A new station being built on Tokyo's Yamanote loop line was shown to the media Wednesday with around 70 percent of the construction work completed.
The station, which has yet to be named but will be located between the current Shinagawa and Tamachi stops, will be the 30th on the line and is tentatively scheduled to open in the spring of 2020, ahead of the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics.
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A giant white roof — inspired by origami, the tradition of paper folding, and built using a glass fiber fabric — and construction of the main framework are almost finished, and construction of the interior will begin shortly, according to East Japan Railway Co. (JR East) which operates the train line.
Designed by architect Kengo Kuma, whose works include the National Stadium for the 2020 Tokyo Games, the station is set to enter full operation in 2024.
Located close to Tokyo's Haneda airport, the new station will play a key role in the scheduled opening in 2027 of the new high-speed maglev train line linking Shinagawa and Nagoya.
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The station will have one floor underground and three floors above ground with ticket gates on the second floor. It will be connected by walkways to nearby office buildings, hotels and apartments.
Kuma told Kyodo News at the construction site Wednesday, "I expressed delicacy and tenderness unique to Japan. I want it to be a station that symbolizes a new era."
The station is located 900 meters north of Shinagawa Station, which is 2.2 kilometers away from Tamachi. Construction began in February 2017.
The name of the station will be released this winter after JR East solicited ideas from the public and received about 64,000 submissions in the application period through June.
