Train companies installing LED lights at Japanese stations

e14news — Thu, 07 Oct 2021 01:12:06 GMT

Current Revision posted to Documents by e14news on 10/7/2021 1:12:06 AM
Railway operators, including the East Japan Railway company, are fitting special blue LED lights into 29 stations on Tokyo's central train loop, the Yamanote line.

The organisation hopes that the lights will have a calming effect on the eight million passengers who use the service every day and thus reduce the number of suicides.

Osamu Okawa, a spokesman for Keihin Railway, said: "We know there is no scientific proof that blue lights will help deter suicides. But if blue has a soothing effect on the mind, we want to try it to save lives."

The lights are stronger than the bulbs usually used and around $165,000 (£99,000) has been spent by East Japan Railway to introduce the new devices.

In other LED news, John Ewoldt recently wrote for StarTribune.com that the energy saving capabilities of the bulbs outweigh any negative issues associated with them, such as the fact they can be quite expensive.