This was filmed on the number 7 & 8 Outer Loop platform of JR’s Yamanote Line at Ikebukuro Station. It captures a shift change of the driver on the #7 line, and the conductor of the #6 line. Every train that pulls in a few minutes apart undergoes this shift change here. The other shifts are changed at Otsuka Station so that there is always a fresh crewmember on board the train at all times. After a brief break, the drivers will get back onto another train, and resume working. Trains are also put into service on the auxilliary #5 and 8 tracks in the morning.
The crews of the JR’s Yamanote Line are exceptionally well trained, and are known for keeping their trains perfectly on schedule. The Yamanote Line is arguably the most interesting, and important rail line in the Tokyo area. It forms a loop around Tokyo, and has stations at every major hub city in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area. Carrying over 3 million passengers a day, it can be said that JR’s Yamanote Line is both the backbone, and flagship line of its impressive rail network.
AloJapan.com