere other than Japan in 2020 then go back in 2021 to see what new lines and trains they've built.

 

They'll have to teach all the foreign visitors from less enightened countries that in Japan you actually travel by train.  How many travel guides tell you how to get from the airport to Tokyo by taxi or bus but just skim over the many rail options?

[Sacto1985]

They'll have to teach all the foreign visitors from less enightened countries that in Japan you actually travel by train.  How many travel guides tell you how to get from the airport to Tokyo by taxi or bus but just skim over the many rail options?

 

Most English-language guides already highly recommend travelling in Japan by train as much as possible anyway. Indeed, the first option mentioned in most guides for getting into Tokyo from Narita International Airport is take either the JR East Narita Express or Keisei Skyliner for the fastest way back into central Tokyo. :)

[bikkuri bahn]

Whether to take the bus or train very much depends on where you will be staying that night.  If there is a limousine bus service to your hotel, or a station which is adjacent to your lodgings, it is much easier for the travel weary (and luggage encumbered) to take the bus than the train, especially if it's a steaming summer evening.  I almost always take the Keikyu Bus/Friendly Limousine service from Narita AP to YCAT, as the bus stop at the latter is reasonably close to the taxi stand.  Taking the train forces me to navigate for a few hundred meters Yokohama Station's busy concourse, a shopping arcade, and a number of escalators to get to the taxi.

Edited September 9, 2013 by bikkuri bahn

[the_weird_one]

sorry wrestling is back in and beat out baseball/softball and squash... interesting to see they went back on the wrestling!

Ah nuts!

 

suppose it makes sense thought, wrestling is going to have a bigger pool of people to participate.

[ToniBabelony]

suppose it makes sense thought, wrestling is going to have a bigger pool of people to participate.

 

Yes indeed. I was very stunned the IOC wanted to get rid of one of the most traditional Olympic sports. My wife kept complaining that countries outside European countries were too strong to compete with, so that's why the IOC wanted to remove wrestling. I don't know about those things, since I'm not a sports person. I'd rather do creative stuff with my free time. My wife however is very fond of sports (though dislikes baseball)... Talk about a twisted household.

[Sacto1985]

Whether to take the bus or train very much depends on where you will be staying that night.  If there is a limousine bus service to your hotel, or a station which is adjacent to your lodgings, it is much easier for the travel weary (and luggage encumbered) to take the bus than the train, especially if it's a steaming summer evening.  I almost always take the Keikyu Bus/Friendly Limousine service from Narita AP to YCAT, as the bus stop at the latter is reasonably close to the taxi stand.  Taking the train forces me to navigate for a few hundred meters Yokohama Station's busy concourse, a shopping arcade, and a number of escalators to get to the taxi.

 

There's also the time issue, too. While limousine bus services can take you literally to the front entrance of the hotel, there's also the issue of the horrendously bad Tokyo traffic--a particularly bad problem for flights from San Francisco and Los Angeles to Narita, which arrive in the mid to late afternoon. Taking the limousine bus at that time of day and having to face the evening commute is often not a good idea. 

 

That is why my brother (who visits Japan fairly often on business) nowadays stays at the Sunroute Plaza Shinjuku Hotel--only a short walking distance from the JR East Shinjuku Station tracks and walks to a part of Shinjuku that is not so busy (southeast corner exit from station). That way, he could take the JR East Narita Express.

[KenS]

In addition to the main park on the artificial islands around Odaiba, there are also a couple of venues in Shinjuku, as well as several other places.  I don't think they necessarily need to build any new rail lines (maybe an extension into the Olympic park or something like a maglev running through it), but I expect they will have some kind of shuttle train linking the venues.

 

It's an excellent chance to show off their transportation network.  I can't see them wanting to pack tourists into morning commuter trains as part of that. :)

[Guest keio6000]

Tokyo could dismantle all of its railroad stock and scrap every bus today and simply based on monorails, yurikamome, and the like and still have more mass transit than Atlanta had for its shamefully poor olympics.  If you want to see something very pathetic, find the Atlanta opening ceremonies on youtube and compare them to Beijing.

[cteno4]

new rail for olympics

 

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/09/23/national/games-planners-face-compact-infrastructure-limits/#.UkCsWuBAd9k

 

jeff

[Ochanomizu]

I am looking forward to special "Olympic" livery.

[KenS]

I just read the article Jeff posted. They're expecting 10 million visitors, and the transport solutions is: a bus line with 100-person shuttle busses.

 

That seems a bit anticlimactic.  They're also talking about a Haneda-Marunouchi subway and a north-running Koto waterfront subway, but neither of those seems to be tying olympic venues together, unless I've missed something. They just sound like "projects we've wanted to do and now we have an excuse" activities.

 

On the bright side, London predicted 11 million visitors, and only received 3.18 million, so perhaps Tokyo's existing infrastructure will cope just fine, as long as they schedule to avoid rush hour surges. There's a lot of capacity going unused mid-day.