Tokyu Q Seat, the empty express

"Q Seat" is a service that has been provided by Tokyu since 2018. It is a seat reservation scheme during evening rush hour for commuters fed up with extremely packed trains. It was first introduced to Oimachi and Den-en-toshi lines, and there are nine Express services leaving Oimachi station between 5:00 pm and 9:40 pm on weekdays. Each service is formed of seven coaches, and one of them is designated as Q Seat that requires a 500-yen additional fare. Since Den-en-toshi line has been infamous for congestion, many passengers choose the all-reserved coach on the way home for up to 40 minutes.

* The seats will be turned to transverse ones when used in the evening

In August 2023, Tokyu introduced the scheme to Toyoko line with the same price. Two out of ten coaches of express services leaving Shibuya between 7:35 pm and 9:35 pm (precisely every 30 minutes) are Q Seat. As Q Seat is designed for commuters living near Tokyu stations, the trains have to stop at more stations than the fastest limited express services.

However, Toyoko line Q Seat has obviously been unsuccessful. The company must have imagined that the ridership would be as good as those on Oimachi and Den-en-toshi line, but there are only a handful passengers per Q Seat coach.

Tokyu has been desperate to promote the Q Seat on Toyoko line. It has offered a 50% off deal from 13 November to 29 December and again from 9 to 31 January. Furthermore, a bottle of green tea or yoghurt-based beverage (which roughly cost 160 yen) will be given without charge from 5 to 29 February. Despite these efforts, Toyoko line users seem to believe that it is not reasonable or useful enough.

Why Toyoko line Q Seat suffers from low ridership?

The start of the services

All Q Seat trains start from Shibuya station, but not a few Toyoko line passengers commute to even farther such as Shinjuku and Ikebukuro. They use direct services towards Shinjuku and Ikebukuro in the morning, but they have to alight a train at Shibuya if they wish to use Q Seat in the evening. This is simply inconvenient, and it must be the main reason for low usage.

Rivals

Unlike Den-en-toshi line, Toyoko line has a major competitor: Shonan-Shinjuku line. Both lines run between Shibuya and Yokohama and call at Musashi-Kosugi. JR East's Green Car is more expensive than Q Seat, but given the extensive network, JR can be more convenient than Q Seat trains.

Speed and duration

Unlike similar services that other train operators provide, Toyoko's Q Seat is not the fastest service of the line as mentioned above. Express trains on Toyoko line is notorious for stopping too many stations, calling at 14 out of 26 stations (excluding Shibuya). This is simply too slow, but Tokyu might have been in a dilemma: if Q Seat had been available on limited express services, even fewer people would use it as it only calls at major interchange stations and thus lose in battle against JR.

What is worse, exhausted commuters do not necessarily have to rely on Q Seat to secure a seat. There are "local" services calling at all stations start from Shibuya roughly every 10 minutes. A table below shows how different their duration from Shibuya is.

	Express	Local
Den-en-chofu	13 mins	17 mins
Tamagawa	15 mins	19 mins
Musashi-kosugi	17 mins	22 mins
Hiyoshi	21 mins	27 mins
Tsunashima	23 mins	29 mins
Kikuna	27 mins	34 mins
Yokohama	33 mins	48 mins

Local trains take more than express trains, but the differences are not significant. When everyone has a chance to have a seat on the local train, how many people think of paying 500 yen more?

To make the service more attractive, Tokyu has to do something other than providing a bottle. First, Q Seat should start from Fukutoshin line stations such as Ikebukuro and Shinjuku-sanchome. However, it must be a hard work for Tokyu as it has to negotiate with Tokyo Metro. Tokyo Metro has already had similar services (namely Odakyu Romancecar on Chiyoda line and TH Liner on Hibiya line), and it will certainly apply a similar fare. Thus, the Q Seat ticket is likely to be around 710 yen, which would be too expensive.

Second, Tokyu should consider providing the service during morning rush hour as well. Generally speaking, train congestion is worse in the morning than in the evening so that there might be a demand for seat reservation.

