Railways in Japan

Railways in Japan include Japan Railways (JR), a group of six railway companies covering the entire country, plus a variety of companies, which operate in many larger cities.

JR is famous for its extreme punctuality. On the Tokyo commuter lines trains run through the stations at 1.5-minute intervals at peak times. And of course its Shinkansen or “Bullet Trains” provide ultra fast and highly reliable rail links over all the length of Japan. Its lines are the Tokaido Line, the Sanyo Line, the Tohoku Line and the Joetsu Line.

JR’s long-distance services include super express, limited express, express, berth and reserved seats with charges varying according to the distance.

The history of railways in Japan dates back to 1872, when the first 29 km line was officially opened for public use between Tokyo and Yokohama. Its construction was completed under the guidance of British engineers. The line was extended from Osaka to Kyoto and in 1889 Japan had the through artery of 606 km Tokaido trunk line.

The construction of new railway lines stopped during the World War II. The authorities of National railways bought some more private lines in order to meet the military need. After the World War II Japan considerably increased railway traffic on trunk lines. Soon, the main line between Tokyo and Kobe, as well as other principal trunk lines started double tracking to enlarge the track capacity. To meet the necessity of speeding up the running of trains, technical improvements were carried out. On the main trunk lines the top speed of the trains was increased from 60 km/h to 95 km/h, the speed of electric trains being raised to 120 km/h.

Automatic signals were installed to provide for higher train frequency. After the war Centralized Traffic Control was extensively put into operation. Then, to facilitate and speed up both train traffic and road traffic in big cities, the tracks were elevated for the elimination of level crossings with roads.

With the development of aviation and motor transport railways are losing their monopolistic position in the field of transportation in Japan as well as in other countries of the world. However, the New Tokaido Line, which was opened to high-speed traffic between Tokyo and Ship-Osaka in 1964, showed the great advantages of railways for long-distance transportations. The opening of the so-called Shinkansen railway in 1964 was an event of great importance in the country’s railway history. The Shinkansen line was built as the Tokaido main line had been overburdened with passenger and freight trains. This new main line for super-high-speed trains is 553 km long and has the 1,435 mm gauge. Train sets of 16 cars run at the top speed of 210 km/h.

The Japanese National Railways pay great attention to the development of automatic signalling and computer-based information processing systems as well. The Automatic Train Control System is widely used by Japanese railways providing the most modern trains safety at very high speeds.

Pioneering the modern high-speed train in the 1960s, Japanese railway engineers have contributed to develop and refine rolling stock for the country’s Shinkansen high-speed rail network. One of the most recent types is the Series “700 train set” which was jointly developed by two of Japan’s private rail companies. The Series “700” is based on the experience gained with earlier Series “300” and “500” train sets, creating new design offering the highest standards of performance, comfort, reliability and maintainability.

With 16 cars, the Series “700” are high-capacity trains, each providing seating for 1,323 passengers in a mixture of the first and second-class accommodation. Comfort improvements include an increased ceiling height compared with earlier Shinkansen train sets.

There is a damping control system, which senses vehicle body vibration and controls it using computer technology. In addition, both internal and external noise is minimized.

JR Central was the first of the two railways to adopt the design, placing an order for 17 units in 1998. The first of these was put into service in March 1999.

Japan is a very mountainous country: the geology of the four main islands is extremely complex, igneous rocks penetrating deeply. As Japan lies in a seismic zone, studies are under way to determine the stability of permanent way and rigidity of structures against earthquakes.

Notes:

reserved seat – плацкарт

elimination – ликвидация

igneous – вулканическое происхождение

refine – совершенствовать

permanent way – верхнее строение пути

damp – ослаблять, гасить

rigidity – твёрдость, жёсткость

High Speed Rail Network in South Korea.

