Vacation exodus peaks at Narita, roads and trains congested

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TOKYO, Aug. 8 Kyodo -
The annual rush of travelers leaving Narita airport for overseas destinations
during the Japanese ''Bon'' summer holidays peaked Saturday, while roads and
railway stations were crammed with people heading for their hometowns and other
domestic destinations.
About 47,300 travelers were expected to fly out of the airport, east of Tokyo,
on Saturday for overseas locations including South Korea and Guam, according to
Narita International Airport Corp. It projected that the return rush will peak
Aug. 15.
All reserved seats on shinkansen bullet trains from Tokyo to Osaka on the
Tokaido Line were fully booked, with the passenger occupancy rate on a train
that left Tokyo Station shortly after 7 a.m. reaching 120 percent, Central
Japan Railway Co. said.
Expressways were congested across the country with a 55-kilometer traffic jam
on a section of the Tomei Expressway in Shizuoka Prefecture, while vehicles
were backed up for 52 km on a section of the Tohoku Expressway in Tochigi
Prefecture, according to the Japan Road Traffic Information Center.
Traffic congestion could be more severe than last year as people make use of a
uniform highway toll of 1,000 yen for passenger cars and motorcycles equipped
with electronic toll collection devices traveling outside of the Tokyo and
Osaka metropolitan areas.
Domestic flights departing Tokyo on Saturday morning were booked close to
capacity and the domestic departure lobby at Kansai airport in Osaka Prefecture
was full of travelers, according to Japanese airlines.
==Kyodo
2009-08-08 23:52:11