
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, March 12, 1990                   TAG: 9003123008
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A/2   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: TOKYO                                LENGTH: Short

JAPAN TESTS SEATLESS COMMUTER TRAINS

A Tokyo train line introduced seatless cars today to reduce overcrowding during rush hours and got a mixed response from commuters, some of whom complained of being treated like packages.

The new cars on the crowded Yamanote loop line have foldable seats that can be lowered or folded back into the wall automatically by pushing a button, a railroad official said.

The seats will remain folded during morning rush hour to increase the capacity of the cars and allow easier movement of passengers on and off trains, he said.

Regular train cars on the line have a rated capacity of 144, while the new cars can officially carry 162 people, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The cars actually carry many more passengers during rush hour, when they frequently are packed so tightly that people can hardly move.

Only two trains with two seatless cars each were introduced today as an a experiment, the official said.

- Associated Press

by CNB