New stadium lights up

At the risk of making this the "Get New Hiroshima Baseball Stadium Blog" here are a couple of news clips from here on the progress and preparations for the opening of the new baseball stadium. The content is kind of dry, full of the kind of uninspiring detail that only Japanese news seems to be able to provide, but there are some shots of the stadium all lit up.

Translation

This evening the nights sky is lit up by Hiroshima's new pro baseball stadium. With completion and handing over to the city government just a month away, the stadium's 6 floodlights are being tested.

This is live from the stadium. The lights were switched on at sundown at
around around 5:30pm on February 5, illuminating the green baseball field.
Testing began on February 4 and brightness will be checked in a total of
135 places. Work, which includes adjusting the angle of the floodlights,
each of which contain 108 bulbs, and checking the illumination needed for
post game maintenance of the field, will continue until 8pm tonight.

The current municipal Shimin Kyujyo uses 2 kinds of light; yellow and
orange. The new stadium will be bathed in only white light, which is most suitable for high-definition TV broadcasts.

According to Hiroshima city government, the stadium is 90% complete, and
builders are is now at the stage of making checks on air conditioning and
sound systems. Construction is to be completed on schedule by March 16.

The second clip discusses how the local train stations are planning to cope with the increased traffic; basically 3 new ticket machines and some signs.



Translation

JR is to increase the number of automatic ticket reading machines on the
the south side of Hiroshima Station from 2 to 5 to deal with the expected
increase in traffic through once the new baseball stadium opens.
Underground exits which are currently open until 9:30pm will be open until
an extra hour for night games.

The platform at Tenjingawa Station is to be lengthened to accommodate an
extra machine.

JR West divisional manager Shibata says, "We'd like people from around the
local area to be able to enjoy baseball as well as Carp fans".

Also, to help fans get home after night games, 12 special trains departing
Hiroshima Station, named aka-heru "red helmet" will be laid on
during spring. Summer schedules will be considered after seeing how the
first few months go.

This Chugoku Shinbun article adds the following information.

It is estimated that pro baseball games will pull up to 10,000 extra passengers through Hiroshima and Tenjingawa Stations. There will be signs showing the way along the 800m route from Hiroshima Station's South Exit to the new stadium in 14 places). For safety, new 1.5-2.5m high fencing will be put up where the route runs alongside the train tracks.

The "Red Helmet" trains will run between 9 and 10pm after the 15 night games between the first home game on April 10 to June 26.