Tokyo travel alert: City’s most important train line shutting down for construction this weekend soranews24.com

A long stretch of the Yamanote Line is taking a break while construction crews get ready for its newest station.
The Yamanote Line is so crucial to life and leisure in Tokyo that it’s never once been shut down for construction since the founding of East Japan Railway in 1987.
That streak is coming to an end, though, as the company has announced that roughly a third of the Yamanote Line will be out of service starting on the morning of Saturday, November 16.
The reason for the disruption is the ongoing preparation for Takanawa Gateway Station, scheduled to open in the spring of 2020 and the first new Yamanote Line Station since 1971.
After the last Yamanote Line train pulls into the depot on Friday night, construction crews will begin installing necessary track-switching equipment related to the new station, but will be unable to finish the project by the time of the first morning train.