Tokyo is a city of hills. It's especially true in the western part of the downtown area. Yotsuya is no exception. Yotsuya means "four valleys" in Japanese. In fact, JR East Yotsuya station is situated in a valley. There is a railway tunnel in the immediate vicinity of the station that cannot be imagined within a city center. I pass through Yotsuya by train every day on my way to the office.
One day, I stopped over at Yotsuya station as I had a business meeting there. I had some time before my meeting, so I enjoyed a stroll for a while. What was new with this valley station? I found that the railway signal for the eastbound trains on the Chuo Rapid line track was moved about 200 meters toward the east. It's probably because of the effect of platform extension work. JR East currently plans to connect additional cars for the existing Chuo Rapid line commuter trains. 10-car trains will be changed to 12-car ones by the fiscal year 2023. During the above work period, the station platforms are also extended at each station. Under the influence of platform extension, the railway signal at Yotsuya station had to be moved.
Now I understand what had hitherto puzzled me... why do train traffic jams recently form during morning rush hour at Yotsuya station? The answer must be... "because the railway signal was moved". Is it trifling news? You're not wrong, but it was an eye-opening experience for me.
