You have also created an additional problem of having to intelligently decide how many people to let onto the platform. If few people get off of the train, you will have the same problem. If too many get off of the train, the train will be underutilized because passengers were held up at the waiting area.

Outside of alternative modes of transportation, the only solutions here are to increase train lengths (add more cars), add trains on the route, and/or increase travel speeds between stations to move more people more quickly. The problem with the correct solutions are that all of them add to the operating costs on an ongoing basis and the money allocated to the budget is set by central planners with no incentive to find more money (or really any way to get more money outside of begging for it).

A private enterprise, on the other hand, would see that profits increase when more people are served and served more efficiently and make the appropriate capital expenditures and budget increases. They would also cut back or eliminate inefficient routes for lack of profit; something that governments are notorious for not doing.

Sure, many people, but it’s a question of organization. And yes, in Taipei they are many people too (altough, I admit, less then in Beijing) and they simply wait for people to get off first.

Never understood why that simple rule doesn’t work in China…

What I do see in China, is that whenever a problem exists, the standard excuse is “there are too many people”. In the north this mentality is particularly pervasive, to the point nobody seems bothered to ever find solutions.

Line 13 – train length of six carriages, with a frequency of 3.5 minutes per train. Hong Kong MTR: Island line trains have length of eight carriages, with frequency of 2 minutes during morning rush hour. (Ever noticed how Beijing subway trains brake so damn slowly whilst the acceleration / deceleration rates in HK are much higher?)

Is it any surprise that Line 13 feels congested? Is it any surprise that many people refuse to take the subway in Beijing, whereas in Hong Kong many eligible car owners don’t want one?

Yes, China has too many people, but when the government finally pull their head out of their asses and try to find solutions to these problems… they might just find that there are less people than they think!

As it comes to train crowds, I have had many similar experiences in Japan, though even at Shinjuku the train pulls up on a platform with clearly marked (on the ground) avenues for entry and exit, and the protocol – exit, then entry – is pretty strictly observed. Still, when the train packs, it packs.

I think the difference we see here is between low- and high-trust societies. In Japan there’s a highly-developed sense of community. In China, by comparison, it’s every man for himself.

Hence the results.

My $0.02, for what it’s worth.

This is what happens when everyone works the same hours and therefore commutes at the same time, in a city where rents have gone up so much that most people can only afford to live outside the 5th Ring Road.

Great photo!