The 22mm Innovation: Creating "Urban Room" — How Ultra-Thin Lighting Balances Compactness and Comfort

The next time you step inside an AGT

vehicle, take a moment to look up at

the ceiling. You will see a smooth,

seamless surface emitting a gentle,

glare-free light that fills the cabin.

This overwhelming sense of openness

is supported by the "ultra-thin LED

lighting" featured in this post, which

measures only 22mm (approx. 0.87

inches) in thickness.

AGT tunnels are designed to be

extremely compact, with a height of

only 3.5 meters from the track surface.

Since the vehicle floor sits about 1.1

meters above the track, the overall

height from floor to roof must be kept

under 2.2 meters. Within this

constrained space, securing even a

single millimeter of "head clearance"

for passengers was a critical

challenge. To solve this, lighting and

vehicle manufacturers collaborated to

implement the "edge-light method"

—placing LED sources at the edges

and using reflectors and diffusion films

to distribute the light. This achieved a

breakthrough that combines a

minimalist 22mm profile with a uniform,

dot-free glow.

Why such an obsession with thinness?

When we look at the city as a whole,

the social value of this 22mm

becomes clear. The ability to design

smaller tunnels directly leads to

reduced construction costs and

shorter project timelines in dense

urban areas. In other words, these

ultra-thin units are the "last piece of

the puzzle" that connects the social

rationality of slim infrastructure with the

human comfort of a spacious interior,

fitting perfectly into a ceiling cavity of j

ust 25mm.

First introduced on the Yurikamome

7300 series, this technology has

since expanded to AGT systems

across Japan, including the New

Shuttle, Nippori-Toneri Liner, and

Astram Line. It represents a philosophy

of reclaiming limited space not for

machinery, but for the people who use

it. This 22mm innovation continues to

make the city's "sky" just a little

wider and brighter today.

I hope you look forward to the next

AGT Blog!