Thursday 14 August 2014

Tokyo Snow Scene: The Keio Line

EMU Keio 8000 series arrives at Meidaimae Station on the Keio Line
 
The hot summer continues in Tokyo. Daily temperatures frequently top 30 degrees Celsius. The only thing I can do is escape the city and go to the highlands, but the trains to resort areas are crowded with students, couples and families. People also get stuck in traffic on the express roads. What can I do?

Let's start by looking photos of Tokyo snow scenes from last winter to cool off. As I mentioned before, on Saturday, February 8th this year, a strong low-pressure system hit Tokyo. We saw 27cm of snow, which was the heaviest snowfall in 45 years. It was a hard time for railway employees, as they got sucked into snow shoveling in the railway facilities. Thanks to their hard work, most of the trains were operated smoothly in Tokyo.

I felt guilty about the hardworking railway employees, but nothing was more exciting than the snowfall, since it was a chance to take photos of snow scenes. Meidaimae Station on the Keio Line was my primary destination.

Generally speaking, railways in Tokyo have a low tolerance for snowfall; however, Keio is an exception. When we had heavy snow in the evening of January 8th, 1998, only the Keio lines were operated on schedule in Tokyo. I couldn't return home on the Odakyu Line, so I visited my parent's house taking Keio-Main and Keio-Inokashira lines. Since then, Keio has been known as a railway that is resistant to snow.

The key success factor of Keio was... forewarned is forearmed.

 
EMU Keio 9000 series arrives at Meidaimae Station on the Keio Line