Latest news with #EastJapanRailwayCo
Asahi Shimbun
02-06-2025
- Asahi Shimbun
Same circuit board used in two bullet train decouplings
The decoupled Hayabusa and Komachi bullet trains in Tokyo's Arakawa Ward on March 6 (Yasumasa Kikuchi) East Japan Railway Co. (JR East) has revealed that two recent decouplings of Tohoku Shinkansen mid-journey involved different Komachi trains that used the same electrical circuit board, which may have triggered the malfunctions. Following the first decoupling in September, JR East determined that a small metal fragment left over from the manufacturing process may have caused a false unlocking signal by entering the coupler's control switch. In response, company engineers inspected all 96 train units capable of coupled operations and cleared any metal fragments. They also removed parts behind the control switch for modifications to prevent a recurrence. One of these modified parts--a circuit board from the first train malfunction--was later installed in the train that experienced the second decoupling in March. The circuit board in question has been removed and is now undergoing a thorough investigation to determine whether it was responsible for both decoupling mishaps. In the second incident, officials confirmed that the lever designed to unlock the coupler repeatedly failed. However, the exact cause for the malfunction remains unknown. The recent discovery involving the circuit board has prompted JR East to re-examine whether the first incident was actually triggered by a loose metal fragment. In addition to its own investigation, the company is cooperating with a probe by the Japan Transport Safety Board, which has classified the incidents as serious. Along with safety concerns, the malfunctions inconvenienced hundreds of thousands of passengers as hundreds of trains were canceled. Shortly after the suspension of operations that followed the second incident, JR East resumed coupled train operations using temporary preventive measures. It installed additional metal components designed to physically prevent the coupler from disengaging trains, even in the event of an electrical signal malfunction. JR East President Yoichi Kise has announced plans to introduce a permanent double-locking mechanism in the safety system to prevent mid-operation decoupling.
Asahi Shimbun
23-05-2025
- Asahi Shimbun
Okutama retreat blends luxury and community revival hopes
A new boutique hotel that blends rustic charm with modern comfort is set to open on May 25 in Okutama, a mountainous town on the western edge of Tokyo. Satologue is a renovated old farmhouse nestled beside the scenic Tamagawa river that aims to reinvigorate the local community by offering travelers an immersive escape into nature and rural culture. Getting to the hotel from central Tokyo takes less than two hours. Its accommodation wing, completed after the successful launch of its restaurant and sauna last year, features just four twin rooms, each around 35 square meters. Rooms were designed to feature minimalistic white walls and vaulted, cocoon-like ceilings, with each space accented by the calming scent of Japanese cypress. Guests can take in sweeping views of the river gorge from the comfort of their rooms, bathtubs or dining tables without stepping out onto the terrace. Seasonal cuisine is also emphasized by highlighting regional delicacies such as farmed "yamame" trout, heirloom vegetables like Jisuke potatoes and "udo" (Japanese spikenard), and premium Japanese beef. The hotel also offers hands-on experiences, from wasabi harvesting and tasting tours to gardening in fields on the property and exploring a biotope inhabited by native amphibians such as the Japanese fire belly newt. COMMUNITY IN MIND The hotel's operator, Ensen Marugoto, is partly funded by East Japan Railway Co. (JR East). The operator's vision is to integrate the hotel into the community, creating an experience where the entire town feels like part of the stay. 'We recommend you to step outside the hotel and discover what the entire region has to offer,' said Takumi Akiyama, general manager of Satologue. 'Even enjoying a dish with local vegetables supports the community and puts a smile on a farmer's face.' Satologue is located a 20-minute walk from Hatonosu Station on JR Ome Line. The scenic route to the hotel showcases mountain views and clusters of traditional homes, reflecting the project's concept of integrating the community into the guest experience. One night for two guests is 110,000 yen ($760), including meals and sauna access. Despite the premium price tag, the hotel is already fully booked for May, with demand especially high among Tokyo's 40-something professionals seeking a quick and cozy getaway close to home. 'Okutama offers the rare luxury of quiet, unspoiled nature within easy reach of the city,' said an Ensen Marugoto spokesperson. 'You don't need to hop on an express train and travel far. The value lies in that contrast.' MORE HOTELS TO COME With rural depopulation threatening many such communities, local leaders view Satologue as a model for regional revival. 'It would be great if more local residents could get involved in this kind of project,' said Okutama Mayor Nobumasa Morooka. Encouraged by the strong start, Ensen Marugoto plans to open five to eight similar converted farmhouse hotels along the Ome Line within the next five years. Their broader vision includes expanding to 30 locations along rural rail lines nationwide. 'Our goal is to help tourists feel connected to the local life and history of these places,' said company President Shunpei Shimada. 'We hope they feel as if they've found a second hometown.'