Third, Tokyu should also consider providing the service at the weekend. Parents with infants or babies and elderly people have struggled with packed trains on Saturday and Sunday. It might be a good promotion of Q Seat, and some of the parents may use it on weekdays as well.

The aforementioned options must have been on table, and the company will hopefully sort the problem out. Otherwise, the brand new Q Seat coaches would just be a waste of money.

The Red List of Trains in Japan (Oct-2023 update)

The Red List of Trains in Japan has been updated with six new articles, namely:

• JNR 50 series
• JR West 207 series
• JR West 321 series
• JR East GV-E400 series
• JGR Class 8620
• Tobu N100 series SPACIA X

Moreover, some new articles have been up to date, such as 211 series in Nagoya and Tokyu 9000 series in Tokyo.

Second-hand Trains

Introduction

On 26 September, Seibu revealed its detailed plan to purchase and introduce second-hand trains to its branch lines. It is uncommon if not unprecedented for a major railway company to reintroduce used trains of other railway operators. What we know so far?

Background

Seibu has been known for having many environmentally unfriendly trains. A quarter of its fleets are outdated while other major private railways in the Greater Tokyo Area has mostly completed replacing old-fashioned ones. Seibu has been introducing 40000 series since 2016, but the company estimated that the replacement would not finish until 2036 at the current pace.

Therefore, Seibu concluded that reintroducing second-hand but energy-saving trains would contribute to achieve its sustainability goals by 2030, six years earlier than the initial plan. The first official announcement regarding the reintroduction was made in December 2022, and there had been various speculation about possible rolling stock since then.

Which trains to be replaced with?

101 series, 2000 series and 4000 series trains. Remaining units were built in the 1980s or early-90s, though not a few components of the 4000 series were reused from trains developed in the late-60s. The 101 series is used for Sayama and Tamagawa Lines, and the 4000 series runs Chichibu Line. The 2000 series is still widely used across the network including Ikebukuro and Shinjuku Lines. There are approximately 300 carriages in total.

There is one more train type with eco-unfriendly features called 10000 series New Red Arrow, but Seibu has not referred to its fate at all.

What trains replace them?

Odakyu 8000 series and Tokyu 9000 series trains (including Tokyu 9020 series). They are commuter trains built in the 1980s and early-90s, just as old as the Seibu trains in question. NHK reported that Seibu plans to introduce 40 and 60 carriages respectively. The Odakyu 8000 series will be for Kokubunji Line and the Tokyu 9000 series will be for Chichibu, Sayama, Tamagawa and Tamako Lines. Each unit of the 9000 series is formed of five coaches at the moment but it will be shortened to four.

According to the official document, the 8000 series will enter service in 2024 while the 9000 series will be in "2025 or after that". Many of them are likely to be compatible with driver-only operation.

Is it really a sensible idea?

Seibu had been looking for eco-friendly trains with stainless-steel bodies. Odakyu 8000 series has been its traction and motors refurbished with new ones in 2003-13, but its body is made of ordinary carbon-steel. In other words, it does not meet one of two requirements. Hence, it is not certain whether the body is durable enough for the next 10-20 years.

Tokyu 9000 series meets with both criteria though Tokyu has not classified it as environmentally friendly in the last ten years. It will run Chichibu Line which has many steep slopes and tight curves so that there should be enhanced braking systems to deal with them.

Even so, Seibu estimates that 5,700 tonnes of carbon dioxide will be reduced a year, as the second-hand trains require 50% less energy than the old trains. Needless to say, it financially help the company as well.

Wasn't there other choices?

Speculation by railway enthusiasts included JR 209 series and Tokyo Waterfront Railway 70-000 series since not a few carriages are due to be withdrawn by 2030 and they meet the two elements on Seibu's wishlist. However, the 209 series has been notorious for not being sturdy enough as JR East designed it to have half the lifespan of other trains. The 70-000 series is based on the 209 series. Probably that is why Seibu decided not to purchase them.

Are there any examples of second-hand trains?

