Ken Yasumoto-Nicolson <ken_nicolson@hotmail.com> wrote:

> >It's interesting how Japanese news outlets emphasize that the crash was
> >after peak commutation hours and was (relatively) empty, but English
> >language outlets say things like "A packed commuter train jumped the
> >tracks..." (ABC) and " A crowded Japanese commuter train" (Reuters).
> >
> >It's all relative, I suppose.
> 
> Doing a bit of maths, they say 580 were aboard the 7 carriages, so
> about 83 per carriage. The seating configuration is 4-7-7-4 (if
> everyone squeezes up) by two, giving 44 sitting. Double up by counting
> the standing room, so you're at 88 or so, which is in my estimation
> "busy but reasonable". Go back two hours earlier when I usually ride,
> and you can add about 12 or 16 per each of the three doors and a few
> more doubling up on the straps in front of the seat, and you're at
> over 50% as many again.

Somewhere I know I've read about JR's official guidelines of loading....
The definition of 100% capacity is something like: one bum on each seat
and one standing bod for each strap. At about 300% capacity, there might
be some concern about the integrity of the doors.

________________________________________________________________________
                   Louise Bremner (log at gol dot com)
   If you want a reply by e-mail, don't write to my Yahoo address!