"Tokyu-Toyoko Shibuya Station's Last Day - 東急東横線渋谷駅の最終日"

The title focuses on the final operational day for Tokyu-Toyoko Shibuya Station (東急東横線渋谷駅) - Friday, March 15th, 2013, but the first nine videos were taken on Tuesday, March 12th, before the pandemonium of the final day.  I won't go into the history of the Toyoko Line here, just I'll say that I think a lot of people, myself included, liked the above-ground Toyoko Shibuya Station and are a little sad to see it go underground.  With the old station, you could go to the end of the platform and look around at the surrounding buildings in Shibuya, feel the wind, see the sky, look over and see people walking on the elevated walkways that lead (under the elevated expressway) to Shibuya Station.  Looking around, you knew - and felt like - you were a part of mega-city Tokyo.  All of that is missing in a subway tunnel.  Oh well.  The station was taken underground for good logistical reasons, so I can't complain, but I will miss the old station.

As mentioned above, the first batch of videos is from Tuesday, March 12th, and on that day, they had some of the crowd-control measures already implemented (unnecessarily I think, but better safe than sorry), so there were guards scattered about on the platforms to stop people from standing around being tourists and getting in the way of commuters, but it looked and felt pretty normal otherwise.  In front of the main ticket gates, there were some people standing around, taking pictures of the destination board, etc., but they were left alone.  Let's go to that block of videos first, and I'll comment again before the batch of final day videos further down the page.

Coming into Shibuya via Yamanote Line (Side Window Night View) 山手線 (130312)
http://youtu.be/TNKa2Vo0LBU

Shibuya - Yamanote to Toyoko Transfer (Old Toyoko Shibuya Station) 渋谷駅 (130312)
http://youtu.be/CYEBrfbs7XI

Surface Toyoko-Shibuya Station - Ticket Gates to 9000-Type Local Train (9000型) 130312
http://youtu.be/ij7l3ipcy8k

They are retiring this model of train on the Toyoko Line, presumably due to it not being compatible with the subway system that the Toyoko Line is tied in with now (as of Saturday, March 16th, 2013), so this (below) is one of the last rides taken on this model (on this line at least).  The sounds are almost more important than the visual element.

Toyoko 9000 Ride - Shibuya to Gakugei-Daigaku - 渋谷駅-学芸大学駅 (130312)
http://youtu.be/LbwEgR7D6SI

Gakugei-Daigaku Station Platform Extension 学芸大学駅のホーム延長 (130312)
http://youtu.be/CS2egKWaiqk

Nakameguro to Daikanyama (Toyoko Line) 中目黒駅-代官山駅 (東急東横線) 130312
http://youtu.be/u8nOe7WJAVU

I didn't know what sort of construction they were doing, but it was evident some large-scale construction work was going on.  I found out later from a TV news report that they had to lower the platform and tracks to enable the tracks to match up with the slope of the tracks going into and coming out of the new tunnel between Daikanyama and Shibuya.  They finished the switchover in about four hours - between the last train on Friday night and the first train on Saturday morning.  It's really quite impressive how they do construction projects like this without interrupting rail service at all.

Daikanyama to Shibuya Station (Toyoko Line) 代官山駅-元渋谷駅 (東横線) 130312g
http://youtu.be/gBiU8ePYcME

Toyoko-Shibuya Station Walkabout 東急東横線渋谷駅見回り (上と下) 130312
http://youtu.be/fkFERbuUIhQ

Lower Ticket Gates (March 12th, 2013)

Toyoko Shibuya Station (Above Ground Version) 地上の東急東横線渋谷駅 (130312g)
http://youtu.be/3RlB0RR9Shc

Late night (around 11:00 p.m.) scene in front of the main ticket gates.  This is a fairly good representation of how the station looked on a normal day, with the exception of people here and there stopping to take pictures of it before it becomes history (by going underground).  Friday was a completely different picture (see picture below)!

