JR East Chuo Line will close early (around 11:30PM) on the night of
October 8th '06 (Sunday) between Nishi-Kokubunji and Tachikawa.  Service
will resume about at around 7:30 on the next morning, October 9th
(Monday, holiday).

Late night trips in this direction best avoided.  For those who have to,
JR suggests using the Nambu Line and Musashino Line as a detour.

More details in Japanese:
http://www.jreast.co.jp/suspend/chuoexp.html

JR East Info centers and English, Korean and Chinese phone line:
http://www.jreast.co.jp/e/info/index.html
(Foreign language guidance)

JR Kunitachi Station, the second oldest wooden station structure in the
Tokyo area will be torn down.  Local activists are working for its
preservation but they are against an uphill struggle.


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The Railway Technical Research Institute will be open to the public on
October 14th (Sat.) from 10 AM.  It is located north of JR Chuo Line
Kunitachi Station in Kokubunji City.  For map visit
http://www.rtri.or.jp/ (English text).

There will be exhibitions showing the progress of railway technology,
including magnetic-levitated (maglev) transport systems and the
superconducting material which makes this possible.