World’s Busiest Station: Shinjuku Station Tokyo | Giant Hubs | Episode 3 | Free Documentary

[Music] Tokyo Shinjuku Station the world's busiest with over three million passengers flocking to the tracks here on a daily basis this calls for maximum precision from the entire staff let's synchronize our watches this is a station that never sleeps be a day or night every hour is rush hour here we have only three hours we have to work high-speed the logistics behind this vast station require minute by minute precision and constant control in absolutely every situation here we detect everything twenty-four hours a day five separate train lines almost 3,000 passengers per minute trains arriving every second we'll find out just how the teams at the world's busiest station overcome these challenges now our giant hubs [Music] with 36 million inhabitants Tokyo is the largest city in the world around 25% of them live right in the heart of the city on top of that there are 11 million commuters visitors and tourists coordinating this mass of people is a daily challenge Japan is home to 24,000 kilometers of railway tracks a third of these are located in Tokyo alone most of the tracks lead to one specific place Shinjuku Station it gets its name from the district where it is located the station stretches through the neighborhood and is one kilometer long right in the heart of Tokyo the giant hub is a complex network of various train subway and bus lines Shinjuku Station is built over five main levels and has 20 platforms in total these platforms welcome trains from five different railway companies all at the same time on top of that three subway lines Lincoln tjuku station to Tokyo's public transport system its bus terminal handles 1600 nationwide long distant lines Shinjuku Station is a city within the city including stores offices and places to eat it's early in the morning the giant hubs 200 doors gradually open between the hours of 4:00 15 and 7 a.m. commuters passengers to the airport and revelers heading home for the night are already waiting for the first train at 4:30 in the morning then at ten past five the door to the stations busiest platforms starts to rise this signals the start of the morning rush hour and it won't stop until much later tonight [Applause] more and more passengers stream into Shinjuku as the doors start to open so to to the stores inside the station's entrance cafes kiosks small breakfast bars they're all preparing for the oncoming rush just like every other day today they're expecting 3.6 million train travelers that's roughly equivalent to the population of Los Angeles it's time to go now an average of over 200,000 people an hour will make their way through the kilometers of walkways between the bus station subway lines and train platforms the halls and walkways of the world's busiest train station remain packed from now until nightfall getting from one end of the station to the other takes 45 minutes by foot and that's the most direct route 7:24 a.m. the morning rush requires a logistics process that is perfectly in sync and practically invisible to the passengers like Satoshi kawana for instance he heads to the giant hubba Shinjuku Station at this time almost every day so this maze the station is very big and important for me and a lot of people I have to use it every day it is my favorite station in Tokyo Satoshi Kawana has come to appreciate all the amenities that Shinjuku Station has to offer and that's despite the fact that the station is in the midst of full chaos at the moment [Music] his first destination is the locker area which is freely accessible to all passengers Satoshi kawana tucks his backpack away into one of the many lockers these lockers aren't just a saving grace for tourists laden with luggage they're crucial for locals too and that's no surprise on average Japanese employees work almost four hours of overtime a day and then they have to go to after work team-building events known as no Mekhi the lines between work and free time are blurred so many Japanese people use the giant hubs centrally located lockers to store their non work clothes as it is traditional in Japan services given top priority also at Shinjuku Station even in the ticketing system Satoshi Kawana holds a ticket that can be topped up at any time you can charge this card and travel with it with many lines for example the keio line the odakyu line and all the JR lines it's very easy you just need to touch the card at the entrance and you can use every train otherwise it would be very difficult single ticket for every line as a result all passengers are able to use the station with ease and without any unnecessary wait times no matter how complex the railway system is and there is no shortage of options the giant hub is used by no less than five different railway companies the largest of them is JR East then there are Odakyu KO tokyo metro and tow a subway with 16 lines jr east alone transports 1.5 million passengers a day that is the equivalent of 80% of all railway traffic in the city passengers only have to replace their electronic tickets every 10 years this is an essential factor when it comes to tackling the huge number of visitors who flock to the world's busiest train station every day another key factor is learning from past mistakes for a long time never ending queues and ticket stands and permanently stressed-out staff resulted in a whole lot of chaos until a major update in 2012 introduced standardized chip cards for Tokyo's entire public transport network although the ticketing system has remained hassle-free since then passengers at Shinjuku Station still have to conquer one major challenge finding their way around I use this station every day and that's why I know my way around but for people who don't know Shinjuku it can be confusing in that case they should be aware of the signs to see which way to take they show you the direction for example to otaku or junior modern or thing in the worst case scenario a single wrong turn could cost you several kilometers and detours that's why the signs follow a sophisticated yet complex