While I liked Osaka quite well as a
city, I was a bit disappointed by Kyoto, but this was probably not
the city's fault, but the situation in which I arrived. I took a
Super Express from Osaka in the morning of Friday, 29 April, leaving
at 9:00, which was packed completely, and me being squeezed in for
half an hour with all my luggage with me to continue to Nagoya in the
evening. Once I got to Kyoto, it was suddenly cold and windy, as if I
had travelled 300 km to a different climate zone. Thousands of people
were queuing to get off the platform, but as happens so often with
stations designed by some super-renowned architect, they tend to be
unpractical, and so is Kyoto's. It is impressive once you get into
the main hall, but still not a very pleasant place as the wind blows
through it. But I took all those escalators up to the roof from where
you can get quite a nice view south and north.
As there was not much time for
sightseeing anyway, and later the rain was even less encouraging to
do that, I escaped into the Kyoto underworld. I got a day pass (600
Yen; for a bit more, also a day pass for subway+city bus is on
offer), but the day pass is not available from machines, just from
station clerks, and show a nice traditional motif on them. I took the
Karasuma Line north to its terminus at the Congress Center, a very
green area. There are lots of trains which belong to the Kintetsu
Railway, which operates through the entire line and in the south
connects directly to the suburban line to Nara (but also Subway
trains continue beyond the southern terminus and provide local
suburban service). The stations are all pretty plain, but o.k., the
busiest have been equipped with half-height platform gates.
Kintetsu train in service on Karasuma Line
Karasuma-Oike: the busiest stations have been equipped with platform gates
The second line, the Tozai Line, is
newer and looks quite different. I haven't seen its trains properly,
because they are hidden behind full-height platform screen doors,
which resemble those on Tokyo's Namboku Line. Each station is in a
different colour, but once again, the colours are nice but
meaningless. They start with yellow at the western terminus and
become increasingly red and finally purple, which does not help at
all to distinguish two neighbouring stations, because they may just
have two slightly different shades of pink. Just the last two
stations in the southeast, which opened later, break this system
(with pale tones), as probably someone had told them, that the
initial idea was nonsense.
Misasagi: typical station design for the Tozai Line
Uzumasa-Tenjingawa: narrow platform section
The station name and number can easily be
read from the train, as there are also signs on the outside of the
platform screen doors. Otherwise the stations look pleasant, but are
much too small, cramped with staircases and escalators - it appears
that staircases in Japan always have massive walls, and in the end
the platforms get very narrow in those areas. The Tozai Line also has
through operation, but Subway trains do not leave the tunnel (I
believe), just the local Keihan trains to/from Hamaotsu join the
Tozai Line at Misasagi, which is a bi-level station with two island
platforms.
Randen: a light railway in the western districts
From the end of the Tozai Line, at
Uzumasa-Tenjingawa, I took the Randen, a light railway, back to
Omiya. The station at Uzumasa-Tenjingawa was probably built when the
metro was extended from Nijo, and features proper platforms. With
lots of people changing here, the Randen has mobile ticket inspectors
on the platform. The other stops along the route looked rather
pathetic, though with a concrete step rather than a platform to board
the old high-floor trains. This little system has its own fare, of
course, but modern IC cards can be used.
Hankyu's underground Kyoto terminus at Kawaramachi
Instead of walking back into the centre
from Omiya in the light rain, I took the underground Hankyu, which
within Kyoto seems to provide a kind of metro service, though with
lots of express trains going directly to the last two stations in
Kyoto. Also Keihan has several underground stations along its
north-south route through the city, but I didn't get a chance to see
these.
Having so many visitors, Kyoto has
large English maps available, which show all major bus routes, but
the Subway lines are hard to identify.
Kyoto was my last stop regarding cities
which will be covered in our third volume of our trilogy "Metros & Trams in Japan" (West & South), due to be released in
2018. Apart from all the metro systems I have visited, it will, of
course, also include the numerous tram systems in this region.
LINKS
Kyoto Subway at UrbanRail.Net (feat. map)
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteConcerning the Subway:
ReplyDelete-You're correct to say subway trains don't enter the Keishin Line
-I'm quite surprised to see screen gates on the Karasuma Line - quite a step for a city that's pretty backward transit-wise. Do the doors on the Kintetsu trains fit well? Or are they adjustable depending on the type of train (like the ones on Tokyo's Fukutoshin)?
-Do subway trains still continue as far as Nara? (I visited Nara in 2006 and saw a subway train there)
I'd like to ask if you've visited the Eiden interurban and the Ishiyama Sakamoto line? They have quite different characters from the Keifuku and Keishin lines too ;)
On a similar note light railways are legally either tram or railway lines in Japan - Keifuku and the Otsu network are tramways; Eiden (and Enoden) are railways - which might also explain the rail company's attitude towards the line. From what I experienced Enoden feels much more substantial than Keifuku, with more railway-like signalling, platforms and fare control (although this is just an impression). Of course the Osaka Subway 'tram' is pretty much the exception...
Theodore, I haven't observed any problems with the gates and Kintetsu trains, but in most cases anywhere in Japan, I saw that the gates are actually much wider than the train doors, maybe double the width, so although the stop very exactly it may be to fit different door arrangements.
DeleteNot sure whether Subway trains run all the way to Nara, didn't have time to observe the destinations over a longer period. Could be, as in some cases in Tokyo, they actually have a pool of trains which do any service, therefore I certainly saw some Kintetsu train only doing the Karasuma Line as such. So, in return a Subway train might run far from its actual route.
Dear Robert,
DeleteAt this moment i am still in Japan in Tokyo area and leaving sunday for my home country Holland. I only want to give you some information if you visit Tokyo.
There is a single streetcar system you find it nearby Ikubukoro station you can,t miss it and its a joy of a ride. The other thing is what they say in germany eine schwebebahn. This one is outside Tokyo nearby Kamakura you have to ride this one it,s a graet atraction and realy a great joy.
Johan Meijer
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ReplyDelete