Suppose I need to board a northbound train with my 26 inch bag at about 4pm on a weekday.

Which option is likely to be the least crowded at 4pm?

1. Board the Joban line at Shinagawa Station

2. Board the Yamanote line at Hamamatsucho Station.

3. Board the Keihin-Tōhoku line at Hamamatsucho Station.

4pm is still before rush hour so any option should be feasible. There is (I think) a Joban line / Ueno-Tokyo through service which actually starts from Shinagawa heading north at 16:17 so should be easy to find space.

If that doesn't suit you would probably be able to find decent space on a Yamanote or Keihin-Touhoku train on either the first or last carriages, that seemed to work well for me a few times last week.

Depending on where you're going the train with the least stops is the usually the best bet. That being said, if you can get close to your final destination then I would take the local (Yamanote) from the last station on the faster train that has an across same platform transfer to the slower train. Most of the Yamanote and Kehin-Tohoku trains are set up with the trains going in the same direction on the same platform at the stations where they interchange.

Hi,

I found sometimes at 4pm ,some carriages were quite busy ( often a lot of schoolchildren ) but not as bad as later on

Regards

TBS

When we lived in Shinagawa we always found the Keihin Tohoko line to be less crowded than the Yamanote Line (I worked in Omori) -- at 4pm it's probablly a wash -- just choose the most convenient station as I would prioritize walking / accessibility / convenience with a bag versus total stops / crowdedness at that time -- After 5pm -- that would be different....

- What is the �Ueno-Tokyo Line� at Shinagawa?
- It sounds like you�re comparing options for transport starting at Haneda airport. Is that right? Or is there another reason that you�re comparing Hamamatsucho and Shinagawa, which are not in the same neighborhood?
- What destination in the �north� you trying to reach? Are you planning to take the Shinkansen from either Tokyo or Ueno stations? Or is there a hotel that you�re headed to?

You're correct, google has the line mislabeled. It is actually the Joban line. I like this option best as it originates at Shinagawa and I have the best chance of me finding space for my 26 inch bag that I must use this trip back to Ueno.

I'm not sure - It might be signposted as the Ueno-Tokyo line at Shinagawa.
It's still not clear to me what your point of origin and destination are. If you shared that you might get some helpful advice.

I will take a stab at this.

This is my 100% guess and 100% speculation of what the OP is trying to do.

Joban Line local service comes from Mito-Tsuchiura-Toride-Nippori-Ueno-Tokyo-Shinagawa, all Joban Line service terminates at Shinagawa and all Joban Line service originate at Shinagawa.

I am suspecting OP is trying to do is that getting on Joban Line service from Shinagawa, trains are not packed and he can grab seats from Shinagawa. If heading to Ueno from Shinagawa using Yamanote Line, Keihin Tohoku Line, or Ueno-Tokyo Line trains has originated elsewhere where trains will be packed at Shinagawa. My guess is that the OP is trying to get trains with space and available seats. All Keikyu Line trains serving HND terminate and originate at Haneda Airport station, so from HND OP can get seats on Keikyu Line from HND. Transferring to Joban Line at Shinagawa, OP will get seats on the train.

Unless OP is heading to Kashiwa, Toride, Tsuchiura, Mito direction on Joban LIne then I am wrong here.

This is the best guess I can make about what OP is trying to do.

100% correct! I don't care about seats but I have to bring that 26 inch bag aboard, too!