system to start with the main train lines are color-coded for instance green stands for the Yamanote align and leads to platforms 14 and 15 then come the letters and numbers these point out the routes to the various entrances and exits in addition to the main southern eastern and western entrances there are dozens of other ways in it's all pretty confusing to begin with [Music] giving to the right place in Shinjuku Station is a particularly big problem for tourists and unexperienced visitors every day the station's Twitter account is inundated with complaints from passengers simply because they were unable to find their platform the magnitude of the giant hub is quite hard to get your head around a total of 200 different entrances and exits stretch across a distance of around one kilometer and Shinjuku Station is growing all the time architect Keisuke Tamura has been analyzing Shinjuku Station for years he and his university students are monitoring the station's ongoing growth he has even gone as far as creating his own 3d model for identifying the problems this causes first of all there are many maintenance works all the time in shops new routes and therefore the look of the station is changing oh people get lost especially people that usually follow their memory they get lost because they don't look at the signs there is always construction work going on and it never stops that's typical for the busiest station in the world particularly during the period known as the golden 60s during this era the Japanese economy grew at rocket speed as did its logistical hubs and junctions shinjuku was built on a plain territory so they were able to build parallel trucks they started building one platform and then they added many more but the Train business became bigger and there was not enough space in Shinjuku area that's why they started developing the underground tracks and it went down to seven floors this is a major characteristic of Shinjuku Station I think guys through the last senior Greek you know talks during 91 it took decades for Shinjuku to become as important as it is today when the station opened in 1885 the area was still a quiet residential neighborhood expansion took place in stages the district did not become Tokyo's financial and administrative center until after the Second World War all of a sudden the station became the city's most important Junction the most amazing thing its facade is almost invisible despite the station's vast proportions completely the opposite of the Magnificent stations you find elsewhere the station practically disappears amongst the surrounding shopping centers and this is yet another traditional feature of Japanese culture functionality and efficiency always come first another obstacle to finding your way around despite all the modernity many of the signs are only in Japanese English isn't particularly widespread in Japan even now however the mega station is working hard to resolve this problem [Music] information desks may be a common feature at lots of major train stations but they are crucial in shinjuku they are located at each of the main entrances additionally innumerable field workers spread out over the whole station one of the employees providing assistance minutes after minute is yoshikawa Sawa he helps people to get to their destinations while also breaking up crowds and congestion throughout the station's never-ending rush-hour lost passengers keep him and his colleagues busy all day long when I started working here I was shocked because so many people were coming to look for help I was asked many different kinds of questions that's a big challenge Yoshi Kurosawa's job is to let passengers know that the station is there for them for employees the huge stations customer friendly image is more or less sacred I always need to be visible like this so people know they can ask me questions also the Sun in my arm I need to wear it at all times on some days Yoshi Kurosawa deals with up to 20 different nationalities his goal is to provide them all with information in their native language despite his best efforts however he sometimes needs a helping hand his tablet translates questions and answers at top speed when it comes to finding his own way around Yoshi Kurosawa has to know the stations routes like the back of his own hand service staff and advisors in the world's busiest station this is a calling that takes a lot of passion when a customer says thank you to me that's my biggest reward I feel like working even harder than even experienced locals often place more faith in Yoshi Kurosawa's specialist knowledge than their own sense of direction I don't know I want to go to us a coozer station which way should I take take the tool line on truck eight and set over at canned air station thank you dutiful friendly efficient most people are familiar with these Japanese cliches in Shinjuku Station they are a reality many people ask the service staff because it is so much easier than looking by yourself they always know the best and fastest way and yet be it with or without assistance when passengers arrive on the platform they expect to experience one thing above all else punctuality just like in every other station in the world the average delay for the station's largest train line Junior is an incredible 0.4 minutes if a train is delayed by five minutes or more the conductor apologizes over the loudspeaker maximum courtesy guaranteed prompt and precise a reputation that railway staff aren't willing to jeopardize any time in the future either discipline means pride and honor even for the newest employees that's why they carefully repeat the most important rules of their job every single morning if there is a foreign looking customer at the station looking around and looking lost how do you behave I will ask to see if I can help newcomer Kota inos dream is to become a train driver one day to get promoted to the cab trainees have to graduate from a strict school and also learn what matters most happy customers okay the seniors have the word now please managers continue a smile for our customers synchronize our