Small private railways often use second-hand trains, but it is rare to see major railway companies purchase used trains. One of the most well-known case in Japan is Meitetsu 3880 series, which was originally Tokyu 3700 series. Introduced to Toyoko Line in 1948, the 3700 series was used by Tokyu until 1980. Meitetsu purchased all them in 1975 and 1980 to deal with skyrocketing demand. The 3880 series was mainly used on Inuyama and Kakamigahara Lines until 1985.

Since the 21st century began, there were two such cases. In 2004, JR East purchased six carriages of TWR 70-000 series, which were operational until 2022. At that time, TWR had been rearranging the series from six to ten coaches, and JR East took redundant carriages over.

The other case was Semboku Rapid Railway 3000 series, 14 carriages of which were purchased by Nanai in 2013. Nankai had to replace 7000 series trains as soon as possible but it was impractical to replace them with brand new trains. Hence, Nankai decided to reuse the 3000 series. Today, all 14 carriages are used on Nankai Main Line their car numbers unchanged.

Confusing routes, confusing displays

On Saturday 18 March 2023, two new lines were added to Tokyo's railway network: Sotetsu and Tokyu Shin-Yokohama lines. Sotetsu Shin-Yokohama line was extended from Hazawa yokohama-kokudai (hereinafter referred to as Hazawa YK) to Shin-Yokohama, while Tokyu Shin-Yokohama line was opened from Shin-Yokohama to Hiyoshi. There are now hundreds of through-services every day from Sotetsu to Tokyo via Tokyu lines and vice versa.

As the biggest railway project in more than a decade has been completed at last, it is expected that Shin-Yokohama, an interchange station of Tokaido Shinkansen high-speed rail, will be even more convenient and easier to access for people not just in Kanagawa Prefecture but also western part of Greater Tokyo.

However, when I visited the new stations on the very first day, I found that the new through-services are confusing and even chaotic as described below.

This is a route map on a wall. It covers all stations managed by SEVEN railway companies that the new through-services would call at: namely Sotetsu lines as well as JR Saikyo line, Tokyu Meguro and Toyoko lines, Tokyo Metro Fukutoshin and Namboku lines, Toei Mita line, Saitama Railway Saitama Stadium line and Tobu Tojo line. It is extremely hard to find one's destination without help.

Destination displays show confusing information as well. In Japan, trains that call at every station are generally written as "Local" with white (or black) letters. But this display is so colourful that it is not easy to comprehend what do they mean. Displays on trains also adopt the same colour patterns. Apparently not a good idea for those with colour vision deficiency.

The colourful displays indicate routes of each train, as (hopefully) the map above shows. Since trains for Tokyu Toyoko line and others for JR Saikyo line run towards the same direction, it is vital to make it clear which line does the train go. For example, there are trains for Ikebukuro via Tokyu Toyoko and Tokyo Metro Fukutoshin lines and others via JR Saikyo line. The most confusing ones can be observed in the weekend morning: a train departing Hazawa YK at 7:51 is for Kawagoe via Saikyo line, while another one at 7:55 is for Kawagoeshi via Toyoko, Fukutoshin and Tobu Tojo lines. Both trains call at Ikebukuro despite they run completely different lines. Not a few passengers will certainly take a wrong train and thus pay 140 yen more than what was supposed to be.

Any timetable revision always causes a certain level of misunderstanding and confusion, but the Sotetsu-Tokyu through-services are hard for everyone. Generally speaking, a new railway is something to be welcomed, but these new ones are quite tricky.

Tokyu Shibuya station, 10 years on

Tokyo Metro 17000 series

Tokyu Toyoko line connects Shibuya in Tokyo and Yokohama, and it is one of the busiest railways in the Greater Tokyo Area. There have been through-services to Tokyo Metro Fukutoshin line, and by extension, Seibu Ikebukuro and Tobu Tojo lines since 2013. Today, Shibuya is effectively an underground station.

Tokyu 9000 series with a farewell sticker

Toyoko line was quite different until ten years ago. Before 16 March 2013, Toyoko line services did not go towards Fukutoshin line. There were some old trains that were withdrawn when the through-services commenced. Facilities at some stations looked different as well.

