Basic Usage In one-man operated trains, there is no conductor on board, only the driver. In addition to driving, the driver is also in charge of opening and closing doors for boarding and exiting the train and collecting fares. This is no different from a shared-ride bus. However, there is an exception called “urban one-man” where the driver concentrates on driving and the fare collection is left to the station. This method is feasible in urban areas where automatic ticket vending machines and ticket gates are available, and is particularly popular on subways. Recently, with the spread of transportation system IC cards, some suburban lines have also adopted one-man operation by installing IC card readers at stations. On the other hand, one-man operation on local lines is, so to speak, “a bus on rails. When boarding, passengers take a numbered ticket to prove where they boarded from. When getting off the bus, passengers look at the fare list and pay cash for the fare from the station corresponding to the number (or station name) on the numbered ticket. If you do not have change, you can use the exchange function built into the fare box, the same as on a shared-ride bus. However, with the spread of transportation system IC cards, there are now cases where transportation system IC cards can be used inside the bus. This is the same as using a transit system IC card on a bus; simply touch the card to the reader for “entry” when boarding and for “exit” when exiting the bus. It is as if the simple ticket checkers at stations for “entry” and “exit” had been moved into the car.
Circumstances Specific to One-Man Operation on Railroads In railroads, as in buses, the “boarding gate” and “alighting gate” are generally separated. Because the driver must collect fares, the exit is inevitably located at the very front of the first car, just after the driver’s cab. Then, what is the boarding entrance? In the case of buses, there are various types of exits, such as “middle boarding and front exiting,” “rear boarding and front exiting,” “front boarding and front exiting,” and “front boarding and rear exiting,” and these vary by region, route, and company. On the other hand, the majority of one-man trains are operated in the “back-ride forward” style. If there is one side door at the front and one at the rear, they are used interchangeably. If the direction of travel is reversed, boarding and alighting is also reversed. If there is a door in the middle, it is not used. However, there are always exceptions to this rule, and sometimes, as in the case of JR Hokkaido, people board and disembark in front of the train. When observed upon arrival at a station, priority is given to getting off the train, and when all the passengers get off first, those waiting on the platform will board the train. Anyway, in one-man operation sections, boarding is limited to one entrance, so there is usually a signboard on the station platform that says “One-man train boarding entrance for XX direction. The position of the boarding door changes depending on the direction of travel, so be careful when both upper and lower trains arrive and depart on the same platform. Another feature of trains is that they run with multiple cars connected to each other. The Utsunomiya Light Rail allows passengers to board and alight from any door of any car with an IC card, which is expected to speed up the boarding and alighting process. However, in one-man operation on local lines operated by JR companies, boarding and alighting is limited to the first car. In other words, the side door immediately behind the driver’s cab of the first car is for getting off and the side door at the rear is for boarding. In the second and later cars, the side doors do not open.
© Source travel watch