View Comments to “Great Japanese Subway Car Photos”

1. Howard says:

   July 18, 2008 at 9:52 am

   Nice find Allen! Every time I check back in, there are bunch of great articles.

   Talk about ads in Tokyo subway! Cars are flooded with ads, with even ads hanging from the ceiling. It’s like the only way to not see ads in my face is to close my eyes.

   I wonder if there is a direct correlation between amount of ads in the cars vs how nice the cars are. Somehow I suspect it.
2. Allen says:

   July 18, 2008 at 1:03 pm

   Thanks Howard – Every in-car photo I see in Tokyo has tons of ads. Yet here in NYC we have very few ads. I would be willing to give 50% more ads in return for more service.
3. Howard says:

   July 18, 2008 at 1:12 pm

   Yeah, I definitely agree with that. I think it is a bad spiral right now. Because the infrastructure is run down, there are less people willing to advertise on the subway, especially given vandals. With less ads, there are less revenue opportunities to improve infrastructure. The flat rate is nice, but NYC is the only subway system I know that doesn’t use a price scheme related to distance. I actually like the price hike idea for rides within NYC, even though I stand to suffer the most.
4. Allen says:

   July 18, 2008 at 2:01 pm

   distance-based pricing has pros and cons – it certainly makes it more difficult to travel in a city but can provide more revenue for the transit authority.

   why do you say the infrastructure is run down? overall it’s the best it’s ever been.
5. Howard says:

   July 18, 2008 at 4:56 pm

   Although distance-based pricing is pretty standard though I think. I think that distance based is definiting going to make it more expensive for longer communite, but even if this is standard pricing, there are still ways (like monthly passes with discounts, etc) to help those who travel longer distances to commute to work. And with supplements and discounts, it can extract willingness to pay and “discriminate” among different tiers of paying customers better.

   Run down is probably relative. But compared to just about everywhere else that has a subway system, NYC is a lot worse. There are renovations going on constant where I am, but the fixes are always really patchy. Example, they spent more than 6 months installing an escalator in 35th BDFV, and soon after, it broke. Then, flooding drenched it, so it kinda broke. Then, after wear and tear of only a few months of use, it’s kind of beat up already.

   Then there are the obvious-es: There is no set schedule for trains, and arrivals are erratic, which I think is a big reason why people are less courteous. Who has time to be courteous when they don’t know when the next train will come!

   Also, your flooding video is not an isolated incident! The tracks are run down, so the trains break more often. On the weekends, fixes are seemingly everywhere and different lines or stations or entrances close without much notices.

   Granted, NYC subway is oldest and has a lot of charm, but I’ll trade it for any one of the modern ones elsewhere.
6. Allen says:

   July 18, 2008 at 6:20 pm

   Howard my friend, you couldn’t be more wrong

   Compare the NYC subway cars to any other city in the world and I bet you can’t find a city with a newer rolling stock. Look at the new R160s – they are as modern as you can get (tho I wish there were a few other upgrades).

   There’s been a lot of talk about the escalators lately across the system. Some have said it’s because of overuse but I agree that they are overall in not great shape.

   When you say modern ones, what cities would you put in that bucket?
7. Howard says:

   July 21, 2008 at 9:50 am

   Hahaha. This is fun stuff! Thanks for making my Monday morning.

   Yeah, the train has a rolling stock of new trains, however, they are not as modern as you can get. More modern (or at least equally modern) ones can be found in Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Athens. Also, when new trains are put in outdated or beat up tracks and run through filthy stations with people graffiti-ing, even the newest trains become old quickly. I think that is happening. Also, in places like Japan, Taiwan, HK, Athens, Singapore, eating or drinking on the train is not permitted, whereas in NYC it is allowed, which attributes to the trains becoming dirtier faster.

   As for modern subway systems, just based on the ones I’ve been to: Tokyo, Osaka, Athens, Taipei, Hong Kong. Haven’t tried Beijing, but I’m sure it would be state of the art. These subways systems I would say are far superior than NYC in a number of ways:
   1) Better management resulting in cleanliness, orderliness and courteousy.
   2) Far superior transaction and ticketing systems
   3) Far better infrastructure with very modern trains that make little noise, stations, arrival schedule, tracks, peripheral economies (ex. shops, restaurants, etc.)
   4) Far easier access, with multiple subway entry points all funnel to the same station, with station serving as an underground bridge to different buildings.
   5)Not be overlooked are connections to other train systems. In Tokyo for instance, Narita Express is very convenient and fast. The Hong Kong Airtrain is insanely good and in a different league than A Train to Air Train or even the LIRR. Tokyo or Osaka’s connections to railway systems are a lot more extensive, with connections to multiple train terminals within the city. Take Tokyo for instance, you can transfer to JR lines in Tokyo station, Shinjuku, Shinagawa, etc.
8. Allen says:

   July 21, 2008 at 2:27 pm

   Hrm – do you remember the 70s, the 80s here in NYC? Do you remember trains with no a/c and only fans? Do you remember the 2-fare zones? Then you would realize how great the system is today

   Since I run BVE train simulator (i know, loser!), I run a lot of Asian routes and they seem very nice.

   If we compare the NYC system to anything in the U.S., it wins hands down.

   And fyi – eating and drinking is not permitted but it happens all the time.
9. Howard says:

   July 21, 2008 at 4:01 pm

   Hey Allen, nah, but I heard it was bad. Yeah, I agree! If the comparison is between now vs. 80′s or between NYC and elsewhere in the US, then I have to concede unconditional surrender. Although, having been in the SF Bay most of my life, the BART system is pretty good. Also, DC has pretty nice systems with the only drawback of the fare scheme being complicated.

   Yeah, basically, the Asian routes in part use Japan as a benchmark, and among other things, they are religious about trains being on time. Of all the times I’ve been to Japan for work or vacation, the train (including subway and railway rides) was only late once by 15 minutes. And the station manager apologized every minute that the train was late through the PA system.

   I was wondering about eating and drinking. See, the thing is that, there are no signs in the cars about eating or drinking. There is the no sterio sign, no throwing garbage sign, and the no getting yourself jammed sign, but no eating or drinking sign. So if it is not permitted, I doubt people know about it….

   Anyways, my point in the comparison is that, we live in the most dynamic and happening city in the world, but I just think it sucks that we don’t have the infrastructure to match…