Advances the time of the last JR East train on 17 routes in the metropolitan area starting next spring | New Corona Virus

The fastest time is on the Takasaki and Oume lines, which are about 37 minutes ahead.

▽ If the Takasaki Line leaves Ueno and goes to a station beyond Takasaki in Gunma Prefecture, the current 11:07 pm will be about 37 minutes earlier.

▽ If the Oume Line departs from Tachikawa and goes to a station in front of Oume, the current 11:36 pm will be about 37 minutes earlier.

Also, there are some routes where the first departure time is delayed.
▽ With the Keihin Tohoku line
▽ Stop at each station on the Chuo Line,
▽ Stop at each station on the Sobu line,
▽ Rapid from Joban Line,
▽ On the five lines that stop at each station of the Joban Line,
In both cases, the departure time of the first train will be delayed between 3 and 17 minutes in some sections.

As for the reason for moving the last train forward, JR East
▽ The number of night passengers is decreasing due to the influence of the new corona virus,
▽ This is said to improve the work environment for workers who maintain and inspect the track after the last train.

Regarding the last train, JR West will move up to 30 minutes early on Kansai’s main routes starting next spring, and major private rail companies are also considering moving forward.

The last train on the Tokaido line, which departs at 11:54 pm Monday through Friday, has few passengers and conspicuous vacant seats.

According to JR East, this is a weekday in August.
▽ The number of passengers on the Tokaido Line at 11:00 pm decreased by 61% compared to last year.
▽ Usage of the Yamate Line at midnight is also reduced by 66% compared to last year.

The reason why the number of night passengers decreased
▽ Teleworking has become widespread in companies and the number of people who do not commute to work is increasing.
▽ It seems that the main factor is that the number of people who drink until midnight is decreasing.

On the other hand, some people had no choice but to use the last train for work reasons, and a woman who worked in a restaurant said: “Since my work is until 11:00 pm, I will not be able to return if the last train arrives. early”.

The second reason is the improvement in the working environment of the workers who inspect and maintain the tracks after the last train.

According to JR East, workers are forced to work in reverse day and night, and the number of workers is expected to decline by 10-20% over the next 10 years.

These problems are common to all rail companies and the movement to board the final train is spreading.

▽ JR West will reduce 48 trains leaving around midnight on Kansai’s main routes starting next spring and speed up the final train by up to 30 minutes.

On a major private railway
▽ Seibu Railway is considering moving in about 30 minutes, and
▽ Tokyu Electric Railway,
▽ Odakyu Electric Railway,
▽ Keihin Kyuko Electric Railway,
Fukuoka prefecture
▽ West Japan Electric Railway and others are also considering moving forward.

Advancement of the last JR East train may affect transfer to private railways and Metro Toei.

Of these, the Funabashi station in Chiba prefecture
▽ “JR Sobu Line” that connects with the city center
▽ The Tobu Railway’s “Tobu Urban Park Line” that runs in the suburbs is connected,
Many people use it to get to work and school.

Tobu Railway has decided to improve the comfort of passengers returning home from the city center by changing the schedule in March to establish the last Monday through Friday train to Kashiwa, which is the intermediate terminal station, at 0:32 am , which is 33 minutes later than before. did.

You can transfer from the JR Sobu Line and the waiting time is set to be short.

However, if JR advances the last train, there is a risk that passengers will have to wait longer and will not be able to get on the train they changed.

An office worker who said she was transferring at Funabashi Station said, “I want you to be able to transfer successfully and come up with ways to avoid inconvenience.”

A man who worked in a restaurant said, “I am worried that I won’t miss the last train from JR or the private railways because my job ends at midnight.”

JR East requests the cooperation of nine major private railway companies in the Tokyo metropolitan area and the Toei metro, which have many transfers, to ensure the comfort of passengers as much as possible.

Of these, Kenichi Ushijima, who runs a pub near the station, is thinking of speeding up the closing of business hours to midnight by about 30 minutes.

Mr. Ushijima and his employees returned home on the last train before 1 am after cleaning the dishes and sanitizing the table, but this is because there is a risk that they will not arrive on time in the future.

In this store, the number of customers is falling to around 50% last year due to the influence of the new corona virus, so it is said that it is a pain to close the store early and lose sales by that amount.

Mr. Ushijima said, “I want the train to run until later, so if the last train speeds up, sales will go down, which is a big problem.”

On the other hand, diverse opinions were heard from the people who work at the station.

An office worker in her twenties said: “I agree with the promotion. The new corona virus infection has reduced the number of drinking parties, so there is no major impact.”

An office worker in his 50s said, “Since I’m a manager, I have to go to work, and if the train doesn’t run late, it will affect my work.”

And while taxi drivers, who often carry passengers who missed the last train, said: “I want to wait for more customers”, “the number of people who drink at night has decreased significantly, so the last train.” Sales will not change even if the number is advanced. “

In 1964, when the last Tokyo Olympics were held,
▽ Yamate line at 0:38 am,
▽ The center line is 0:35 am,
Now I can run to the time zone that crosses the days as it is now.

The “Moretsu employees” who went to work early in the morning and returned home on the last train supported Japan’s economic growth, and the time of the last train remained almost unchanged for more than half a century.

In recent years, with the decision to hold the second Tokyo Olympics and the rapid increase in foreign tourists, it has been debated whether the final train should be delayed further in order to strengthen the night economy = “night economy”. I’ve come.

In January, the government cooperated with Osaka Metro to conduct a demonstration experiment to extend the last train on the Midosuji line around 2:00 am.

JR West has made a difference in this trend.

In October of last year, it announced that it had begun to consider speeding up the time of the last train on the conventional line. The goal was to improve the working environment for workers and protect workers by prolonging the time spent on track maintenance.

However, this is an exceptional measure and, in general, delaying the last train time was being considered due to the response to foreign tourists.

However, with the spread of the new corona virus, the lifestyle has changed completely, such as the spread of teleworking and abstaining from eating out for a long time, and the management of railway companies has become difficult, so the movement to consider moving forward in time has spread. Was.