Three new access lines to Tokyo's Haneda Airport!!

[nartak]

News on NHK

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20131109/t10015924461000.html

JR East will plan to build a new line between Haneda Airport to Tokyo city central.

As many visitors are expected due to 2020 Olympic games, JR East is planning to build new line apart from Tokyo Monorail, which only has limited capacity.  There are unused freight line from near Tamachi station towards Haneda Airport bound and they are going to utilize it.

Sounds good but we only have 7 years.  Let see what happens....

[bikkuri bahn]

Sounds good but we only have 7 years.  Let see what happens....

Entirely doable.  The Tokaido Freight Branch Line already has a tunnel that passes adjacent to the airport- all that is required is to build a branch tunnel into the airport grounds under the International terminal and further on to the domestic terminals.

 

http://kakyaku.com/t_gaiyou.html

 

Remarkably, if carried out, Haneda AP will have three different rail services (well, one is a monorail) for customers to choose.

Edited November 9, 2013 by bikkuri bahn

[Kabutoni]

I was just about to post this as well as I was watching the news just now.

 

http://www.asahi.com/articles/TKY201311090047.html

 

Somehow, I'm expecting this line to be much more expensive to travel than Keikyu or the Monorail, since it will be new and needs to put out a revenue quickly once built.

 

Then again, this freight branch easily be converted to an efficient passenger line that avoids the busy Yokohama station and can cater to Minato Mirai visitors more easily. I also see the seaside of the Tsurumi and Kawasaki areas getting disclosed with this new line. More opportunities for housing and work development methinks.

[Sacto1985]

Then again, this freight branch easily be converted to an efficient passenger line that avoids the busy Yokohama station and can cater to Minato Mirai visitors more easily. I also see the seaside of the Tsurumi and Kawasaki areas getting disclosed with this new line. More opportunities for housing and work development methinks.

 

In fact, I think this new was was developed with expanding service along the Tokyo Bay shoreline north of Haneda Airport. It would certainly avoid the traffic bottlenecks at Yokohama and Shinagawa Stations, since the new line starts at Tamachi Station just north of Shinagawa Station.

[miyakoji]

I suppose the only new cars we'll see out of this will be E233s with a different color stripe on it. Does anyone think there could be a rapid or express service that would get its own type of rolling stock?

[Jcarlton]

It's possible that this service will use the freight line to the Tokaido Line and use the same kind of cars they use for the Narita express.  I can't see that they would make this a local service. Now there may be local service as well, but there isn't any way you would get much traffic from Tsurumi and the container port unless you are expecting a "subway effect" where real estate develops simply because the train line goes in.

[Kabutoni]

Depending on when the line is going to be delivered/opened for passenger transport, JR East would probably have already invested in new rolling stock. The E233 might still be made (Saikyo line) and are on order (Yokohama and Nambu line) as we speak, but the basic design is already seven years old. Come 2020, we're again seven years into the future.

 

Considering the E231 and E233 roughly have seven years in between designs, I expect an evolution of the E233 in the form of the E235 will probably be used. Especially with the E217 nearing its economical life end (built 1994~1999, refurbished 2008) close to 2020, a replacement for this series is in order. This will require new rolling stock as well. JR East can't continue to build upon the E233 platform endlessly.

 

If an express service shuttle were to be initiated, I'd expect new rolling stock as well. The E259 design is already 11 years old by 2020, so I'd expect a new class (maybe E281? Who knows...) to be developed. As always in Japan, newer is better. Especially with trains (please ignore the 209 Series :P)

[Sacto1985]

I wouldn't be surprised if this line is opened to Haneda Airport the trainset will be an evolved version of the E259 now used on the Narita Express but without an elevated driver cab--think E259 car shape but with the nose of the 253 Series EMU. 

