Comprehension: Clockwork Precision on the Tokyo Subway

Tokyo's vast underground rail system might not be the prettiest in the world, but it is the busiest and almost certainly the most efficient. Everyday eight million people are transported around this vast subterranean jungle on a system that runs like a finely crafted Swiss watch.

Watch the video and answer the questions below.  Decide if the statements are True or False.


1. The employees of the underground system describe everything they are doing out loud.
a. True
b. False

2. All the train lines are owned by the state.
a. True
b. False

3. 2.6 million people use the trains every day.
a. True
b. False
  For transcript and answers see below.

Transcript and Answers:

White gloves, caps and carefully choreographed moves. Employees of the Tokyo Metro run this vast underground network with the precision of a musical conductor. Their unusual style consists of pointing and describing out loud every task they carry out, leaving no room for error. 

“Here in the Tokyo Metro, we have a five second margin for being on time. If we’re just a little late, we have to make up for it straight away. In this job, you have to have a mental clock ticking all the time.” 

Running this behemoth is no easy feat. Two metro systems sprawl underneath the Japanese capital. To complicate things, on the surface, private train lines wind their way in and out of the network. Overall around 26 million passengers use this transport web every day. 

“In between Toei, Tokyo Metro, Keio.., there are a lot of train operators. When you take the metro in Tokyo, you have to juggle between the different train companies and it’s hard to find your way around.” 

Every operator takes into account the other timetables to make sure commuters make their connections. A delay on one line can have a huge knock-on effect on the whole network of packed trains. 

“Every carriage is meant to take 150 passengers, which includes those sitting and standing. But at rush hour, we push capacity to 180 percent.” 

It might be a tight squeeze at times, but the Tokyo Metro is a well-oiled machine. For its employees, it’s obvious - the key to its success is simply Japanese work ethic. 

Answers:
1. a
2. b
3. b

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