In 1885 Shibuya Station was only on the Yamanote Line, and had an average of 34 users per day. At that time Shibuya was more of a rural area and survived through the Great Kanto Earthquake 1923 when the downtown area was destroyed. But later many people moved their businesses to Shibuya and more subway lines were added to the station. There was no central plan however, and more train lines were just added one at a time in a disorderly fashion as the area became more and more popular. As a result the Shibuya Station became a colossal labyrinth that had insufficient earthquake resistance and flooding issues. Finally in 2006 the government decided to rebuild the station to make it safer and less confusing and ever since then they have been remodeling it without closing down the entire station. In order to do this workers have to practice their techniques at a simulated location so that they can minimize construction time on the actual worksite. The Shibuya Station upgrade is supposed to finish in 2027.
