Japan - New station on Yamanote line

...the first since 1971! (http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T120104005744.htm)The new station, which will be the centerpiece of efforts to make the area more convenient, will be built near the Konan and Shibaura districts about one kilometer north of Shinagawa Station. The distance between Shinagawa and Tamachi stations is 2.2 kilometers, the longest on the Yamanote Line.

Trains on the Keihin-Tohoku Line, a section of which runs alongside the Yamanote Line, also will stop at the new station.

Bullet trains of the Tokaido Shinkansen line stop at Shinagawa Station, which is a 15-minute ride from Haneda Airport via the Keikyu Line.

Shinagawa Station will be the Tokyo terminal for the maglev Chuo Shinkansen line that Central Japan Railway Co. (JR Tokai) plans to start operating in 2027. This line will link Tokyo and Nagoya in just 40 minutes.

The new station will be the closest to Shinagawa Station, which will be just a two-minute train ride away. As a personal note, this is good news for sabbath-observant/kosher-keeping travelers to Japan, as this new station will be a few minute walk to Chabad (http://www.chabad.jp/)and its forthcoming kosher restaurant and ritual bath.

This is not set in stone.

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/otona/railwaynews/04/tokyo/20120107-OYT8T00249.htm?from=osusume

ただ、再開発の費用負担はＪＲ東と都、港区などの間で決まっていないことから、石原知事は「誰が作るか、ど うやって金を出すかということはこれからの問題だと思う」と慎重な言い回しもした

Translation: However, it has not yet been decided how to split the financial burden for the renovation between JR East, Mianto-ku, Tokyo Prefecture, and other concerned parties, leading governor Ishihara to caution, "I think the problem going forward will be determining who will build it, and how the money will be found for it."

If it does get built, I'll be very surprised if it happens within this decade.

This should make for an interesting discussion with the father-in-law who is a Minato-Ku resident.
I can kind of see the appeal of the project but it's hard to imagine how it will be the one shot of adrenalin this tired old area actually needs. Sengakuji station already serves this neighbourhood and is just a stone's throw from the projected new Yamanote station so it's hardly ignored by public transport services.

In London there's a history of centralish but slightly tricky to get to neighbourhoods thriving because the rents are lower than other parts of town and artists and other creatives move in and give the area a buzz and vibe. By the time the areas are hooked up to the main transport grid (if at all) the new stations seem inevitable. Of course, by this time, the rents go up and the artists and creatives get kicked out and have to move on - like seeker bee drones preparing new sites for the middle class hive dwellers.

I can't really see any signs of any of this around Sengakuji.

If they're going to develop a whole new commercial zone targeting international companies, with lots of new office buildings etc., I think perhaps little Sengakuji station wouldn't really be enough to handle all the new traffic.

This should make for an interesting discussion with the father-in-law who is a Minato-Ku resident.
I can kind of see the appeal of the project but it's hard to imagine how it will be the one shot of adrenalin this tired old area actually needs. Sengakuji station already serves this neighbourhood and is just a stone's throw from the projected new Yamanote station so it's hardly ignored by public transport services.

If they're going to develop a whole new commercial zone targeting international companies, with lots of new office buildings etc., I think perhaps little Sengakuji station wouldn't really be enough to handle all the new traffic.
That's a mighty big "if".
This is the part of the project I have most problems envisioning.

Parts of Shinjuku are as far away from the main JR station as this area is from Shinagawa yet it muddles along fine. And the proposed redevelopment area means that many of those inside it will still find Shinagawa to be the closest station.
Seems more reasonable to me to put the onus on the developers. An underground moving walkway like that linking parts of Ebisu to the station should do it. Or, since the whole scheme is so optimistic anyway - a stream of futuristic Bond villain shuttle pods would create a draw for the International Companies the project is dependent on.

Really, wouldn't the money be better spent on other pressing social issues.....

An underground moving walkway like that linking parts of Ebisu to the station should do it.

I like the way you're thinking. However, I think a cycleshaw service staffed by laid off bureaucrats would be better. Eliminate waste and waists with one measure. Isseki ni cho　(一関二腸), so to speak.

I like the way you're thinking. However, I think a cycleshaw service staffed by laid off bureaucrats would be better. Eliminate waste and waists with one measure. Isseki ni cho　(一関二腸), so to speak.
That's the spirit!
And that low low level of unemployment Fingleton celebrates can be maintained. 一関三腸!

Really, wouldn't the money be better spent on other pressing social issues.....

What money?

Annual tax revenue accounts for less than half of Japan's expenses. They have to borrow more money than they take in to pay for what they do already. Let that sink in for a moment.

What money?

Annual tax revenue accounts for less than half of Japan's expenses. They have to borrow more money than they take in to pay for what they do already. Let that sink in for a moment.

I am sorry, but I have had 20 years to let it sink in....spending the money (borrowed from whom ever)on a needless train station in Tokyo is not what the country needs.

I am sorry, but I have had 20 years to let it sink in....spending the money (borrowed from whom ever)on a needless train station in Tokyo is not what the country needs.
It might have been worse. Tokyo could have won its Olympic bid.
Except... instead of being relieved at having dodged a toxic bullet they're putting themselves in the firing line again :(
http://www.japantoday.com/category/sports/view/poll-shows-65-7-support-tokyos-2020-olympic-bid

Should Tokyo win the 2020 games I suspect this Shinagawa project will grind into gear and become a top priority whilst towns and villages up North (and down South/West) decay and blow into oblivion.

It might have been worse. Tokyo could have won its Olympic bid.
Except... instead of being relieved at having dodged a toxic bullet they're putting themselves in the firing line again :(
http://www.japantoday.com/category/sports/view/poll-shows-65-7-support-tokyos-2020-olympic-bid

Should Tokyo win the 2020 games I suspect this Shinagawa project will grind into gear and become a top priority whilst towns and villages up North (and down South/West) decay and blow into oblivion. Anything for the cabal in charge to deflect from the real problems of the country. The Olympic win would just go to further fill the pockets of the well connected few whose pockets are already overflowing....

I thought needless public works projects is what makes Japan Japan?