Running trains

TOKYO – When Kouhei Ushida graduated from high school, he no longer proceeded to university. Instead he went to work for the Tokyo Metro, the company that operates the subway in this Japanese capital. 

That was 34 years ago. Day in and day out, Ushida took the subway, worked in it, familiarizing himself with its operations and the behavior of passengers. Back in the day there were many complaints about delays and glitches.

In 2008, Ushida launched an in-depth analysis of the causes of delays. About two years later, he began working with a university on measures to enhance punctuality in the subway system. The reforms were gradually implemented. 

Today metropolitan Tokyo’s subway, although one of the busiest in the world with the area having a daytime population of 13 million, is also one of the most efficient. 

Japan’s train service is so brutally punctual that last November, an engineer issued a public apology for the “tremendous nuisance” caused by a diversion from schedule: an express train connecting Tokyo to its northern suburbs pulled out of the station 20 seconds early. 

Filipinos who have suffered from daily glitches in the Metro Rail Transit 3 could only read that and weep. 

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Ushida is now a manager at the International Relations Department at Tokyo Metro Co. Ltd.’s corporate planning headquarters. He and senior manager Takahiro Tanisaka told me at their office here last Tuesday that the apology was no over-acting, and it wasn’t the first such apology issued by Japanese train operators. In this country, no delay is too brief or minor to make an apology unnecessary. 

Any delay cascades throughout the train system, and while this is a society of polite people, Japanese commuters do not suffer inefficiency gladly. 

Since Ushida’s recommendations were implemented, delays have been halved while passenger complaints have been reduced to only a tenth, he told me. 

I said I was thrilled to meet him and he should visit the Philippines to see if there is hope for the MRT and Manila commuter train service. I wasn’t entirely joking. I’ve since learned that train personnel are held in high regard in this country. Becoming a train driver, in white gloves and neat uniform, I was told, is right up there with doctor, policeman and football player as a dream job for young Japanese boys. 

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So what were Ushida’s recommendations, which are now being implemented? 

Tokyo Metro has personnel who actually push commuters into packed trains and manually close doors if a train departure risks being delayed by the crush of crowds. 

Ushida noted that narrow train platforms slowed down passengers, so platforms were gradually expanded at different stations. 

New generation trains are now also designed with wider doors. The new trains are fielded during peak hours and along the nine most congested lines for the surge of passengers. The old trains with narrow doors, which can last up to 50 years, are still in use, but their phase-out is being ramped up. 

The signaling system has been upgraded so more trains can run at specified times. Tokyo’s commuter railway tracks are also designed so they do not cross the paths of vehicles at ground level and delay traffic. 

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Commuters in Metro Manila will be happy to know that it looks like our mega city might soon actually have a subway, with Japanese involvement. 

Last week the Japan International Cooperation Agency finalized with Philippine officials 11 development projects to be financed by JICA. The biggest project approved is the P356.9-billion first phase of the Metro Manila subway that will run from Mindanao Avenue in Quezon City to the Food Terminal Inc. in Taguig – a distance of 25.3 kilometers – with a spur line to the NAIA. 

Kazuhiko Ueno, director of JICA’s Southeast Asian division with jurisdiction over the Philippines, told me here that to avoid delays due to right-of-way issues, the subway will run under or near the C-5 road network, so that the target completion date of 2022 can be achieved. The JICA loan is expected to be signed next month.

JICA is also financing the P211.4-billion rehabilitation of the 69-kilometer railway connecting Malolos, Bulacan and the Clark Freeport Zone in Pampanga, with one of the seven stations servicing Clark International Airport. Construction is seen to start in January 2019.

Also funded by JICA is the P124.1-billion commuter train south line that runs from the Tutuban central station in Manila to Los Baños, Laguna. Improving the transportation infrastructure in Metro Manila, Ueno told me, is a priority for JICA in the Philippines.

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Filipinos are worried that a subway in Metro Manila might simply be destroyed by flooding and earthquakes. These, however, are also problems in Japan, but the Tokyo train system has measures against flooding. And while no one can predict when an earthquake will strike, and there is no foolproof protection against the destruction from quakes, measures can be implemented to save more lives.

In Tokyo, subway entrances have aluminum boards that are manually installed to block floods from the street level, while tunnel doors have waterproof concrete doors. Tanisaka told me that while not 100 percent foolproof, the barriers hold floodwater long enough to allow people to leave the subway for higher ground during floods. Japan’s subways are also equipped with powerful water pumps that can rapidly clear a flooded area.

For earthquakes, there is constant reinforcement of the subway infrastructure. Seismic sensors also trigger a signal to drivers to stop the trains at Intensity 4. The trains stop automatically at Intensity 5. And while blackouts are rare, there are powerful generators on standby for outages.

The exceptional punctuality of this city’s train system reportedly played a key role in Tokyo’s successful bid to host the 2020 Olympic Games.

We’re not aiming for the Olympics. All we want is an end to the daily glitches so our trains will run, and run on time.