And - speaking of Friday (March 15th) - here we are (above photo)!  The following videos were taken on Friday over a couple of hours during the late part of the evening rush.  The sounds of the event are pretty amazing.  The railway sent in an army of employees to tell people (very loudly) not to stop, to keep moving, not to take flash pictures, not to block the passageway, not to stop, not to stop, not to stop, etc. etc. etc.  To get the effect of being there, you owe it to yourself to plug in a good pair of headphones and listen with the volume turned up high.  The wide-format videos are in stereo, and those probably bring home the effect best.  The monaural videos might actually sound better through speakers, come to think of it, but for the wide-format ones in stereo, try out the headphones - it's quite an experience in places.

Aoyama-Itchome to Shibuya (Ginza Line) 青山一丁目駅-渋谷駅 (銀座線) 130315g
http://youtu.be/PMRqwlbDOMk

Toyoko Shibuya Final Day - by Ticket Gates 東横線最終日改札前 (130315g)
http://youtu.be/sJ1vo5S6I94

Toyoko Shibuya Station Last Day (B) 東急東横線渋谷駅最終日 (130315)
http://youtu.be/lwBGT_99XDk

Toyoko Shibuya Station Last Day (C) 東急東横線渋谷駅最終日 (130315)
http://youtu.be/NZ6tXzxw4nQ

Platform Scene - Final Day Toyoko Shibuya ホームの様子 - 東横渋谷駅終日 (130315)
http://youtu.be/5QV4MCEL_rw

Platform Walk - Toyoko Shibuya Final ホーム散策散歩東横渋谷駅終日 (130315)
http://youtu.be/pdb88v6sY4E

Toyoko Shibuya Station Walkabout 東横線渋谷駅一階と二階 (130315)
http://youtu.be/xNeAFWBFQSg

Boarding Train at Tokyu Shibuya Station 東急渋谷駅で電車を乗る (130315)
http://youtu.be/frcyWAowDh0

Shibuya to Nakameguro - Toyoko Line 渋谷駅-中目黒駅 - 東横線 (130315)
http://youtu.be/SZg6zxsc89E

To get onto the platforms, naturally I had to pass through one of the ticket gates, and having done that, I needed to go somewhere, so I went to Nakameguro, got off there, walking around a little (see next video), and then came back to Shibuya.

Naka-Meguro Station Area Walkabout 中目黒駅あたりの夜散策散歩 (130315)
http://youtu.be/i0LcKQu1Pbo

Nakameguro to Shibuya - Toyoko Line 中目黒駅-渋谷駅 - 東横線 (130315)
http://youtu.be/ZJJWnqZ5PO8

Toyoko Shibuya Station Last Day (D) ITG 東急東横線渋谷駅最終日 (130315)
http://youtu.be/ujTazt3o1RQ

Toyoko Shibuya Station - Last Day (E) 東急東横線渋谷駅最終日 (130315-2131g)
http://youtu.be/ZIX8RUHlxbE

Toyoko Shibuya Station Last Day (F) 東急東横線渋谷駅最終日 (130315)
http://youtu.be/E8eH2RdMU3o

Last Day Toyoko Shibuya Station - Inside and Outside the Ticket Gates (130315)
http://youtu.be/e9ZSDUEJeO8

Tokyu-Toyoko Shibuya Station - Up Escalator to Ticket Gate Area (Last Day) 130315
http://youtu.be/g5WMU_wKIU4

Shibuya Station - Walking from One Entrance of Toyoko Line to the Other (130315)
http://youtu.be/xY3yXdta6ig

Shibuya Outside Walkway - People Watching Final Day Toyoko Trains (130315)
http://youtu.be/kpJDO1zLRcY

Shibuya Outside Elevated Walkway - Night-360 (130315)
http://youtu.be/SGBpUuV5EKE

Tokyu-Toyoko Shibuya Station - Final Day Walkabout Outside and Inside (130315)
http://youtu.be/ImsPK0SnGu0

I highly recommend seeing this last video, as I walked from the elevated walkway, down to street level opposite Shibuya Station, over to the new multifunction, multi-shape building, rode/walked up to the second floor, and then walked past the long line of people waiting (for hours) to ride The Last Train to leave Toyoko-Shibuya Station - the above-ground version that is.  Finally, I pass through the ongoing pandemonium in front of the ticket gates, and go over towards the Yamanote Line.  This video has a lot of information in it about that evening at Shibuya Station.

Copyright 2013 by Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/
http://youtube.com/lylehsaxon
http://lylehsaxon.blogspot.jp/