watches okay that's it let's go to work [Music] Kuta a nose job today is to supervise the platform it's a job with a great deal of responsibility the number-one rule here is keep the tracks clear and the platform under control and to do this quota Eno follows strict Japanese rules at all times back at the train okay tracks okay a system that seems to work in Japan even Tokyo's largest railway company gets away with fewer than 200 accidents a year the station's most important line alone invests over 1.8 billion euros a year in safety the goal to reduce the number of accidents involving passengers to zero in the future it's an ambitious plan and Kota Ino is proud to be a part of it you react with it in order to avoid mistakes I use my fingers so I'm much more aware your time okay but Cinco don't departure okay Kota Eno performs his duties to the fullest regardless of whether there are two or 200 passengers on the platform one time a customer fell on the track luckily I saw it for situations like that it is very helpful that I check everything carefully that's why we have to be very strict with our procedures accidents that don't involve passengers trains that don't run late absolute perfection however Kota Eno is not the only one fighting this battle when it comes to safety the world's busiest station also relies on an above average number of surveillance cameras [Music] and all their images are compiled here in the station managers control room he and his team watch every second of what's going on in the station as the stationmaster EDA hiko Moriyama bears more responsibility than most [Music] you are getting me thudding discs ago I managed the whole station therefore I have to coordinate with all the other stations in the surrounding areas as Shinjuku Station is a district station I have to match up the schedule of all the other stations my job consists of three main things I have to make sure that everything is safe that the trains are running on time and that everybody of the 380 staff members of the station is working well together all year long one major problem the area surrounding Shinjuku is also home to other stations like Yoyogi station located a mere 800 meters away balancing out delays between there and here as an impossible feat that's why the station's liaised their schedules in sync this allows them to keep both delays and accidents to a minimum no matter what the circumstances we are checking for unusual things for example if a customer is injured or something suspicious is happening in the station area if needed we get all the information about it and act on it even if I am NOT here they operate 24 hours in this room he nahiku more Yama and his team are the eyes and ears of the entire station despite the giant hubs vast sized cutting-edge technology allows them to keep an eye on everything from behind the scenes [Music] meanwhile there's a lot going on inside the station itself the shops are now especially busy sales are already in full swing at peak times around 200 customers visit every store Japan's private railway companies use their property for a range of purposes above their stations they build things like shopping centers office blocks travel agencies and supermarkets the whole area in and around Shinjuku Station is a money-making machine to make sure everything runs as smoothly as possible everything in the giant hub is tailored towards maximum customer friendliness passengers like Satoshi kawana can even pay using their train tickets after all this giant hub is a lot more than just a station there is one name that most locals couldn't imagine Shinjuku without lunch box place located directly on route to the platform's many travelers make a pit stop here before continuing their journeys things seem to be pretty peaceful for now however longtime employee Kazuki a Madeira is well aware that this is just the calm before the storm because a popular train leaves that a lot of people will come there for we need many lunch boxes we all have to work together in a team in order to manage the workload every day the kitchen worker prepares fish and vegetables just before the first throng of visitors is due to arrive on a good day 2,500 boxes pass over the counter here the Japanese believe strongly and the importance of fresh food even when they're traveling spices and oil are used sparingly the intrinsic taste is what matters the customers passenger Satoshi kawana regularly picks up a lunch box this traditional Japanese bento box contains rice as the basic ingredient plus various vegetable meat or fish toppings depending on what option you go for each portion cost between four and eight euros [Applause] [Music] before Satoshi Kawana reaches the platform area he has to pass through one of the 104 fully automated control gates which 3.6 million other travelers also pass through every day [Music] at this moment Shinjuku Station alone contains the same number of travelers as the total people who use the entire London Underground network in one day and yet there's not a single trace of chaos [Music] 400 there everybody is lining up correctly right now we have the rush hour but because everybody is following the rules and stands on the right line it doesn't seem like it is very crowded that goes for every platform and every train be it an overground or underground service the most important tool for getting your bearings for markings every train stops at a precise point passengers wait patiently here forming lines just out of the way from where the doors will open thanks to the Japanese tendency to follow rules the flow of passengers remains constant passengers even get on and off the train at the same time the doors open and close automatically within a set time window with this system it takes less than a minute for passengers to get in and out and this is what allows the train to depart exactly on time right down to the last second this wasn't always the case for a long time Shinjuku Station was famous for their pushers people who helped to preserve the schedule their job was to squash the last few passengers into the train carriage