With the timetable revision on March 18, a new “Umekita Area” will open at Osaka Station. An underground train platform connecting to the Osaka Higashi Line will be newly constructed, making it possible to go to Kansai International Airport via the Osaka Loop Line.
JR West held an information session for the press on the 16th. The “Umekita Area” incorporates a variety of the latest attempts, and is positioned as an “innovation testing ground” according to the company. In addition to the installation of facial recognition gates for the first time at a railway ticket gate for commercial use, there are many ambitious attempts such as guidance signage linked to a mobile application, making it very interesting.
Connected to the existing facilities at Osaka Station via the west exit underground passage
The Umekita area is still under construction, and as of March 18, only the entrance to enter the station has been installed.
Until 2025, when the station building will open and the surrounding area will be improved to some extent, the accessible area will gradually increase, and for the time being, access to the underground platform will be via the newly constructed Osaka Station West Exit. become.
The West Exit of Osaka Station is set up by extending the existing platform to the west, and by going further underground from the concourse on the first floor and going through a connecting passage, you can access platforms 21-24 that connect to the Osaka Higashi Line. form. The area around the waiting area has a design inspired by a bridge in Osaka city, and will color the new exit of the fifth generation Osaka station building.
Umekita concourse with full signage and information
Platforms 21-24, which connect to the Osaka Higashi Line, are located one floor down the concourse of the Umekita area.
Although it has a two-sided, four-track island platform structure, it is the only platform for limited express trains that run from the Osaka Higashi Line to Kansai Airport and the Wakayama area via the Osaka Loop Line, which JR West calls “outbound”. Platform doors are installed.
Signage is installed on the platform door, which usually displays various design patterns, and becomes an “information bulletin board” that displays related guidance when a train arrives.
Platforms 21-24 in the Umekita area connected to the Osaka Higashi Line
Platform 21 is a platform dedicated to limited express trains, called “downhill,” which runs from the Osaka East Line through the loop line to Kansai Airport, Wakayama, and Shirahama.Platform doors are installed only on this track, and information such as arriving train information is displayed on the signage.
Platform 22-24 has a structure without platform doors
The platforms installed in the Umekita area are sometimes connected to the Osaka East Line, and are given two station numbers, one for the Osaka East Line and the other for the Loop Line, while the red stripes, which are the line color of the Osaka Loop Line, are used.
In addition, the signage displayed on the stairs leading down to each track in the concourse changes with time, so you can grasp the latest train information and get more detailed guidance, so you can enjoy the features of the signage. It can be said that it was utilized.
The signage near the stairs to the platform changes with time depending on the arrival status of trains, etc.
The Umekita area is well-equipped with navigation, but what particularly caught my eye was the personal navigation using WESTER, JR West’s MaaS app.
Many of these app navigations have a pattern of moving along the guidance while the app is always displayed, but in the case of Umekita, a mark that identifies the individual is displayed on the signage installed at the station without looking at the smartphone screen. It is a very smart thing to move with the mark as a landmark.
If you enter your destination in the WESTER app in advance and check the app when you get off at the nearest station, a personal identification mark will be displayed, so you can move only by signage guidance without looking at your smartphone.
Even if there are multiple users, multiple marks will be displayed on the screen, so even if there are many people using it at the same time and it protrudes from the screen, you can check the marks by waiting for a while by scrolling processing etc. It is said that
There are also guides for the visually impaired. Recently, there have been an increasing number of cases where QR codes are printed on the tactile blocks, and in the case of guidance in the Umekita area as well, voice guidance using an app is used. By reading the voice, the distance and direction to move will be instructed.
Even if you accidentally move at a branch point, you can continue using the navigation itself because additional instructions including the return direction and distance will be displayed.