The first railway in the Korean Peninsula, from Seoul to the port of Incheon, was inaugurated in September 1899, and trains on this line ran at a maximum speed of 22 km/h. Between 1905 and 1945 Korea was under Japanese control, which meant that the rail network reflected political and all military requirements. By 1919 about 2,032 km of line had been built while in 1945 total network length was 6,326 km (of which just 2,642 km was in the region which later became South Korea). During Korean War (1950 to 1953) the South Korean system lost about half its rolling stock, since then network length has increased to 3,129 km.

Following the conflict, which resulted in the partition of the peninsula into North and South Korea there was a period of reconstruction, with new locomotives being imported. Dieselization commenced in 1951, being completed in August 1967. In 1959 Korean National Railways started building its own passenger stock. Railway transport in Korea developed slowly, and 1961 rail still accounted for 52% of all passenger journeys and 88% of all freight movements. The situation started changing in the 1970s, when some highway motorways were constructed, a 425.5 km four-line route between Seoul and Pusan being one of them. Since this motorway linked the capital with the country’s most important city (Pusan), it became highly popular. Today there are 23 express motorways covering all parts of the country. The rapid increase in the number of road vehicles meant that by 1999 the rail network was handling only 25% of all passenger journeys and just 15% of all freight movements.

The Seoul-Pusan corridor is characterized by the greatest concentrations of population together with most industries today. This motorway was rebuilt to increase capacity, but this solution proved to be a short-term one, as traffic levels have continued to rise. New solutions must be found for the growing problem of congestion, and in 1989 it was decided to link the cities by means of a high-speed railway. This decision was taken as a result of observing the success and potential of the French, and later the German high speed lines. However, since 1989 things have not always gone smoothly, and some problems remained. With the inauguration on April 1, 2004 of the Seoul – Pusan and Seoul – Mokpo high-speed railway lines (KTX), South Korea joined the growing league of countries with high-speed rail networks. Being an electrified line, the KTX itself produces practically no environmental pollutants, while its energy efficiency is twice as high as that of road vehicles and four times that of aircraft.

The formal inauguration took place on March 30, 2004, with public services commencing on April 1. A total of 1,758,000 people used the KTX for the Seoul-Pusan route and 355,000 people for the Seoul – Mokpo route in the first month. The punctuality rate of the KTX is currently estimated at 98%, compared with 75% punctuality rate in France and 91.8% in Germany.

The high-speed rail in South Korea can result in major economic and environmental benefits to the country.

Notes:

peninsula - полуостров

account – насчитывать

commence – начинать

congestion – затор (в движении)

league – лига

currently – в настоящее время

estimate - оценивать

benefit – выгода, польза

environment – окружающая среда

pollutants – загрязняющие (вещества)

stock – (зд.) подвижной состав

Supplementary Reading

Express Trains

Before the coming of railways the word “express” had long been applied to a special messenger travelling on horseback on business. The word “express” was widely used in 1840s to denote a special train chartered by someone for his own use. Express trains opened to the public were introduced by the London - Brighton Railway in 1844 on its 51-mile run.

Express trains had two disadvantages: they were expensive and they were dangerous. They cost more to run than ordinary trains, so supplementary fares were usually charged. The risks in running expresses on the same tracks as slower trains were evident with the primitive signalling equipment then in use.

By the 1880s it was usual to define a British express train as one that ran at 40 mph, including stops. By 1900, however, in France expresses made 50 mph and more and some people were concluding that Britain’s supremacy had passed. Still, in 1914 the best London–Bristol expresses ran faster than any other ones between the two large continental cities. And in some other respects the British trains were, in many passengers’ eyes, superior.

It should be added that there were “express goods trains” too, running at a lower speed than the passenger trains but still considerably faster than other goods trains. Some of goods trains could do 23-30 mph, including stops.

In the inter-war years the British express-train service remained good. The average speed of such train in Britain was 60 mph, though the achievements of the German and American railways were greater in this field.

The word “express” is now falling into disuse. With modern methods of operation the trains on every British line have a more-or-less standard schedule, under which no train runs at a speed significantly higher than the rest.

Notes:

messenger – посыльный

charter – нанимать, брать напрокат

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