I'm frequently reminded--when proposing urban/suburban interoperation in Boston--that the differences in specs for each rapid transit line and the CR make this impossible (or, at the most optimistic, would require an enormous amount of work to be sorted out)
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This is not an exaggeration, either--platform heights range from 3'5.5" on the Blue Line to 4'1" on the Red, car lengths range from 48'6" on the Blue Line to 85' on the CR, and car widths range from 9'3" on the Blue and Orange Lines to 10'6" on some CR cars
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Now, it's true that there is also a lot of variation on Tokyo area trains...3 different track gauges, multiple power configurations and voltages, varying train widths and floor heights...but not as drastic, afaict
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Still, some interesting findings. These are e233 series and 203 series trains, which run (or ran) on the Joban Line, Chiyoda Subway Line, and Odakyu Line. But the newer e233 trains have floors 3 inches lower than the old 203 series (44 instead of 47 inches above the track)pic.twitter.com/IskhIjQaLk
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I'm assuming that 44" is still at or above the platform level, so in the past, a 3" (or greater) step was just taken as normal. Maybe a bit cumbersome in a wheelchair but not insurmountable. The newer trains are also slightly narrower, at (I think) 2790mm instead of 2800mm
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Interestingly, other trains on the Odakyu Line AND on the Joban Line are wider. The Odakyu 8000 series is 2900mm, the 1000 series is 2860mm, and the Joban Line's e531 series is 2950mmpic.twitter.com/OPfV8JTZmj
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This makes them too wide to run in subway tunnels, but appears not to raise any issues in track-centerline-to-platform-edge clearance. I'm less certain about the Joban Line, but at least on Odakyu, I know subway-compatible and subway-incompatible trains use the same platforms.
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What I'm getting at is this: so long as differences in specs don't prevent use of the same platforms, it doesn't matter if only *some* of the rolling stock on a suburban line is able to run through on the subway as well. Indeed, that's how an interoperated schedule would work!
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Specifically, that some trains would continue onto the subway and out the other side of the city, while others would skip the subway and just continue to the existing downtown terminal. This isn't a silver bullet for my Boston plans, but it makes them slightly more achievable.
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oh one more thing--Japanese freight trains don't appear to cause any trouble for platforms at passenger stations. I took this photo at Mizusawa in 2014, and the trains shown are stationary, but during my 2017 I also saw freights pass platforms at speed w/o issues.pic.twitter.com/EvylfWGX6y
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Less optimistic about accomplishing this in MA tho, since it would probably require a complete overhaul of freight specs, rendering them incompatible with the rest of the US network and requiring transshipment facilities anywhere that a freight line entered New England
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On the bright side, a compatibility barrier like that would be a defensive boon if New England were an independent nation, so...lemme file this idea away for future reference
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