Tokyo Train, Subway Operators Reduce Commuter Services to Conserve Power
Japan’s biggest subway and train operators reduced services on commuter lines for a second weekday to conserve power after the March 11 earthquake crippled a nuclear power plant north of the capital Tokyo.
East Japan Railway Co. (9020), which runs Tokyo’s busiest above-ground system, is operating limited services on 22 of its commuter lines and three bullet trains, according to its website. Tokyo Metro Co., the city’s biggest subway network, was operating all nine of its lines at about 50 percent of the normal schedule, it said on its website.
Tokyo’s central business district appeared less congested than usual as companies asked some employees to work from home. At about 10 a.m. a line of eight taxis were waiting for riders in front of Tokyo Station’s Marunouchi south exit, a reversal from March 11, when train stoppages left commuters to wait in 200 meter lines for a cab.
Express train services to Narita International Airport, the nation’s busiest international hub, were still suspended. JR East, as East Japan Railway is known, was not operating its Narita Express service today, while Keisei Electric Railway Co. halted operations on its Skyliner express to the airport in Narita.
Tokyo Monorail Co., a venture with JR East, was operating its line on a curtailed schedule from Hamamatsucho Station in central Tokyo to Haneda Airport, Asia’s second busiest.
Below is a list of Tokyo area train lines and their status of operations as of 11 a.m. local time:
Train line Operating Status Operator Narita Express Suspended JR East Skyliner Suspended Keisei Electric Ginza 50% of normal Tokyo Metro Marunouchi 50% of normal Tokyo Metro Chiyoda 50% of normal Tokyo Metro Oedo Reduced Toei Transport Yurakucho 50% of normal Tokyo Metro Hibiya 50% of normal Tokyo Metro Hanzomon 50% of normal Tokyo Metro Namboku 50% of normal Tokyo Metro Tozai 50% of normal Tokyo Metro Fukutoshin 50% of normal Tokyo Metro Yamanote Reduced JR East Chuo Reduced JR East Sobu Reduced JR East Keihin-Tohoku Reduced JR East Saikyo Reduced JR East Yokusuka Reduced JR East Tokaido Reduced JR East Takasaki Reduced JR East Chuo-Sobu Kankou Reduced JR East Chuo Honsen Reduced JR East Utsunomiya Reduced JR East Tsurumi Reduced JR East Narita Reduced JR East Keiyo Reduced JR East Kawagoe Reduced JR East Joban Express Reduced JR East Joban Reduced JR East Musashino Reduced JR East Nambu Reduced JR East Nambu-Shisen Reduced JR East Oume Reduced JR East Joetsu Reduced JR East
To contact the reporter on this story: Kiyotaka Matsuda in Tokyo at kmatsuda@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Neil Denslow at ndenslow@bloomberg.net
Tokyo Train Operators Reduce Services to Conserve Power
Tomohiro Ohsumi/Bloomberg
A member of East Japan Railways Co.'s station staff prepares a notice in front of the closed entrance of a train station after Tokyo Electric Co. announced the power outages in Urayasu city, Japan.
A member of East Japan Railways Co.'s station staff prepares a notice in front of the closed entrance of a train station after Tokyo Electric Co. announced the power outages in Urayasu city, Japan. Photographer: Tomohiro Ohsumi/Bloomberg
Tokyo Train Operators Reduce Services to Conserve Power
Tomohiro Ohsumi/Bloomberg
Morning commuters wait in line for a bus outside an East Japan Railways Co. train station after Tokyo Electric Co. announced the power outages in Urayasu city, Japan.
Morning commuters wait in line for a bus outside an East Japan Railways Co. train station after Tokyo Electric Co. announced the power outages in Urayasu city, Japan. Photographer: Tomohiro Ohsumi/Bloomberg
Tokyo Train Operators Reduce Services to Conserve Power
Tomohiro Ohsumi/Bloomberg
Members of East Japan Railways Co.'s station staff work in front of the closed entrance of a train station after Tokyo Electric Co. announced the power outages in Urayasu city, Japan.
Members of East Japan Railways Co.'s station staff work in front of the closed entrance of a train station after Tokyo Electric Co. announced the power outages in Urayasu city, Japan. Photographer: Tomohiro Ohsumi/Bloomberg
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