JAPAN’s Odakyu Electric Railway unveiled its new series 70000 “Graceful Super Express” EMU for Romancecar luxury limited express services on December 5.

CENTRAL Japan Railway Company (JR Central) previewed its next generation Shinkansen train, the N700S, on October 1, when journalists were invited to view a driving car bodyshell and interior mock-ups at the Nippon Sharyo plant in Toyokawa in Aichi prefecture.

INDIAN prime minister Mr Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Mr Shinzo Abe officially launched civil works on India’s first high-speed line on September 14, when the two leaders laid a foundation stone in Ahmedabad for the 508km line to Mumbai.

THE Sagami Railway in Japan’s Kanagawa prefecture has taken delivery of its first 10-car 20000 series EMU from Hitachi.

THE first of five 5000 series EMUs being supplied by Japan Transport Engineering Company (J-Trec) to Tokyo commuter operator Keio Corporation was delivered to Wakabadai depot on the Keio Sagamihara Line at the beginning of July.

EAST Japan Railway (JR East) has announced plans to build a 360km/h test train by spring 2019 as the basis for a new fleet of E956 10-car trains to be introduced in time for the opening of the Hokkaido Shinkansen to Sapporo in 2030.

THE European Commission (EC) and the Japanese government agreed on July 6 to remove the Operational Safety Clause (OSC) non-tariff barrier which impacts European rail equipment suppliers within a maximum one year after entry into force of a free-trade agreement between the European Union (EU) and Japan.

PRODUCTION has begun at Hitachi’s Kasado plant on a new fleet of 10-car suburban EMUs for Soetsu’s Sagami Railway in Japan’s Kanagawa prefecture.

Fitting monitoring equipment to commercially-operating trains to provide an in-depth analysis of track conditions is becoming increasingly common. The team from the Track Technology Research Laboratory at Japan’s Railway Technical Research Institute (RTRI)* reflect on their work to process data retrieved from this process and show how it can inform a preventative track maintenance strategy.

JAPAN’s Tokyu Corporation announced on March 17 that it has ordered three 10-car commuter EMUs for the 31.5km Tokyu Den-en-toshi Line, which links Shibuya station in Tokyo with the city’s south western suburbs and Chuo-Rinkan in Kanagawa prefecture.