Japan Railway & Transport Review No. 45 (pp.12–16) Feature: Railway Universal Designs and Architectural Features Easy-to-Access Rail—JR East's Initiatives Yoshihiko Ito |
Introduction |
East Japan Railway Company (JR East) is continuing to develop new, high-quality services that are safe, on time, and easy to access. As called for by our new medium-term business plan, New Frontier 2008—New Creation and Evolution, our services also take our users' perspectives into account. One major goal is creating new value for customers; we are introducing new carriages to make this goal reality, as well as strengthening the role of our stations as transportation nodes under the slogan, ‘Innovation in Stations.’ This will bring new developments and improvements to stations such as higher-performance automatic ticket gates, and to station sites as a whole. These advances promote intermodal transport and are designed to satisfy the needs of Japan's aging population, making it easier for more people to travel by rail. By making our rail system easier to access, we are maximizing value for customers.
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Aims and Situation of Barrier-free Facilities |
JR East is continuously improving its stations, carriages and services to make it easier for everyone, including the elderly, physically disabled, and families to travel by rail. These efforts are geared towards offering barrier-free facilities and seamless rail services that meet the needs of all users. Our efforts are of course complemented by collaboration with organizations promoting barrier-free technical developments and services.
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Table 1: JR East Barrier-free Facilities (31 March 2006) |
Using Passengers' Comments to Improve Services |
To get a better understanding of problems confronting our users, we ask for their comments, either directly at station counters (our most important asset) or online. During FY2005, we received about a 250,000 comments to help plan solutions to problems. We have also conducted customer satisfaction surveys since FY1997 to quantify satisfaction levels, something that cannot be obtained just from comments of individuals. |
Targeting More Comfortable and Convenient Services |
Stations
Carriages
Information
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Photo: Glass lift at Shinjuku Station (JR East) Photo: Double escalators at Shinjuku Station (JR East) Photo: Easy access station toilet (JR East) Photo: Sign and Braille map for toilet (JR East) Photo: Stair markings (JR East) Photo: Full-colour LED departure board at Shinjuku Station (narrow-gauge line) (JR East) Photo: Full-colour LED departure board at Tokyo Station (shinkansen) (JR East) Photo: Ticket gate sign at Shinjuku Station (JR East) Photo: Ticket gate sign at Hakonegasaki Station on Hachiko Line (JR East) Photo: Concourse sign at Shinjuku Station (JR East) Photo: Platform sign at Shinjuku Station (JR East) Photo: Onboard Japanese and Braille sign (Door 5 of Carriage 10 of train on narrow-gauge line) (JR East) Photo: Braille map on shinkansen (JR East) Photo: Onboard LCD panels (conventional line) (JR East) Photo: Priority seating (JR East) Photo: Onboard displays (route, present location, etc.) (JR East) |
Conclusion |
I have outlined some of the barrier-free and UD initiatives JR East been taking in the last few years but this is still only the beginning. We intend to continue upgrading and innovating our services to meet the needs of Japan's aging population and the changing needs of our passengers and will endeavour to provide our diversifying passenger base with easy-to-use and-easy-to-understand rail services based on our clear understanding of the links between railway hardware and services. |
Yoshihiko Ito
Mr Ito is Manager of the Station Facilities Group in the Marketing Department at East Japan Railway Company. He graduated in 1989 in engineering from Kyoto University before joining JR East where he worked in the Niigata Architecture Engineering Center. |