Phone app informs train riders with up-to-date crowd conditions

East Japan Railway Co. said Tuesday it will roll out an expanded smartphone app from mid-July to inform travelers how crowded its main train lines in Tokyo and its vicinity are, following a surge in the app's use amid the spread of the novel coronavirus.The app by the railway operator, known as JR East, will divide the conditions into five levels from "able to sit down" to "extremely crowded," and update the information about every five minutes.Although the service has been available for the JR Yamanote loop line since March 2014, the company decided to expand its availability after determi…READ FULL ARTICLE