Japan railway news – Page 11
-
NewsSpeed increase on the Tokaido Shinkansen
JAPAN: Central Japan Railway increased the maximum speed of its premium services between Tokyo and Shin-Osaka from 270 to 285 km/h with effect from March 14, cutting journey times by 3 min for 29 of its 37 Nozomi trains each day. The fastest timing over the 515·4 km route ...
-
NewsHokuriku Shinkansen opens between Nagano and Kanazawa
JAPAN: The 228 km Hokuriku Shinkansen high speed line between Nagano, Toyama and Kanazawa opened on March 14. The opening has reduced the fastest journey between Tokyo and Kanazawa to 2 h 28 min, compared to the previous time of 4 h 20 min via the 1 067 mm gauge ...
-
NewsBattery-diesel hybrid multiple-unit on test
JAPAN: East Japan Railway has begun test running with the first of eight Series HB-E210 two-car battery-diesel multiple-units which are being supplied by J-TREC. The units are expected to offer a 60% reduction in NOX and particulate emissions compared to conventional DMUs. JR East ordered the hybrid DMUs in ...
-
News‘Connectivity and vision’ key to future of high speed
RAILWAY GAZETTE TV: More than 370 viewers in 20 countries registered to watch Railway Gazette’s interactive live debate on high speed rail on February 25. Sponsored by Bombardier Transportation, the latest in RG TV’s debate series assessed the future of high speed rail over the next five decades saw Chris ...
-
NewsHitachi agrees to buy Ansaldo STS and AnsaldoBreda
ITALY: On February 24 the Hitachi and Finmeccanica boards announced the signing of binding agreements for the Japanese group to buy Napoli-based rolling stock manufacturer AnsaldoBreda and Finmeccanica’s 40% stake in Genova-based signalling, train control and turnkey transport system supplier Ansaldo STS. Hitachi Rail said the acquisitions would represent a ...
-
NewsOsaka Loop trains
JAPAN: JR West announced on December 8 that it is to procure 21 eight-car electric multiple-units for the Osaka Loop Line. The Class 323 trains are to replace the older Class 103 and Class 201 EMUs. The Class 103 EMUs, delivered in 1964-84, are to be withdrawn completely from the ...
-
NewsWork starts on Chuo maglev
JAPAN: Central Japan Railway officially marked the start of work on the first phase of its Chuo Shinkansen superconducting maglev line between Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka with ceremonies at the Shinagawa and Nagoya station sites on December 17. According to JR Central, construction work on the 286 km between Tokyo ...
-
NewsHitachi bids to buy Finmeccanica rail businesses
ITALY: Defence and aviation group Finmeccanica announced on November 18 that Hitachi Ltd had submitted the previous day an offer to buy its AnsaldoBreda rolling stock business and its 40% stake in signalling supplier Ansaldo STS. A statement by the Italian group added that it intended to analyse Hitachi’s offer ...
-
NewsHokkaido Shinkansen tracklaying completed
JAPAN: JR Hokkaido held a ceremony at Kikonai station on November 1 to mark the completion of tracklaying for the Hokkaido Shinkansen, which will bring high speed train services onto the country’s northern island in 2016. JR Hokkaido President Osamu Shimada was joined by Hokkaido Governor Harumi Takahash to ...
-
NewsGauge-changing Free Gauge Train on test in Kyushu
JAPAN: JR Kyushu and the Japan Railway Construction Transport & Technology Agency officially launched test running with the gauge-changing Free Gauge Train prototype in a ceremony at Yatsushiro on October 19. Designated Series 9000 by JR Kyushu, the four-car trainset is being tested between Kagoshima-Chuo and Shin-Yatsushiro on the 1 ...
-
NewsFirst Series H5 Shinkansen trainset arrives in Hokkaido
JAPAN: The first Series H5 trainset for the Hokkaido Shinkansen was delivered to the island on October 13. A welcoming ceremony was held at Haldane Harbour before the vehicles were transferred by road to JR Hokkaido’s Nanae depot. Built by Kawasaki Heavy Industries in Kobe, the trainset had been ...
-
NewsJapanese railway test centre opens to support export drive
JAPAN: What Mitsubishi Heavy Industries describes as Japan's first comprehensive railway transport system verification facility was officially opened on October 2. The Mihara Test Centre is located at the Wadaoki plant of MHI’s Mihara Machinery Works in Hiroshima Prefecture. It is being made available for use by all private ...
-
NewsTokaido Shinkansen turns 50
JAPAN: Celebrations were held in Tokyo on October 1 to mark the 50th anniversary of the opening of the world’s first high speed line, between Tokyo and Shin-Osaka. The current operator of the Tokaido Shinkansen, JR Central, re-enacted the launch with a ribbon-cutting at 06.00 before dispatching the first ...
-
NewsShinkansen simulator on show
JAPAN: Opportunities to drive trains on the Shinkansen are rare, but visitors to InnoTrans are able to do just that on a driver training simulator on the JR East stand. Supplied by Ongakukan Co Ltd, the simulator offers a 4K technology screen with an accurate representation of driving an E5 ...
-
NewsEast Japan Railway targets Californian high speed contracts
USA: JR East is to lead a Japanese consortium in bidding for railway systems contracts for the Los Angeles – San Francisco high speed line now being developed by the California High Speed Rail Authority. JR East announced in Tokyo that it expects to work in partnership with six other ...
-
NewsNippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp to form rail subsidiary
JAPAN: Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp has announced plans to restructure three subsidiary companies with effect from April 1 2015. This would see the rail engineering activities of its NSST subsidiary merged with the railway maintenance equipment business of NSKI to form a new dedicated railway sector company, ...
-
NewsFootbath luxury in Yamagata Shinkansen trainset
JAPAN: East Japan Railway will put into service a luxury trainset on its Yamagata Shinkansen with effect from July 19, as part of an ongoing programme to refresh the line’s fleet of mini-shinkansen trainsets. Known as Toreiyu from a combination of Train + Soleil, the six-car trainset has been rebuilt ...
-
NewsSeries W7 Shinkansen ready to start testing
JAPAN: JR West is preparing to start testing the Series W7 trainsets it is acquiring for use on the Hokuriku Shinkansen which opens for revenue service in March 2015. Two trainsets are being commissioned at Hakusan depot, around 10 km west of Kanazawa, ready for the start of test running ...
-
NewsExtra station to serve Shinagawa redevelopment
JAPAN: East Japan Railway has announced plans to build a 50th station on its busy Yamonote Line circular suburban railway in southern Tokyo. As yet un-named, the station is intended to spur urban development on a 13 ha site currently occupied by stabling sidings for the 1 067 mm gauge ...
-
NewsOdakyu Electric Railway to test all-SiC power module
JAPAN: Odakyu Electric Railway has placed the first order for Mitsubishi Electric Corp’s all-silicon carbide traction inverter designed for 1 500V DC overhead supplies. The 3·3 kV, 1 500 A inverter will be installed in a Series 1000 four-car urban EMU in December. Along with four high-efficiency motors the new ...