Passengers in Tokyo faced an average congestion rate of 139 percent. Rates in Osaka and Nagoya were 116 percent and 126 percent, respectively.
While these figures represented a slight increase from the previous year, morning rush-hour congestion has risen sharply since the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020 and 2021, rates were 110 percent or under in Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya. At this level, passengers will be able to sit or stand and hold onto handrails and straps, the report said.
Congestion on trains in Japan’s three major metropolitan areas is still some way off returning to pre-pandemic levels, particularly in Tokyo where rates remained at around 165 percent for several years prior to the pandemic.
The survey found the most crowded train outside Japan’s three major metropolitan areas to be in Fukuoka. Morning rush-hour passengers using trains on the Nishi-Nippon Railroad Co. Kaizuka Line, from Najima Station to Kaizuka Station, faced a congestion rate of 164 percent.
Passengers feeling cramped on today’s rush-hour trains might do well to think about conditions in the 1970s.
Congestion rates in 1975, the earliest data available in the report, were around 200 percent in Japan’s three major metropolitan areas, topping 220 percent in Tokyo. By today’s ministry standards, that means passengers feeling considerably cramped with those near the doors unable to move.
This article was submitted by a contributing writer for publication on Japan Wire.
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