Take a look at the motorcycle emergency teams in the Tokyo metro

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Nearly eleven years ago, the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011 hit the northeastern coast of Honshu, the main island of Japan. The 9.1-magnitude earthquake triggered a tsunami, and the combined disasters ended the lives of more than 18,000 people. As of January 2022, it is still the strongest earthquake ever to hit Japan, as well as one of the largest in the world.

What does that terrible natural disaster have to do with motorcycles? It was the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011 that caused the Tokyo subway system to reconsider some of its safety mitigations in the future, one of which includes emergency response motorcycles.

Should something terrible happen in the future, the organization realized that many vehicles would not be able to traverse the many kilometers of underground tunnels that are part of the Tokyo metro system. Four-wheeled vehicles, in particular, simply won’t have an easy time getting around all those tight spaces. Add to the possibility of rubble and partial collapse, and the answer is clear: the Tokyo metro needs to build a motorcycle corps.

Thus, in 2013, Tokyo Metro created its first-ever motorcycle squad. As of December 2021, the small group consists of about 60 individuals willing and able to ride the tunnels on any one of the 14 official Tokyo Metro motorcycles designated for this purpose.

What bikes did the Tokyo Metro choose for its fleet? The Yamaha Serow 250 is named after a Japanese animal often described in English as a “goat antelope”. It is a graceful and intelligent creature native to Japan capable of traversing difficult areas with ease. Likewise, the Serow 250 is a 249cc single-cylinder trail bike, designed to not flash when you ask it to get into those hard-to-reach areas.

Before the global pandemic, commuters of the Tokyo Metro Motorcycle Corps trained with Japanese police commuters about once a month, to make sure they were in top shape whenever they needed it next. So far, the time hasn’t come – but when it does, Serow’s fleet is ready to deploy.

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