[Guest ___]

I caught mono the last time I rode the monorail so I eagerly await a new line to the airport

[cteno4]

http://newsonjapan.com/html/newsdesk/article/108597.php

[Guest keio6000]

Keikyu must be thrilled, though then again their Haneda service is kind of a hack.

 

One can't help but suspect that better (cheaper) results would be achieved by speeding up and optimizing monorail services and extending them from hamammatsucho to tokyo.  but, of course, JR East doesnt own the monorail. 

 

Otherwise, I'm sure we can expect a new "20 minutes to Haneda" train line that starts in the bowels of the earth at Tokyo, thus negating any time savings.

 

It's also possible that they will route it through Shinagawa to connect shinkansen transfer passangers, as if there were a massive number of people who just flew into haneda and yet need to get on the shinkansen for... umm... Shizuoka or something. 

Edited July 16, 2014 by keio6000

[Guest ___]

Slash 20 minutes? I don't recall the last time I went from Ueno to HND taking that long and that included the connection to the monorail in Hamamatsucho. I mean it likely did take a little longer, but I honestly do not remember Tokyo to the HND being that long. Now, Ueno to NRT via Keisei felt like it took forever.

[kvp]

JR East considering new line from central Tokyo to Haneda Airport→National Feb. 06, 2014 - 06:13AM JST ( 6 )

 

 

TOKYO —

 

JR East is considering a new line to connect central Tokyo and Haneda Airport.

 

The plan is to use a freight train line, which is currently out of service at JR Tamachi depot. TBS reported that the train would start at Tokyo Station, then go underground at Shinagawa, and on to Haneda.

 

A JR East official said the line is still in the planning stage. He said JR East would also like to make it a lot easier to get to Haneda from the northern Kanto region by connecting the new line and the Ueno-Tokyo Line, which is scheduled to start service next year.

 

The Tokyo metropolitan government has been studying proposals to make it easier for visitors arriving at Haneda to get into Tokyo faster in the lead-up to the 2020 Olympics. However, JR East said it may be difficult to make the new line a reality before then as there are many environmental and technical problems to be considered.

 

source:

http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/jr-east-considering-new-line-from-central-tokyo-to-haneda-airport

[bikkuri bahn]

It would actually be better for the long-term prospects of the monorail line to build a branch from Tennozu to Shinagawa, to serve the shinkansen station, and more importantly, the future maglev station.

 

The rail link using the currently de-activated Tamachi freight connecting line actually has much more utility than any monorail line extended to Tokyo station, as it allows run-through trains off the soon to be opened Ueno-Tokyo Line (i.e. Tohoku Junkan Line), thus creating the possibility of trains running into Haneda AP from the Takasaki. Utsunomiya, and Joban Lines.  Also, not mentioned in the articles above, but JR East is also planning to connect this line with the Rinkai Line, thus allowing run-through trains from the Keiyo Line (to serve the Chiba market), and by digging a new tunnel somewhere near Oimachi, connecting the Rinkai Line there, thereby allowing trains from Shinjuku and beyond to serve Haneda.

 

 

Article about the different rail connections (Japanese):

http://www.asahi.com/articles/ASG7H3SCZG7HUTIL01R.html

Edited July 16, 2014 by bikkuri bahn

[kvp]

Do i understand it correctly, that all they have to do is clear the trees and other shrubbery from the unused freight line, make a few connections at Hamamatsucho and leave options for tunnelling to Shinagawa later and add a connecting tunnel to Haneda near Tenkubashi? Then add rolling stock and it's ready? Because this could be done by the olympics. The only problem is that the southern portion of this route is currently used by freight trains.

[bikkuri bahn]

Yes, that's the base plan, however it's not that simple as it sounds- there is the complex operation of digging underneath the airport complex, something that JR East figures will take 10 years to complete.  Rather than rush the job, I reckon they would rather undertake it in a prudent manner.  There is also the issue of funding- JR East will fund 1/3 of the project, with the other thirds funded by the national government and local government. Anytime you have public funding, the construction time window is subject to slowdown or delays.

