Free noodles offered to early birds in Tokyo bid to reduce overcrowding on trains

The operator of the Tokyo train line that topped last year's congestion rankings in Japan is asking commuters to sign up for an early bird campaign to reduce overcrowding, offering participants a bowl of "soba" noodles as a reward.Tokyo Metro Co., a subway network operator in the metropolitan area, said it would buy 3,000 passengers on its Tozai Line a 420-yen ($3.90) bowl of soba with a piece of "kakiage" tempura if the number of participants in the Jan. 21-Feb. 1 campaign reaches the goal.[Corbis/Getty]In order to get a soba voucher passengers need to take a Tozai Line train bound for the…READ FULL ARTICLE