Shibuya station platforms had been located on this place since 1927 when Toyoko line opened. The building was dramatically refurbished in 1964 to deal with congestion and in preparation for the Tokyo Olympics. This wave-shaped roof had been known for nearly 50 years.

Shibuya station was a terminus of Toyoko line at that time so that there were bay platforms. The bay platform is not common in Tokyo because most stations are not dead-end. In central Tokyo, there are only a handful major termini that have such a feature: Asakusa (Tobu), Ikebukuro (Seibu and Tobu), Seibu-Shinjuku and Shinjuku (Keio and Odakyu).

Platforms at stations in Tokyo are generally straight, but Shibuya station platforms had tight curves, and they reminded me of stations like Cannon Street. Shibuya station was optimised for trains formed of eight coaches, roughly 160 metres (525 ft) long. It might sound long enough but actually it was not, as most trains in central Tokyo are longer than that.

Shibuya station platforms were extended again and again as trains became longer so that the platforms were narrow. No platform edge doors could have been installed here. As always, the more you went down the platform, the more you were likely to have a seat (as most people were reluctant to walk).

Shibuya station was relocated together with its adjacent station, Daikanyama (approximately a mile away). It is worth noting that the track and platform replacement work took less than four hours as the video above shows, thanks to the workers who had prepared for it for months.

The disused platforms were opened for public from 22 to 24 March 2013. A platform ticket (120 yen) was required to enter, but thousands of people visited the station to say goodbye to the 85-year-old platforms.

And then, the entire building was demolished. A skyscraper called Shibuya Stream was built on the site in 2018. It is worth noting that some viaducts are still in use for pedestrians, and I shall post another article about the ruins of them someday.

Farewell, Tokyu 8500 series

The original style

Another iconic commuter train in Tokyo, Tokyu 8500 series, retired on Wednesday after being in service for nearly 48 years.

The 8500 series was introduced to Den-en-toshi Line in 1975-91, with 400 carriages in total. As Den-en-toshi Line was about to be rearranged and through-service to Hanzomon Line was to be launched, the 8500 series was designed in accordance with safety standards of underground trains at that time.

Almost of all units looked unchanged since the introduction except a few features such as destination blinds (initially roll signs but later replaced with displays). They had been known for their significant noise until the very end.

The 8500 series was apparently not a "cool" train. Since it was a type of commuter train, it is not hard to imagine that Tokyu focused on trains that can transport as many people as possible and as cheap as possible, rather than making them stylish and impressive. In other word, "economical", and probably that was why not many railway enthusiasts paid attention until recently.

The withdrawal of the 8500 series was supposed to be completed by the early-2010s, but it was deferred for nearly ten years. There were several reasons for the deferral. First, the Global Financial Crisis hit the business. Second, Japan Airlines, whose shares had been owned by Tokyu due to historical backgrounds, went bankrupt. As a consequence, Tokyu conceded that there was an initial loss of 9 billion yen (approx. 98 million USD) in 2010, and the total loss was expected to be even more. Third, Tokyu had another major railway project; through-services between Tokyu Toyoko and Tokyo Metro Fukutoshin Lines. Tokyu had to concentrate on the project by introducing brand new trains and refurbishing other trains. Needless to say, there were also many other things to invest such as new Shibuya station facilities. Hence, The replacement of the 8500 series took longer than initially anticipated.

Oimachi Line unit

The 8500 series had been used not only for Den-en-toshi Line (including relevant through-services) but also other Tokyu lines. A few carriages ran Toyoko Line until the late-1980s as a temporary measure, which most people do not remember well today. In 2003-19, several units that formed of five coaches were used for Oimachi Line as well. Their red stripes were repainted yellow and orange in 2006 to distinguish them from other 8500 series units on Den-en-toshi Line.

