Work to Refurbish JR Shibuya Station in Tokyo Begins

The Yomiuri Shimbun
Workers conduct refurbishment works in JR Shibuya Station in Shibuya Ward, Tokyo, on Saturday morning.

Work to refurbish the structure of the JR Shibuya Station began on Friday night and services for a section of the JR Yamanote Line are scheduled for suspension all day on alternating sides on Saturday and Sunday.

On Saturday, a section of the loop line between Osaki and Ikebukuro via Shibuya stations on the clockwise route is closed for the entire day.

On Sunday, the same section on the counterclockwise route will be closed for the entire day.

In other sections of the loop line, the number of trains in service is reduced. The Yamanote Line’s services are scheduled to fully resume on Monday from the first train.

According to East Japan Railway Co., JR East, the work is scheduled to end before dawn on Monday.

A total of about 4,600 workers are engaged in the refurbishment. Rail tracks and platforms of the Yamanote Line in Shibuya Station are being raised by as much as 20 centimeters so that the height be level with those of JR Saikyo Line which neighbors the Yamanote Line.

In Shibuya Station on Saturday morning, work to elevate the rails began.