there was no sign of a civilized boarding process in place today nowadays the train staff on the platform look after the finer details they keep watch over the platforms and always have a kind word for their passengers welcome to shinjuku station thank you for travelling with us please don't leave anything behind japanese travelers appreciate all their hard work around 80% of tokyo citizens use public transport and there is another reason for this trend Tokyo is vast and has almost no parking spaces it's complex and heavily overloaded public transport network therefore has to work seamlessly at all times no matter what the circumstances and it has to do all this in a country where earthquakes are a common occurrence Japan had to learn the hard way what happens when the public transport system literally collapses the memories of tragedies like the Kobe earthquake in January 1995 are never likely to fade the earthquake which registered seven on the Richter scale paralyzed the entire infrastructure over 6,000 people lost their lives in Tokyo people live in constant fear of another major earthquake according to the experts there is a 70% chance of a quake of this magnitude occurring in the next 30 years were it to happen during rush hour an incident like this that claimed tens of thousands of lives to make sure they are as prepared as possible scientists are working on ways to eliminate weak points at the railway Technical Research Institute Yoshitaka Murano and his team conduct research for giant hubs like Shinjuku Station their mission is to find the most effective ways for the infrastructure to withstand another earthquake or Canada sanitize that da cunha dear we detect which structures will be damaged the most and we offer that information to the stations so they will take your semester they condo up after the earthquake has happened we have developed an information system that tells the train companies via internet within five to ten minutes how big was the tremor in each area and you won't think so it gives them an idea how to react to it Dadaji course as I need information to stay Internet today hi see us dmoz employees at the Research Institute have been working hard for years to keep the effects of a disaster as small as possible using large-scale experiments they find out how the track constructions will respond to quakes of varying severity their knowledge helps the railway companies to equip themselves for specific scenarios and increase the load capacity of their constructions sturdy columns and the best materials possible are designed to stop the country from collapsing should worse come to worst the Institute also provides all the country stations with immediate updates and all tectonic movements the station's suspend operations as soon as there is a threat of a dangerous earthquake it was a big success when we heard about the latest earthquakes and Kumamoto and to hope there were no big damages in the main structures and it was because of our calculations Shinjuku Station has also adjusted the mountings on its tracks to make sure it is equipped for any eventuality behind the scenes in the world's busiest station employees put their all into making sure that traffic keeps flowing passengers like Satoshi kawana have come to rely on this anything that can be planned should run like clockwork thanks to traditional Japanese discipline one thing they cannot be planned something referred to as passenger accidents Japan has the highest suicide rate in the world an average of 24 thousand a year according to the latest figures 700 of these deaths occur in train stations alone that means that on average there are almost two suicide attempts a day from the perspective of a giant hub like Shinjuku Station incidents like this don't just result in tragedy they also mean delays cancellations chaos and image problems the only way to prevent something like this is to stay alert as well as surveillance cameras the station is also equipped with countless emergency call buttons as a result passengers and employees often spot people acting conspicuously in time to preventing the worst before it can happen another effective tool placing barriers in front of the tracks be it intentionally or accidentally no passenger will ever fall onto the rails with these in the way the barriers only open when a train has come to a stop and yet despite all of these technical precautions staff vigilance is always the most important weapon to make sure all workers do their bit longtime employees like Fumio Taguchi review newcomers on a regular basis rails staff at the giant hub are subject to strict checks around the clock [Music] less about safety so new tested I work at cyber railways since 35 years old early and I have been experiencing all the main jobs here like station staff office staff and so on the main concern in every position is always security in order to make sure that all the customers get on the train safely we checked various security issues for example if there is something strange on the tracks so every part of our job is important to keep the whole station safe trainee Kota Ino has to be ready for a surprise visit from his higher ranking colleague at any time thank you for your hard work anything unusual to report no are you following the instructions yes your uniform is okay as well well done comeö Taguchi is happy with Kota Eno's work his checks help to ensure that no employee deviates from the standardized procedures another typical feature of Japanese working culture rules are the most valuable asset at this station meticulous adherence to certain protocols is just one of the factors that guarantees that public transport remains on time and functional the opacity just Hey this was all okay yes okay please drive to Kamisha coochy okay anyone working for Japan's most famous station cannot afford to make any mistakes especially when they deal with over 1 billion passengers a year during one hour about 25 trains pass one track so really a lot of trains are coming in and out in order to deliver a safe and balanced schedule in that kind of situation it is