Bunkamura Train

The withdrawal of the 8500 series resumed in 2019 as 2020 series was introduced. The last unit on mainline was the 37th unit, which was registered on 4 Sep 1986 (three out of ten coaches were registered on 19 Aug 1987). Why did it have blue stripes instead of red? Because it was designated as Bunkamura Train, covered with advertisements of "multicultural complex" which consists of, for example, a concert hall and a theatre. The last one with original red stripes was sent for scrap in May 2022.

The one on Nagano Electric Railway

A few 8500 series carriages were resold to several small private railways in Japan, namely: Chichibu Railway in Saitama Prefecture (six carriages), Izukyu in Shizuoka Prefecture (one carriage) and Nagano Electric Railway (18 carriages). They are expected to be operational for coming years, but might not last long. Nagano Railway plans to replace them with new trains (either brand new or second-hand ones) by March 2029.

Shonan-Shinjuku Line and its rivals

Shonan-Shinjuku Line Map (General)

Shonan-Shinjuku Line is a major railway service in Tokyo, operated by JR East. Like Thameslink in London, Shonan-Shinjuku Line offers services from north to south and vice versa, going through the centre of the capital. It was first commenced in late-2001, and soon expanded again and again. Today, it is regarded as one of the most important and successful railway network in Japan.

Shonan-Shinjuku Line Map (Technical)

Technically, Shonan-Shinjuku Line is not registered on an official document. It consists of several existing lines as shown above. Before the Shonan-Shinjuku Line was launched, almost of all services on those lines started or terminated at Tokyo or Ueno, and all passengers had to take another train to continue their journeys. Shonan-Shinjuku Line, which provides direct services between them, made train journeys in the Greater Tokyo Area far more convenient and less troublesome than ever before.

E231 series for Shonan-Shinjuku Line

As JR East launched the Shonan-Shinjuku Line, rivals had to reconsider their strategies. To be specific, Tokyu and Odakyu have been working hard to win the competition against JR East, many of which have also been successful.

5000 series on Tokyu Toyoko Line

Tokyu Toyoko Line competes with Shonan-Shinjuku Line between Yokohama and Shibuya. Toyoko Line had been served by stopping and express services until March 2001, but Tokyu introduced a faster one (limited express). Tokyu has also been in competition with JR East between Yokohama and Shinjuku or even Ikebukuro since 2013, when through-services of Toyoko Line and Tokyo Metro Fukutoshin Line started. Tables below show their performance. Both Tokyu and JR East offer their fast services every 15 minutes.

Yokohama - Shibuya

	Journey time	Single fare
JR East	25-28 minutes	400 yen
Tokyu	27 minutes	280 yen

Yokohama - Shinjuku*

	Journey time	Single fare
JR East	30-33 minutes	570 yen
Tokyu	34 minutes	450 yen

*Shinjuku station of JR East and Shinjuku-sanchome station of Tokyo Metro.

Yokohama - Ikebukuro

	Journey time	Single fare
JR East	36-42 minutes	650 yen
Tokyu	41 minutes	480 yen

The tables show that fastest services of Shonan-Shinjuku Line are slightly faster than Tokyu's limited express, but fares are quite different. No wonder why many passengers from Yokohama prefer Tokyu to JR East.

Odakyu 3000 series

Odakyu also competes with Shonan-Shinjuku Line between Fujisawa and Shinjuku as well as Odawara and Shinjuku. Odakyu has been providing Romancecar services, which are even faster but expensive. Thus, the company introduced Shonan Express between Fujisawa and Shinjuku in 2002, which does not require any additional ticket. It was rearranged to Rapid Express in 2004, and most people prefer Odakyu to JR East.

Fujisawa - Shinjuku

	Journey time	Single fare	Frequency
JR East	49 minutes	900 yen	2 per hour
Odakyu	57 minutes	600 yen	3 per hour

Odawara - Shinjuku

	Journey time	Single fare	Frequency
JR East	77 minutes	1,520 yen	1 per hour
Odakyu	89 minutes	900 yen	3 per hour

It is even clearer than the JR-Tokyu competition that Odakyu takes longer but way cheaper than Shonan-Shinjuku Line. A return journey between Odawara and Shinjuku via Odakyu saves more than 1,200 yen, enough to have a wonderful lunch at a restaurant in Tokyo.

