Talk:Yamanote Line

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A few comments on this article:

• It's my understanding that the Yamanote line describes the boundaries of pre-war Tokyo. Can anyone confirm this or disprove it?

See Tokyo City for some historical information. You'll find several pre-war wards that were outside the Yamanote

Line. Of course, there were earlier wars ... . Fg2 10:57, Aug 16, 2004 (UTC)

The line itself was never an official boundary, although the existence of the Yamanote line proper (the western section) contributed to Tokyo's pre WWII expansion westwards. --Ianb 14:06, 16 Aug 2004 (UTC)

• The article says that in the past, Yamanote was sometimes read as Yamate. It still is, as Yamate-dori and this article attest. A lot of place names in Japan have ambiguous readings, and the old JNR imposed its own decision in some cases.

No surprise. Yamanote (or Yamate) has no official existence; no government has that name. With its millions of residents, there are bound to be variations in pronunciation. But a railroad finds it convenient to give just one name to the line. Kinda makes you wonder, though: how much should we worry about macrons, when entire letters are debatable? Fg2 10:57, Aug 16, 2004 (UTC)

I've clarified the paragraph a little. --Ianb 14:06, 16 Aug 2004 (UTC)

Have added a little bit more on the history, partially translated from the Japanese Wikipedia and from my own knowledge Tangotango 02:45, 13 Mar 2005 (UTC)

There was an Asahi Shinbum web article on Sunday, Jan. 23, 2005 describing the reconstruction of the Yamanote Line. In that article there are comments about hte historical development of the Yamanote Sen. I suggest enhancing the history section of this entry with that informaiton. ( http://www.asahi.com/national/update/0123/018.html )

[edit] Commuter/regional railway or rapid transit?

With its frequency, schedule, train cars, distance of stations, etc., is the Yamanote Line effectively operating like an overground metro line, like the RER of Paris to a certain extent? — Instantnood 17:23, 28 February 2006 (UTC)

Yes, definitely. The Yamanote line is not what you'd call commuter rail, in that it does not tie outlying areas to the city. It's strictly intra-city. adamrice 18:15, 28 February 2006 (UTC)

Is its tracks shared with other lines? — Instantnood 19:33, 28 February 2006 (UTC)

No, its tracks aren't shared with any other lines. The only exception is when either the Yamanote line or Keihin-Tohoku line is undergoining extensive maintenance, when both trains on both lines use the other's lines. (the line that isn't being worked on) -- and that's for the Tabata-Shinagawa portion only. You might be thinking of the Yamanote Kamotsu line (the Yamanote freight line), which is the (official?) name of the portion of line from (I believe) Ikebukuro to Osaki. i.e., the line that's now used by the Saikyo line and Shonan-Shinjuku lines. Tangotango 13:15, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

Also, between Tabata and Tamachi, the Yamanote and Keihin-Tohoku lines share platforms for the trains running in the same direction. So instead of one platform being for the inner and outer (clockwise and counterclockwise, but maybe not in that order) loops of the Yamanote, and another platform being for the North-bound and South-bound Keihin-Tohoku line, the North/CCW and South/CW lines share platforms. During the day, the Keihin-Tohoku trains don't stop at every station along this segment. Neier 13:00, 2 March 2006 (UTC)

So is it a regional/commuter railway line providing metro-like service? — Instantnood 16:28, 2 March 2006 (UTC)

It certainly doesn't match the definition on the commuter rail page; it's more of a Rapid transit line, or metro, or what the Germans call S-Bahn. To clarify the tracks question, the Yamanote Line train service has its own dedicated pair of tracks running in a loop through the center of Tokyo. Ianb 23:00, 2 March 2006 (UTC)

The Yamanote Line is about as perfect a match as possible to the descriptions at Rapid transit:

1. a railway system
2. in an urban area
3. with high capacity and frequency
4. with large trains
5. total or near total grade separation from other traffic
6. electric
7. totally independent from other traffic

Fg2 00:05, 3 March 2006 (UTC)

The nature of the places it serves has changed tremendously since the line opened. Initially, it served the highly urbanized center of the city, carrying passengers to less-urbanized places like Shibuya and Ikebukuro. In recent decades, the former farms and fields in those places have been developed as major satellite city centers and so one might characterize the role of the Yamanote Line now as "strictly intra-city." Fg2 21:49, 2 March 2006 (UTC)

Thank you. So is it correct to say: " Although i) opened as a commuter/regional railway, ii) operated by the same organisation that operates long distance railway lines, iii) having a fare system that is integrated with that of the other lines of the organisation, iv) the places it serves were previously less-urbanised, and v) not integrated with the metro/rapid transit network,   the Yamanote Line is now providing metro/rapid transit-like service along the same original route. "? — Instantnood 20:49, 3 March 2006 (UTC)

I think "yes" might be the correct answer to that. Now let's hop over to the Odakyu Line and start a debate about the definition of the line between Yoyogi Uehara and Noborito, whereby the opinions anyone who has not stood at the eastern end of Shimokitazawa Station and watched 10-car trains bear down on people dashing across level crossings on what is basically a glorified tramline will be discounted ;-). Ianb 21:02, 3 March 2006 (UTC)

One more point about the Yamanote Line: the cars are designed for standing, not sitting. I think that helps decide in favor of describing it as a rapid-transit line. Fg2 22:04, 3 March 2006 (UTC)

It is just for an error in this article In City Hunter goodbye my glass heart it is not the opening of the yamate line but the opening of the new automatic train on the yamate line 82.120.61.44 00:49, 2 November 2006 (UTC)minato ku82.120.61.44 00:49, 2 November 2006 (UTC)