necessary to do perfect work Sascha at all I make sure of that because it is so important that the employees continue performing in a very precise way so equal to all Kaito it kakari da Rimini la Cucaracha the station's minute-by-minute train schedule will only work if each cog is working perfectly [Music] 8:14 a.m. passengers Satoshi Kiwanis train is also 100% on time travelers like him have no idea how much effort is put in behind the scenes and that's exactly the way it should be trains and other transport services arrive at and depart from Shinjuku Station 21 hours a day 20 past seven is the day's last big rush [Music] [Music] trains are now spitting out up to 500 passengers every second to tackle this volume station staff work round the clock in three separate shifts [Music] directions small-scale construction work safety precautions there is always something to do in all areas of the giant hub even though concentration often tends to drop off towards the end of a shift the machinery of Shinjuku Station will not work properly unless each individual Department gives it their all at all times just before 8:00 the day slowly draws to an end and the party hotspot of the Shinjuku district really starts to buzz the bright lights of the countless bars clubs and restaurants draw in tourists and visitors looking for a good night out at almost any time of day or night up to 1 million people around the move in this neighborhood which covers just 18 square kilometers as a result things are still bustling in the station too most of the shopping hubs closed at around 10 p.m. lunch box employee Hazuki yamadera has just about survived the evening rush hour today she sold 1300 bento boxes that's 7,000 euros of Revenue in a single day when the customers are gone I feel really relieved it is very exhausting but at the same time I'm glad that everybody got a good meal for their journey while the day is almost over for some another team is just about to start it shift 170 members of the cleaning team are on duty around the clock however the most important part of their work happens at night in typical Japanese style the team boosts its motivation with a chant be nice to colleagues and avoid disasters thank you for today the cleaning squad works in small teams of up to 10 people 31 year-old Yoshi moon a Kobayashi has been doing the job for 7 years and is now a team leader the team leaders split up the work between themselves and distribute jobs within their teams [Music] what is your schedule for today today we have a group of cleaners going to do the middle square and quarter okay I will meet you later the team is preparing for the moment when the final guest leaves the station then it's time to clean the windows and platforms even the last piece of chewing gum stuck to the floor has to go the giant hub gets a thorough cleaning every single day between the last train in the evening and the first train in the morning we only have three hours so we need to work high-speed 123 in the morning the doors to the world's busiest station are closing it's time to go when the trains have stopped rolling into the station the platform's look a bit like ghost towns the surveillance cameras stop recording the crowds of passengers it's time to start work on all the jobs that the public never notices [Music] for Yoshi Monet kobayashi the night begins with one of his favorite jobs recently the cleaning squad gained a new member to help them clean the huge station area a brand new robotic cleaner the robot has saved the station's entire floor plan and works autonomously fashion law in order to always have the newest cleaning system we have imported this machine it's the only one of its kind in the whole country we are very proud of it and it is my best friend really who wouldn't what a robotic cleaner as their best friend at night everything happens at the same time the team's work against the clock after all the window in which there are no passengers or trains on the tracks is a mere three hours long repairs and work on the tracks must not disrupt train subway or bus operations under any circumstances this would cause too much chaos so before the first guest arrives back at the giant hub in the morning any sign of construction work disappears completely it's as if nothing that happened [Music] at the same time Yoshi Munna Kobayashi and his team are adding the finishing touches their job today was to clean ten platforms several kilometres of corridor and masses of windows by the time he and his team head home every last speck of dirt must be gone Yamuna Kobayashi is proud to have done his part to ensure yet another successful day at the world's busiest station I had a very good day the station is very clean so tomorrow the passengers can come again that makes me happy the day has come to an end and the rail staff are already waiting for the next few minutes to roll by before the doors go up and everything starts all over again [Music] the world's busiest station handles 3.6 million passengers a day the only thing keeping it running is a perfectly coordinated logistic strategy a complex system of directions hundreds of service staff in the station itself hundreds of stores and lunch boxes keep the crowd smiling meanwhile behind the scenes hundreds of surveillance cameras watch over every centimeter of the station and strictly trained staff prevent accidents and catastrophes with the utmost discipline they share a common goal perfectly time trains arriving on a second-by-second basis in Shinjuku Station you

Channel: Free Documentary

Views: 1,905,677

Keywords: Free Documentary, Documentaries, Full documentary, HD documentary, documentary - topic, documentary (tv genre), engineering, high tech documentary, airport, airport documentary, gigantic airport, giant hubs, engineering documentary, station, station documentary, train station, train station documentary, biggest train station in the world, biggest train station, train documentary, tokyo station, japan train station, japan train, japan travel

Id: EOmskE5uTm4

Length: 48min 20sec (2900 seconds)

Published: Sun Dec 29 2019