Feeling squashed on the train?

Sardines on the trainDo you catch the train at peek hour in Sydney and feel a little squashed? An article in the SMH on Monday stated that 73.6 percent of trains were overloaded, some with up to 145% capacity usage!

Of course 100% capacity only means that everyone gets a seat. So the extra 45% are left standing.

Now, if you’ve ever been to Tokyo train station at peak hour you will know that they must measure capacity reached when you can’t squash any more people on to the train.

All the Tokyo trains have seats along the walls, not in rows like Sydney. So there is much more standing room. Allowing people to be packed in more densly.

And while the morning peak hour is quite crowded, at night between 11pm and 12am is much worse. As trains stop running shortly after 12am, everyone makes a mad dash to get home, and the people are often squashed into trains like sardines.

Crowded Shinjuku stationAnd is not just trains that are packed. The station platforms are wall to wall people too.

Though all the people are quite orderly about it all, lining up in nice queues to get on the train. Of course, there are 4 (or 6) sets of doors on each side of the carraige. And the trains actually stop so doors line up to where they are marked on the platform.

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One Response to Feeling squashed on the train?

  1. Pingback: Queuing for Christmas | Leefe rates the world...

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