London, Paris, Seoul Show Commuting Power of Fast Regional Rail
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Re: London, Paris, Seoul Show Commuting Power of Fast Regional Rail
#2This article really needs to mention Japan, who pioneered and perfected the idea and its smooth integration into the subway network. It's common in Tokyo for a train to start as a limited express that travels long distances at speed, then transition into an all-stops subway, tunnel through Tokyo, and then morph back into an express for the long haul out. Some trains on the Toyoko Line do this twice: express, subway in Tokyo, express, subway again in Yokohama.
Re: London, Paris, Seoul Show Commuting Power of Fast Regional Rail
#3> Trains arrive as often as every three minutes during peak hours along the central spines of both the Elizabeth Line and the RER Line A.
I've taken the RER A everyday for few years (both and after automation), and that frequency combined with its size still puts me in awe.
My usual connection with RER A, I arrive at the middle of the train platform, and my next connection is at the end of the train. Statistically I reach the end of the platform before the train arrives maybe 5% of the time?
The frequency is so high that it takes more time to get at the right place of the train than to wait.
It's almost at the level of "don't think of the train, just your walking route".
(I'm saying almost because incidents still happen, and RER A can still suffer of "trains are running slowly because they are overcrowded because trains are running slowly" negative feedback loops, though it's usually resolved within 15m)
Re: London, Paris, Seoul Show Commuting Power of Fast Regional Rail
#4This article really needs to mention Japan, who pioneered and perfected the idea and its smooth integration into the subway network. It's common in Tokyo for a train to start as a limited express that travels long distances at speed, then transition into an all-stops subway, tunnel through Tokyo, and then morph back into an express for the long haul out. Some trains on the Toyoko Line do this twice: express, subway i…
Could you share a link with more details?
Re: London, Paris, Seoul Show Commuting Power of Fast Regional Rail
#5This article really needs to mention Japan, who pioneered and perfected the idea and its smooth integration into the subway network. It's common in Tokyo for a train to start as a limited express that travels long distances at speed, then transition into an all-stops subway, tunnel through Tokyo, and then morph back into an express for the long haul out. Some trains on the Toyoko Line do this twice: express, subway i…
Could you share a link with more details?
Here's a pretty solid overview in the late, lamented JRTR.
https://www.ejrcf.or.jp/jrtr/jrtr63/pdf/14-21_web.pdf (PDF)
The article also notes that the Parisian RER was inspired by Tokyo, and throws casual shade by noting that public transport in Paris at 3 billion trips per year is just a small fraction of Tokyo's 15 billion trips.
Re: London, Paris, Seoul Show Commuting Power of Fast Regional Rail
#6> Trains arrive as often as every three minutes during peak hours along the central spines of both the Elizabeth Line and the RER Line A. I've taken the RER A everyday for few years (both and after automation), and that frequency combined with its size still puts me in awe. My usual connection with RER A, I arrive at the middle of the train platform, and my next connection is at the end of the train. Statistically I…
Took it for a few years too, I think the frequency can be as much as every 90 seconds.
Re: London, Paris, Seoul Show Commuting Power of Fast Regional Rail
#7This article really needs to mention Japan, who pioneered and perfected the idea and its smooth integration into the subway network. It's common in Tokyo for a train to start as a limited express that travels long distances at speed, then transition into an all-stops subway, tunnel through Tokyo, and then morph back into an express for the long haul out. Some trains on the Toyoko Line do this twice: express, subway i…
If only they'd give them sensible names so I could remember whether a Commuter Rapid is faster than a Special Rapid or a Limited Express. (Maybe it makes more sense in Japanese)
Re: London, Paris, Seoul Show Commuting Power of Fast Regional Rail
#8> Trains arrive as often as every three minutes during peak hours along the central spines of both the Elizabeth Line and the RER Line A. I've taken the RER A everyday for few years (both and after automation), and that frequency combined with its size still puts me in awe. My usual connection with RER A, I arrive at the middle of the train platform, and my next connection is at the end of the train. Statistically I…
Took it for a few years too, I think the frequency can be as much as every 90 seconds.
Yep, I live on it and 2 minutes is underselling it.
On the central trunk frequency in rush hour is a departure every 90s, which means there's almost constantly a train at the station.
Re: London, Paris, Seoul Show Commuting Power of Fast Regional Rail
#9This was a great read. As an American who is currently living in France, I'm always blown away by how easy it is for me to get just about anywhere via train.
Re: London, Paris, Seoul Show Commuting Power of Fast Regional Rail
#10Earlier quoted context omitted.
Could you share a link with more details?
Here's a pretty solid overview in the late, lamented JRTR. https://www.ejrcf.or.jp/jrtr/jrtr63/pdf/14-21_web.pdf (PDF) The article also notes that the Parisian RER was inspired by Tokyo, and throws casual shade by noting that public transport in Paris at 3 billion trips per year is just a small fraction of Tokyo's 15 billion trips.
> The article also notes that the Parisian RER was inspired by Tokyo, and throws casual shade by noting that public transport in Paris at 3 billion trips per year is just a small fraction of Tokyo's 15 billion trips.
The Paris metro area is 11 million, while Tokyo's is 38 million. So the difference isn't as huge as it initially seems, and I'd bet Paris will start catching up with the Grand Paris Express (4 new automated lines, the first one of which is a loop in the metro area and will be very high capacity) and all other related projects (there are like 10 different trams being built in various parts of the metro area, a new airport express, a bunch of BRTs, RER extension and hell even a cable car).
Edit: did some digging, and I'm not buying the number for Paris. Surprisingly the total number of trips isn't a number referenced in Ile de France Mobilités (the organising authority)'s Open Data [1], and they're the only ones that would have all of it, instead of just metro/some RERs/etc.
Statista say that for 2022 (year still impacted by Covid), there were 1.3 billion trips on the metro alone [2]. And the metro is a small part, RERs cover much wider territory and have much higher capacity, and there are of course a bunch of trams and a few hundred bus lines. And there are also people commuting by regular intercity trains or even TGVs, but they're a small minority.
According to OMNIL (observatory of mobility in Ile de France), there's a total of 4.1 billion trips on public transit (including metro, RER, Transilien regional trains, trams, buses and night buses) in Ile de France for 2023 [3].
4.1 billion vs 15 billion for less than 1/3 of the population means that Tokyo and Paris actually aren't all that far off.
Per capita, this makes for 394 trips per year per inhabitant for Tokyo, and 372 for Paris. Of course both cities receive lots of tourists and business travel, so this is skewed somewhat. And as I said, Paris is undergoing a massive expansion in number and length of lines, so it will surpass Tokyo in a few years (initial sections of the line 15 will open in 2025).
1 - https://data.iledefrance-mobilites.fr/pages/home/
2 - https://fr.statista.com/themes/5703/la-mobilite-en-ile-de-fr...