Japan is known for their jingles, or Eki Melo, played at station platforms to give commuters a heads up when the train doors are about to close. However, they are not the only country to embrace jingles on their transit system. Countries like Korea, Taiwan, France, and Switzerland also use jingles on their transit system. 

In Seoul, Korea, its metro system uses a couple different jingles before notifying commuters that the train is arriving. Have a listen:

In France, TGV stations use a 4-note jingle, by composer Michaël Boumendil, prior to an announcement saying a train is arriving. 

In Switzerland, the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB CFF FFS) use three different 3-tone jingles which is recorded on the vibraphone. Each of them is played off of the company’s acronym. SBB (German) is written as notes ‘Es-B-B’, CFF (French) is written as notes ‘C-F-F’, and FFS (Italian) is written as notes ‘F-F-Es’. In the musical alphabet, there is no note ‘S’, therefore note E is used for ‘Es’ instead. The smaller stations, depending where it’s located, plays a short 3-tone jingle while the larger stations play all three jingles.

In Taiwan, the Taipei Metro uses different jingles as arrival ringtones on their lines, a different jingle for each line.

Tamsui-Xinyi Line

Songshan-Xindian Line

Zhonghe-Xinlu Line

Bannan Line

All lines, including the Wenhu Line, uses the following transfer and terminal jingles:

Transfer Jingle

Terminal Jingle

Taoyuan Metro’s Airport MRT also have special jingles that play during Lunar New Year and Christmas.

Jingles, whether they’re long or short, are used in different parts of the globe as a light way of letting commuters know when the train is either arriving or the train doors are going to close for departure, but Japan’s use of these Eki Melos showcase its uniqueness of the culture on transport across the country.  

If you have been to Japan and want to bring back memories of your trip, get one our EkiChains that play the Eki Melo of Tokyo Station.