Last Train

Trains and subways are the most important transportation methods in Tokyo.
Majority of office workers take trains to commute, probably 30 to 40 minutes rides in average calculating from average commuting time of 1 hour.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, people went out to eat and drink after work, sometimes from a bar to another bar. It used to be an ordinary scene to see drunken passengers on late trains. We had to be care about the time schedule of last trains, otherwise we had to pay expensive taxi fares or find “capsule hotel”.

Last-train times are sometime around midnight to 1 AM from Tokyo, which are slightly different depending on their destinations.
Before Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games originally planned in 2020, they were discussing to extend the service hours till 2AM to 3AM, or even overnight services. The reason was said to improve convenience of foreign guests to Tokyo.

Yesterday, March 13, 2021, on the other hand, many of train companies revised time schedule to bring forward the last-train time by a half to one hour. The main, or probably the only, reason was the corona virus.
People do not hang out after work, restaurants and bars close very early every evening. Demands of late trains have been shrinking.

I personally do not take late trains packed with drunken passengers, but hope those ordinary days return soon.

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