Japan railway news – Page 9
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NewsShiki-Shima luxury cruise train launches
JAPAN: East Japan Railway welcomed the first passengers aboard the Train Suite Shiki-Shima (Island of Four Seasons) luxury cruise train for a tour of eastern and northern Japan starting on May 1. Passengers board the champagne-liveried 10-car train via the lounge car where the windows are designed to resemble trees ...
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NewsChampagne and nature inspire Tobu Railway’s Revaty EMUs
JAPAN: Tobu Express put eight Series 500 electric multiple-units into traffic on limited express services with its timetable change on April 21. The three-car EMUs are equipped with retractable end gangways and are designed for easy splitting and joining to enable multiple destinations to be served from Tokyo’s Asakusa station. ...
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NewsSeries 2020 trains ordered ahead of Tokyo Olympics
JAPAN: Tokyu Corp has ordered three 10-car electric multiple-units from J-TREC for use on Denentoshi Line suburban services in Tokyo from spring 2018. The 1 067 mm gauge units will be designated Series 2020, to mark the city’s hosting of the 2020 Olympic Games. The 1·5 kV DC units will ...
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NewsUNIFE seeks better access to Japanese market
INTERNATIONAL: European suppliers’ association UNIFE has called on the Japanese government to ensure ‘transparent and open’ procurement in the country’s railway sector, ‘particularly given the major contracts Japanese suppliers have been awarded in the European Union.’ The ongoing negotiations for an EU-Japan Free Trade Agreement were discussed during the sixth ...
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NewsStation work starts at Global Gateway Shinagawa
JAPAN: East Japan Railway and the Urban Renaissance Agency marked the start of construction of a new station on the Yamanote Line with a Shinto-style ceremony in Tokyo on February 10. The station will be located between the current Shinagawa and Tamachi stations and will serve the Yamanote Loop Line ...
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NewsSeibu Railway unveils Series 40000 EMUs with rotating seats
JAPAN: The first of eight Series 40000 EMUs being built for Seibu Railway’s 1 067 mm gauge Tokyo suburban routes was unveiled on February 13. The 10-car sets are scheduled to enter revenue service from March 25. An evolution of the railway’s earlier Series 30000 design, the aluminium-bodied trainsets are ...
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NewsShiki-Shima luxury cruise train on test
JAPAN: East Japan Railway is testing a luxury cruise train ahead of its planned launch on May 1. Known as the Train Suite Shiki-Shima (Island of Four Seasons), and bearing the designation Series E001, the 10-car set has an observation car at each end offering passengers unobstructed panoramic views. Three ...
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NewsHokuriku extension route agreed
JAPAN: Plans to extend the Hokuriku Shinkansen to Shin-Osaka via Obama and Kyoto were agreed by the coalition government on December 20. A 125 km section extending the line from its present terminus at Kanazawa to Tsuruga is currently under construction, with completion expected in 2022-23. The government’s decision will ...
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NewsHigh speed rail forum addresses challenges of a changing society
INTERNATIONAL: The ability of high speed railways to generate economic benefits and transform society was one of the themes underpinning the International High Speed Rail Association Forum, which brought together 286 participants from more than 20 countries in Kyoto on November 17. Describing high speed rail as 'a game changer', ...
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NewsGauge-changing train decision next year
JAPAN: JR Kyushu, which was successfully listed on the stock market on October 26, expects to decide whether or not to continue with plans for a gauge-changing Shinkansen train next year. The latest test train is undergoing endurance trials following modifications made after cracks were found in the axles two ...
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NewsHokkaido Shinkansen inaugurated
JAPAN: High speed services reached Japan’s third main island on March 26, with the inauguration of the first phase of the Hokkaido Shinkansen. Connecting Shin-Aomori in Honshu with Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto in the south of Hokkaido, the 149 km line uses mixed-gauge tracks in the 54 km Seikan Tunnel under the Tsugaru ...
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NewsNishi-Nippon orders EMUs
JAPAN: Kawasaki Heavy Industries is to supply 18 Series 9000 electric multiple-units to Nishi-Nippon Railroad Co for use on the 78 km Tenjin Omuta Line between Fukuoka and Omuta. To be manufactured at KHI’s Hyogo factory near Kobe, the EMUs are due to be delivered by March 2017 and ...
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NewsHakodate Liner is ready to roll
JAPAN: JR Hokkaido has unveiled the first of its Series 733-1000 EMUs for the Hakodate Liner shuttle service, which will be introduced on March 26 to coincide with the opening of the first phase of the Hokkaido Shinkansen. Four three-car sets are being built to operate the shuttle which will ...
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NewsAnime-themed Series 500 launched on Sanyo Shinkansen
JAPAN: West Japan Railway officially launched an anime-themed 500 Type EVA Shinkansen trainset into revenue service on November 7, marking the 40th anniversary of the opening of the Sanyo Shinkansen. One of the railway’s nine Series 500 trainsets has been wrapped in a stylised livery to commemorate the 20th anniversary ...
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NewsTilting E353 to serve Chuo Main Line
JAPAN: A pre-series Series E353 tilting EMU to operate Azusa limited express services on the eastern portion of the 1 067 mm gauge Chuo Main Line between Tokyo and Nagano has been unveiled by East Japan Railway. The Series E353 sets are being built by the railway’s rolling stock subsidiary ...
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NewsCameras to detect drunken behaviour
JAPAN: West Japan Railway has installed cameras that can automatically identify drunken behaviour and alert platform staff, in an attempt to reduce the number of accidents at stations. So far 46 cameras have been implemented on the Osaka Loop Line platforms of Koybashi station in Osaka. JR West is ...
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NewsWorld Speed Survey 2015: China remains the pacesetter
INTERNATIONAL: China remains the pacesetter in the world rail speed race, according to the latest World Speed Survey published in Railway Gazette International on July 1. Authored by Jeremy Hartill of the UK’s Railway Performance Society, the biennial survey compiles in tabular form the fastest timetabled start-to-stop journeys between different ...
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NewsJR West picks MerMec inspection technology
JAPAN: West Japan Railway Company has selected MerMec to supply machine-vision technology for its track inspection fleet, the railway’s General Manager Eiji Tsubone announced at a meeting of the EU-Japan Industrial Dialogue on Railways & Urban Transport Suppliers in Brussels on May 21. Following ‘a long tendering and evaluation period’, ...
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NewsFirst Shinkansen train through the Seikan Tunnel
JAPAN: The mayor of Aomori and other city officials participated in a ceremony at Shin-Aomori in the early hours of May 24 to mark the arrival of the first Series H5 trainset from Hokkaido through the Seikan Tunnel. Following the delivery of the first unit to JR Hokkaido in October ...
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NewsJR East calls international tenders for DEMU fleet
JAPAN: East Japan Railway announced on May 19 that it is calling international tenders for a fleet of diesel-electric multiple-units to operate services on non-electrified lines, with between 150 and 200 trainsets to be ordered in the coming years. Bids are due by July 24 for an initial build of ...