Urban Transportation System and Energy

3.1 Commuter service and power consumption

The daily current load on JNR-owned power plants, both hydraulic and thermal, in and around Tokyo for commuter service (рис. 17) reaches about 350, 000 kilowatts at the peak in the morning and evening, dropping as much as to about 100, 000 kilowatts at midnight.

To cope with such an inefficient load factor and worst fluctuation in demand, JNR has two 1, 880, 000 cubic meter regulat­ing reservoirs set up at the Ojiya and Senju Power Plants. The excess volume of water at midnight is stored up here to cover up the shortage at the peak hours. When the water still runs short, JNR has arrangement with the Tokyo Power Co. in Tsurumi for additional supply.

The power consumption by commuter trains per day in about 2, 000, 000 kilowatt hours, and the passenger kilometerage is 112, 000, 000 per day.

This means that the power consumption per 1, 000 passenger km is 17.8 kilowatt hours. The power coat thus is only 56.70 yen per 1, 000 passenger km.

Рис.16

3.2 Power consumption: Present and Future

The transport demand for commuter service in Tokyo and its vicinity is expected to increase year after year. To cope with this increase, JHR has plans to build additional tracks, put in a longer trains and shorten the headway. The maximum load capacity of JNR-owned plants is expected to reach about 480, 000 kilowatts in 1971. Hence, plants are under contemplation to put in two additional 25, 000-kw water wheel generators for the Ojiya Plant and boost the power generation of the Kawasaki Thermal Plant by 75, 000 kw.

City dwellers in Japan are expected to increase. In 1985 the urban population is estimated to come up to 80% of the total Japanese population. They will concentrate in such large urban areas as the Tokyo Metropolitan, Kinki and Chukyo spheres, occupying as much as 70% together, or 64 million, of the national population.

Among them the population in Tokyo and its vicinity is ex­pected to increase spectacularly from present 26 million to 32 million in 1975 and on to 36 million in 1985.

The increase of population in Tokyo and its environs will encourage centrifugal urbanization along the railway, and should no steps be taken to cope with the commuter traffic, disorderly urbanization is bound to set in, jeopardizing the traffic in and around Tokyo.

According to our estimate, season-tickets holders for travel on JNR lines will double in number from present 2, 680, 000 to 5, 200, 000 by 1975.

So, even in case the series of present plans for transport capacity consolidation are implemented, as explained previously, there still will be a considerable shortage in transport capacity. Some entirely new plans must be spawned to solve the transportation problems. A plan, for instance, to prevent disorderly concentration of people in urban area. Along with the development to a higher level of industrial set-up, however, such is not easy to do; for the controlling nerve organs of various in­dustries are bound to concentrate in big cities. If population concentration to be taken as an inevitable trend, the modes of transport for urban areas call for serious consideration from an entirely new point of view.

Such being the circumstances, we have drawn up plans for re-development of the existing towns and development of new towns with city activities dispersed to the under-developed areas on the city periphery, bringing forth a net of super high speed railways for commuter service between the city center and its surrounding bed towns to prevent the over-density of popu­lation concentration.

The basic concept of the plans to construct a net of rapid transit railways in the sphere of 100 km, centering around Tokyo (рис. 18) and to operate trains at the maximum speed of 160 km/h and the scheduled speed of 120 km/h. This will help re-developing the city and expand the urban areas for commuting, so contributing to no small extent in preventing the city from deteriorating into an over-populated nightmare.

From our experience gained in constructing the New Tokaido Line, we see no technical problems involved in setting up this net rapid transit railways. Such will be extremely profitable too when considered from the standpoint of energy consumption for the mass transportation of passengers.