Japanese

National

Railways

From The Humble Beginnings• First Railway Line built in 1872 between Tokyo

and Yokohama

• Building of the Kanmon Tunnel to facilitate between coalmines of Kyushu and the mainland Honshu

• Monopolization of domestic transportation during wartime Japan

The Journey to Becoming JNR• Reorganized as a Public Corporation in 1949

• Reorganization was a result of Letter by General McArthur in 1948

• Public Corporation new to the Railway Bureaucrats

Restoration Post World War• Increased Transport Demand

• Undermaintainance of Railways owing to fund crunches

• Electrification first started in 1956

• Tokaido Shinkansen Project started under financial assistance of World Bank, Originally called Bullet Train Project completed in 1964

Electrification Post World War• Private Railways as the mainstay post World War

• Government Lines experiencing difficulties due to poor Quality of coal

• Need for Electrification negotiated with McArthur’s GHQ

• Establishment of Railway Electrification Committee in 1947

AC Electrification• Visit by JNR President Sonosuke Nagasaki to

France in 1953

• First became operational in Tokaido Shinkansen in 1964

• Formation of AC Electrification Investigation Committee in 1953

Observation by the committee:“Since it will be difficult to immediately start building AC electric locomotives in Japan, it would be advisable to conduct test runs using imported locomotives on the Senzan Line and to start test production of the new equipment with a view to building abase for future manufacturing”

First electric operations started in 1957 between Maibara and Tsuruga.

Tokaido Shinkansen – A Case Study• Opened in 1964

• A typical Shinkansen Train requires approximately 10,000 kW of power to attain speeds of 300 Kmph

• Runs between Tokyo in a 50Hz region and Osaka in 60Hz

• Constructed on a standard gauge (3’ 8.5”)• Shinkansen High Speed Train – A Documentary

JNR Management – From Monopoly to Profit

• Shift from Public Corporation to Privately Managed Companies

• JNR divided into 7 different companies:1) JR Hokkaido2) JR East3) JR Central4) JR West5) JR Shikoku6) JR Kyushu7) JR Freight

Impacts of Privatization• Railways have become less centralized• Branch offices given the autonomy to make

decisions• Adoption of a flat organization structure instead of

a vertical organization• Division of groups based on the Job Skills• Activities such as Quality Control, the Suggestion

System been taken at the initiative of the employees

Economic Impact• Positive effect of competition• Shinkansen emerging as a viable alternative to Air

Travel• Introduction of better Coach Designs• Loss of ridership to other Railway Companies prior

to JNR Privatization• Introduction of consortiums such as Surutto Kansai

which translates to Go through Kansai

What is the Surutto Kansai?• Under this consortium Rail users can avoid buying

separate tickets from separate Railway Companies or Bus Companies along the desired route

• Tickets substituted by purchase of Prepaid Cards that can be used on all facilities of the Consortium’s Members.

• The users need not have to buy tickets when changing the mode of transportation.

Advantages to the Company• Increase in ridership due to expansion of Network

• Reduction in the investment costs for system development owing to collaborated efforts for developing the system

• Advertising of the joint network without diluting the autonomy of the management in each organization

JNR and Indian Railways – An evaluation Parameters Japanese National Railways Indian Railways

Gauges Standard Broad, Meter and Narrow

Locomotive Electric Steam, Electric and Diesel

Number of coaches 16 24

Maximum Permissible Speed 300 kmph 160 kmph

Rolling Stock Speed 300 kmph 160 kmph (ALSTOM LHB)110 – 130 kmph (ICF Design)

Separate Rolling Stock and Locomotive

No Yes

Management Structure Horizontal Vertical

Undertaking Private Public (Ministry Of Railways)

Users Consortium Yes No

Electric Tractions AC AC and DC

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