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The member companies of Japan Railways are constantly improving rail service for their millions of passengers by introducing new amenities on trains, increasing service, adding new facilities in stations and expanding information for travelers. In addition JR is always working to make the rail system responsive to the ecological and energy needs of a new century. Read below for some of the changes that may make your rail travel in Japan even more convenient and comfortable.
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Past News: October - December 2006
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| Dec
22, 2006 - JR WEST: EXPANDING A NON-SMOKING POLICY |
 West Japan Railway Company (JR West) has announced that at the time of the annual schedule changes in March 2007 it will apply a completely non-smoking policy to almost all Limited Express (L’EX) trains traveling less than 300 kilometers between originating and terminating stations. This policy will affect some 12 types of L’EX trains mostly in the Kansai and San’in regions but will exclude overnight sleeper trains. Some prominent L’EX examples are the Kita-Kinki between Shin-Osaka and Kinosaki Onsen, the Hashidate between Kyoto and Ama-no-Hashidate, and the Haruka linking Kansai Airport with downtown Osaka and Kyoto.
On trains traveling a longer distance there will also be an increase in non-smoking accommodations. For example, on four of the Yakumo L’EX trains between Okayama and Izumo-shi (via Yonago and Matsue) all seating will be completely no smoking; smoking will be allowed only in a special smoking alcove. And on the Thunderbird L’EX trains linking Osaka with Toyama (via Kyoto and Kanazawa) the number of non-smoking cars will be increased. Shinkansen trains will retain some smoking cars because of the longer travel times, but all ‘bullet trains’ do offer many non-smoking cars.
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| Nov.25, 2006 - JR CENTRAL: NEW IC CARD “TOICA” INTRODUCED FOR LOCAL LINES IN NAGOYA AREA |
In November, Central Japan Railway (JR Central or JR Tokai) launched its new IC ‘smart card’ service called TOICA. This name is derived from the phrase ‘Tokai IC card’. TOICA is a non-contact IC card that the passenger can use simply by swiping it across a scanner at the automated ticket gates used for entering and exiting station platform areas.
This service will be expanded to the Shizuoka area in FY2007 and there are future plans for the creation of a new system melding the functions of the TOICA card (for local trains) with an Express Reservation IC Card Service (for Tokaido Shinkansen ‘bullet trains’).
The introduction of the TOICA IC card now means that rail travelers can use ‘smart cards’ for the vast local rail systems of the urban areas of Tokyo Metropolitan, Nagoya, Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe, Sendai and Niigata.
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| Oct
31, 2006 - JR KYUSHU: ‘ALL NON-SMOKING’ POLICY TO COVER
MOST LONG-DISTANCE TRAINS |
On
31 October 2006 Kyushu
Railway Company (JR Kyushu) announced its new smoking / non-smoking policy to be implemented
at the time of the annual schedule revisions
in Spring 2007. At that time most long-distance trains (Limited Express)
will shift to entirely non-smoking, including both seating areas
and boarding-deck areas. This shift in policy was already in motion
when the Kyushu Shinkansen began service in March 2004 with only
non-smoking cars. All JR Kyushu local and rapid local (kaisoku) trains
have been non-smoking for some years.
A
few Limited Express trains that travel longer than 2 hours (Nichirin,
Kirishima, Hyuga) will retain (a) smoking car(s). Also, some ‘tourist’ trains
such as the Yufuin-no-Mori will retain isolated smoking alcoves
in the boarding-deck area. To accommodate smokers some stations
will provide special waiting areas where they can smoke.
JR
Kyushu operates all Japan Railways trains on the southern island
of Kyushu except for the Shinkansen connecting Honshu (Osaka, Hiroshima
etc.) to Hakata (Fukuoka). |
| Oct
20, 2006 - JR Bulletin Vol.55 Posted |
| Oct
19, 2006 - JR EAST: WORLD’S FIRST FUEL CELL HYBRID
RAILCAR |
East
Japan Railway Company (JR East)
has researched and developed a fuel cell system for railcars,
and announced the first test run of the
World’s First Fuel Cell Hybrid Railcar on October
19th, 2006. The control system for the railcar is based
on a diesel hybrid system, but replaces the diesel engine
with a fuel cell that uses hydrogen as fuel. This efficient
system supplies the necessary electric power from both
the fuel cell and the storage battery when accelerating,
and the storage battery is recharged by electric power
produced by the regenerative brakes when braking. The
maximum speed of the railcar is 80km/h and it can run
for 70km - 80km before needing to be refueled with hydrogen.
The test run was held at the site of the rolling stock manufacturer
in Yokohama City, and the railcar smoothly accelerated to
a speed of about 50km/h.
> See
details (JR East page) |
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