[Mudkip Orange]

One can't help but suspect that better (cheaper) results would be achieved by speeding up and optimizing monorail services and extending them from hamammatsucho to tokyo.  but, of course, JR East doesnt own the monorail.

 

Indeed.

 

-- Add 3-4 stations with passing loops

-- Order some primo trains with modified bogie designs to enable 100 or 110km/h running on straights

-- Switch to automated operation with moving blocks (can use local JDM tech or just buy Seltrac/Cityflo/whatever).

-- Extend to Shinagawa

 

If I was lead designer I'd run a simplified service pattern with two classes, a local terminating at Hammatsucho and an express terminating at Shinagawa. To that end the wye between the Shinagawa and Hammatsucho branches would be designed so that Shinagawa trains could operate at 80-110km/h while Hammatsucho would be aligned as the diverging move.

[kvp]

 

Yes, that's the base plan, however it's not that simple as it sounds- there is the complex operation of digging underneath the airport complex, something that JR East figures will take 10 years to complete.  

If they connected the line to the already existing underground rail line, then they would only need a connecting tunnel at the corner of the airport where there is nothing, just the place of a few demolished buildings. That would get the trains into the already existing keikyu terminal through their approach tunnel. The two tunnels cross above each other, so they could be connected with minimal tunneling or if they are subsurface, then it can even be built from the surface as nothing is above them.

 

The problem with the monorail is that monorail trains can't use the current cape gauge infrastructure, so you can't run express trains from north and east Tokyo straight to Haneda, not to mention the possible Haneda-Narita direct connection for transfers between international (cross ocean) and national (or asian local) routes.

[Mudkip Orange]

Narita Sky Access is 1435mm and Keikyu is 1435mm, ergo, any future superexpress would also be 1435mm.

 

Lack of a one-seat ride is less of an issue provided headways are manageable... and with full automation you can run 36tph.

[Guest ___]

Yes, that's the base plan, however it's not that simple as it sounds- there is the complex operation of digging underneath the airport complex, something that JR East figures will take 10 years to complete.  Rather than rush the job, I reckon they would rather undertake it in a prudent manner.  There is also the issue of funding- JR East will fund 1/3 of the project, with the other thirds funded by the national government and local government. Anytime you have public funding, the construction time window is subject to slowdown or delays.

 

I have to admit, I have only been in to HND twice, and my impression of HND from 2008 when then only two terminals were in use was that it was a small airport. This year, two months ago, I connected through HND to and from Shikoku at HND, via the new international terminal, and it was amazing that it was a twenty minute ride (the brochures and web site say 15 minutes) to go from the domestic to the intl terminal through a maze of service roads, tunnels, bridges, and tarmacs, past parked aircraft. If, HND was such a clusterf00k above grounds, I'd hate to think what is underground. putting a tunnel down any of the three terminals would not be something I would personal choose to undertake.

[kvp]

Narita Sky Access is 1435mm and Keikyu is 1435mm, ergo, any future superexpress would also be 1435mm.

And NEX is cape gauge, which is accidentally the JR East service and runs through Tokyo station. The logical solution is to extend this service with a new branch to Haneda and it's done.

[Guest ___]

Just my personal take on things, but for what it is worth, logic would dictate to me that a Yamagata and/or Akita line shinkansen extension to HND would be a better investment for those running points north. Of course, I think it still was a bad move not running shinkansen service to NRT.

[westfalen]

 

JR East doesnt own the monorail. 

I believe they do.

[bikkuri bahn]

I believe they do.

Yup.  JR East owns 79% of Tokyo Monorail, the remainder by Hitachi, and ANA, among others.

[Kitayama]

Yup.  JR East owns 79% of Tokyo Monorail, the remainder by Hitachi, and ANA, among others.

That's why you can use your Japan Rail Pass on Tokyo Monorail.