Tokyu and Odakyu provide cheaper services, but it does not mean at all that Shonan-Shinjuku Line is useless, as not all passengers can use an alternative option to JR East. In addition, if there had been no Shonan-Shinjuku Line, neither private railways would have changed their timetables with fast and reasonable train services. It might be a rare example of successful competition that is beneficial for railway users.

The end of "trains with so many doors" in Japan

Sanjo (Keihan), 26 Oct 2020

On Saturday 4th September, the last unit of Keihan 5000 series on mainline was taken out of regular service, more than 50 years after the introduction. Keihan initially planned to withdraw it in June, but deferred for three months. The series had been well known for having five sets of door per carriage, while most commuter trains in Japan have three or four.

In the late-1960s, Keihan had been struggling to deal with delays triggered by extreme congestion. Since it was not possible for the company to run more services or make existing trains longer, it decided to introduce trains with more doors. The 5000 series contributed to smooth boarding and alighting, minimising delays and thus easing congestion.

The most unique feature of the 5000 series was the seating. Second and fourth doors were used only during peak hours, and at off-peak hours the train was used as if an ordinary three-door train. As the video shows, seating could be stored when all doors were in use. To avoid troubles and accidents, the seats were stored or extracted when no passenger is on board.

The history of trains with more doors than usual started when the Keihan 5000 series was introduced. In the 1990s, railway companies in Tokyo followed Keihan. However, those in the capital did not adopt all ambitious features: only one or a few carriages per unit had five or six sets of doors, and there was no machine that stores or extracts additional seating.

Satte - Sugito-takanodai, 15 Oct 2016

In 1990, Teito Rapid Transit Authority (now Tokyo Metro) introduced 03 series with five sets of door. Tobu Railway later introduced a similar type of commuter train (20000 series). However, they were said to be infamous for being too cold in winter, as there were simply too many doors.

Keio introduced 6000 series with five sets of door as well, which was not successful.

Yokohama, 4 Feb 2014

In 1991, JR East introduced intermediate carriages of 205 series that have six sets of door. They were inserted to existing units on Yamanote Line, and later on Saikyo and Yokohama Lines. In addition, many 209 and E231 series units had six-door carriage as well from the very beginning.

Takadanobaba, 3 Feb 2014

In Tokyo, five or six-door carriages were usually inserted to the most crowded part of the unit. In other words, companies took account of location of staircases and ticket gates at major stations. The above photo is the 205 series on Saikyo Line, the second and third coaches of which are six-door carriages.

Unsurprisingly, not a few passengers disliked them because there were fewer seating than ordinary carriages. Some described it a de facto parcel train delivering workers to the office.

Tokyo, 1 Jul 2010

Those five and six-door carriages rapidly dwindled in the 2010s. The biggest reason for the decline was platform edge doors. Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism has been encouraging railway companies to install platform edge doors, to prevent accidents and make platforms safer especially for disabled people, but those five and six-door carriages did not fit the safety measure.

Moreover, since trains in these days are less crowded than before, thanks to railway companies' great efforts to ease congestion, such carriages with so many doors were no longer in need. Some foreigners claim that the population decline is the main cause, but it is not true, as it is still a gradual change and not applicable to major cities like Tokyo.

Obukuro - Kita-koshigaya, 29 Apr 2016

The newest one among them was Tokyu 5000 series, with three out of ten carriages per unit (the third, sixth and seventh coaches) had six sets of door. They were introduced in 2005-10 to Den-en-toshi Line, one of the most crowded line in the country. Even so, Tokyu replaced all of them with four-door coaches by 2017, in advance of installing platform edge doors. Some of them were demolished less than six years after being built.

The history of trains with more doors than usual started and ended with the Keihan 5000 series. Those trains were not necessarily great, as there were often fewer seats, but surely worth noting. They are now all gone, but it does not mean the decline of Japanese railway, as the withdrawals are aimed for better, safer rail transport in the 21st century.