#011 A station under the great transformation
Unavoidable and unmissable Shinagawa station in Tokyo
When I ask you to name the most important railway station, you may say either Tokyo or Shinjyuku about the size of the station. But huge transformation has been taking place in the past decade and there is an unmissable development in Shinagawa area. Coincidentally Shinagawa station has marked the 150 years of anniversary of its operation today on the 12th of June. Expansion, development and importance of Shinagawa station should be more focused. In this newsletter I will write about the essence of Shinagawa station and I hope you will get an idea how this part of Tokyo will change in the near future.
The pandemic went into the third year and you must have seen a massive crowd walking towards their office in a large concourse on TV at the beginning of the pandemic. It is Shinagawa station and I saw several TV crews shooting image shot of businesspersons’ gong to their office nearly every morning. Now that the sixth wave of covid has settled down and same routine of commuting has come back. Why do I think it is it so important as a terminal station? Answers will be as follows.
150 Years of Anniversary
Shinagawa Station marked 150 years of anniversary on 12th of June 2022. In fact, it was the oldest railway station in Japan since Shinagawa station started its temporary operation 5 months before the first official railway between Tokyo and Yokohama in October 1872. Shinagawa station was built by reclamation works of the sea. When you come out of the east side of the station, you will see lots of high-rise buildings and it is difficult to tell that it used to be sea and a large part of it has been reclaimed. There is a website which shows the change of station and it will give you some idea how it looked like.
New Terminal for New Service
In 2015 connecting Ueno and Tokyo with additional railway changed the whole picture of middle range commuting train networks. Utsunomiya and Takasaki Lines were connected with Tokaido Line directly, even enabled the extension of Joban Line to Shinagawa from Ueno. This change literally means commuters from northern Kanto Plain and commuters from Kanagawa can travel without changing trains.
At the same time, passenger from Osaka and Nagoya by Tokaido Shinkansen=bullet train can change to other destinations at Shinagawa. Even those who are heading to Haneda change and it's only 15 minutes there. According to statistics of the number of passengers at the station by JR East, Shinagawa was ranked 6th and had the highest rate of increase among top 50 stations in 2020.
So the Shinagawa station is playing more and more important role for commuters and becoming the major terminal for those who are using JR East and Tokaido Shinkansen.
Last Resort Development
Now “Tokyo Yard Project” is ongoing, and the concept of this project is an experimental playground that looks a hundred years ahead to redefine a fulfilled life. The area is where innovators created railways that travelled across the sea during the Meiji era (1868-1912). And this large area has been used as a railway yard by JR East for a long time and now this is the heart of enormous development. The symbol of the whole development is newly built “Takanawa Gateway Station” which opened in 2020. It is just starting and there is a new station now, but whole picture will be totally different when it finishes. When you look at the central Tokyo area, you will never see such a large area under the development. This YouTube video shows the image of the whole project.
Magleb Train=Linear Motor Train
Finally, a big shift will happen when Magleb train starts service from Shinagawa to Nagoya as early as 2029. And this train project will wrap up extending to Osaka as early as 2047. When it finishes, you can travel from Tokyo to Osaka in 67 minutes instead of 148 minutes now. The Japanese government reckons the complete of Magleb train network combine three regions and produce what they call “Super Mega-region” to contribute the dramatic economical growth.
But personally my question is shall we really need to reduce the travelling time? 150 minutes is fast enough to travel from Tokyo to Osaka. JR Central is digging more and deeper tunnels in central Japan and the effects of construction is concerned. Nobody knows about environmental influences yet.
I wrote about a bit geeky topic, but when you have time, please visit at lush hours in the morning. Massive streams of people will wash you away and there are only a few places you can experience in Tokyo. When you are tired of this, please visit shops inside the station. Sushi, noodle, sweets and lunch box…. you will find everything you need on the train. I hope that you will get an idea what the railway station will be in the near future.
I wonder how much a take-away food shop is necessary when JR Central starts service on Maglev train in the future though.