The Mainichi
18-05-2025
- Science
- The Mainichi
Japan rail companies look to superconductor tech for labor, power efficiency
TOKYO -- Superconductivity, or power transmission with zero electrical resistance, may bring the Chuo Shinkansen maglev rail project under construction in Japan to mind. While it creates strong magnetic forces to propel maglev trains, superconductivity can also be used for power transmission, and its greater efficiency is hoped to help cut electricity waste. The test to power trains in operation on East Japan Railway Co. (JR East)'s Chuo Line started this spring, with other rail companies keeping watch on the potential for it to be used to save power. Solving transmission loss, voltage drops The power transmission system is the lifeline for trains in Japan. In urban areas, many trains run on direct current (DC), with electricity flowing in one direction and relatively easy to manage. Such DC-electrified sections cover some 12,000 kilometers across the country -- about the same as Earth's diameter. However, these traditional power lines have electrical resistance, resulting in inefficiency known as "transmission loss," which gradually reduces voltage along the line. Since this will disrupt train operations if not compensated for, substations are installed every 2 to 5 km in densely trafficked urban networks. In recent years, staff shortages have made maintaining these aging substations increasingly difficult. Addressing power line efficiency has become a critical challenge for railway operators working toward energy conservation and stable service. Under these circumstances, all eyes are on superconducting cable technology developed by the Railway Technical Research Institute, headquartered in Kokubunji, Tokyo. Superconductivity is a phenomenon in which metal and other materials, when cooled to extremely low temperatures, lose their electrical resistance. With zero-resistance power, it is possible to eliminate transmission losses and voltage drops while reducing the number of substations. Cooling inside the cables using liquid nitrogen The cable design is based on superconductivity research published in the journal Nature in 2003 by Masaru Tomita, director of the institute's Maglev Systems Technology Division. The cables use a tube-shaped superconductor containing metals such as yttrium cooled by liquid nitrogen to minus 196 degrees Celsius, and are put on existing power lines. A project for practical use of the superconductor cable gained momentum in 2007. After verifying reliability and safety, the world's first live trial of the technology began in March 2024, transmitting power to commercially operated trains on a 102-meter stretch of Izuhakone Railway Co.'s Sunzu Line in Shizuoka Prefecture. Sixty-six representatives from railway companies across Japan visited the site in the last fiscal year to see the progress firsthand. Since March this year, JR East began using the superconductor cable to supply power to trains over a 408-m section between Hino and Toyoda stations on the Chuo Line in Tokyo. The railway company hopes for future expansion if research confirms significant energy and investment savings. More than a dozen railway operators, including Tokyo Metro Co., are reportedly following the developments with interest. Yet, maintaining a superconductive state requires continuous cooling of the cables' liquid nitrogen, so dedicated power is essential. Hurdles such as reducing material costs and establishing maintenance protocols remain before the technology can be put into widespread practice. According to Tomita, once the installed cable stretches for at least a kilometer, the energy savings surpasses the electricity needed for cooling, making the system energy efficient. He also noted that installation costs are projected to be less than half those for a substation, which typically costs around 1 billion yen (about $6.85 million). Tokyo Metro said, "Consolidating substations in central Tokyo would lead to effective uses of the former sites and improve on the shortage of labor for maintenance and management. On the other hand, there are issues unique to subways other than cost, such as securing locations and the difficulty of conducting maintenance inspections." Tomita noted, "I want to cooperate in the gradual expansion of sections while thoroughly ensuring quality control, and contribute to offing two birds with one stone by solving labor shortages and tackling energy conservation."
Asahi Shimbun
26-04-2025
- Business
- Asahi Shimbun
Avoid the usual Golden Week traffic hassles by taking the ferry
Golden Week kicked off April 26 and millions of Japanese were on the move even though only a two-day weekend was in the immediate offing. Still, Shinkansen bullet trains were expected to run at full capacity toward the end of the holiday season because of four consecutive days off from May 3. As of April 9, the percentage of reserved seats ranged from between 93 percent and overbooking at 109 percent compared to the same time last year. 'We thought there would be a drop in reservations, seeing as there are fewer consecutive holidays this year,' said an official with East Japan Railway Co. 'One would have thought that people would not want to travel great distances in such circumstances, so we were surprised that reservations reached the levels of normal years.' The Nozomi runs of the Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen lines linking Tokyo to as far west as Hakata in Kyushu will operate only with reserved seat bookings between April 25 and May 6. Reservations on international flights over Golden Week were higher than last year. Domestically, about 2.29 million airline seats were reserved for group companies of Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways. For international flights, there were about 550,000 reservations, about a 10 percent increase over last year. Traffic snarls on expressways will be unavoidable during the latter half of Golden Week if past holiday periods are anything to go by. East Nippon Expressway Co. and NTT Docomo Inc. are collaborating on a project to use artificial intelligence to improve traffic forecasts to help drivers avoid holdups on major expressways. The forecasts for 2 p.m. and beyond on any given day will be based on traffic flow as of noon. Kentaro Wada, an associate professor of traffic engineering at the University of Tsukuba, noted that logjams stretching dozens of kilometers can take several hours to dissipate if the traffic on an expressway exceeds capacity by 20 to 30 percent over a two-hour period. Reducing the number of vehicles on certain stretches is the only way to alleviate congestion during peak periods, Wada said. Travel journalist Kazuko Murata said she is seeing signs that more people want to stay at home this year due to concerns about rising consumer prices. She also offered some tips: For those traveling domestically, it would be better to avoid the major tourist destinations often besieged by foreign travelers, such as Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka and Mount Fuji. Murata said ferries remain a hidden gem of domestic travel, especially overnight trips in which the destination is reached the next morning. These long ferry trips offer the twin benefits of saving on a night's accommodation and allowing the passenger to begin sightseeing as soon as they arrive. While many people may still hold the image of ferries as having large tatami mat rooms where everyone lies around together, she noted there is now greater privacy with the use of curtains. Some ferries also provide private rooms and beds at an additional cost. (This article was written by Ryuta Sometaya, Jin Hirakawa, Wataru Netsu and Yoichiro Kodera.)
The Mainichi
25-04-2025
- General
- The Mainichi
Editorial: 20 yrs after west Japan derailment disaster, safety efforts remain paramount
April 25 marks 20 years since a morning rush hour train derailed on the JR Fukuchiyama Line in western Japan, killing 106 passengers and the driver and injuring 562 others. The accident was attributed to the driver's delay in applying the brakes, causing the train to hurtle around a steep curve far over the speed limit. Forming the backdrop to the deadly derailment was a reeducation program punishing train crew who made errors on duty. Dubbed "day-shift education," employees subject to the program were tasked with writing letters of remorse and continuing other work while being rebuked by superiors. The driver of the derailed train had been through this program three times in the past. As his train had overrun a station shortly before the derailment in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture, it is likely he was worried about facing the program again and lacked concentration. In the wake of the disaster, West Japan Railway Co. (JR West) scrapped the controversial program. The railway operator also stopped imposing disciplinary measures on crew members for their errors, including when those errors led to accidents. We urge the railway company to revisit the lessons learned from the 2005 accident while striving to keep the memory of the disaster alive. To prevent serious accidents, it is essential to maintain an environment where mistakes are not covered up. Sharing and analyzing on-site information will help reduce risks. As a result of prioritizing greater speed, investment in safety had been delayed and there was no automatic train stop system (ATS) at the derailment site. Measures need to be adopted on the assumption that anyone can make mistakes. The bereaved families of the victims of the derailment played a significant role in propelling JR West's endeavors to prevent a recurrence. They took part in the review of the accident and were given an opportunity to discuss countermeasures. These unprecedented attempts became a driving force helping officials to dig deep into the railway operator's organizational problems. Efforts to pass down the memory of the disaster are also important. More than 70% of JR West members employed today joined the firm after the accident. The company plans to establish a facility to preserve the derailed train at the end of the year. It is hoped that the facility will be utilized to raise safety awareness among employees. However, other trouble that could have led to major accidents has occurred in recent years. In 2017, a crack emerged in the undercarriage of a Nozomi superexpress bullet train on the Tokaido-Sanyo Shinkansen line, but despite the crew having noticed abnormalities, the train continued to operate. In East Japan Railway Co. (JR East)'s service area, meanwhile, two cars of the Hayabusa-Komachi superexpress decoupled in 2024 and then again in 2025 while running on the Tohoku Shinkansen line. For public transport operators that are responsible for passengers' lives, ensuring safety is paramount. They should constantly inspect the status of their operations and promote both physical and procedural countermeasures. Such efforts have no end point.
