MITSUBISHI Heavy Industries is planning to conduct trials in Tokyo this autumn with an improved version of its Dokodemo Door (Anywhere Door) platform screen door system, which is designed for lines where door positions and spacing might vary between different types of rolling stock.

THE first of 21 eight-car 323 series suburban EMUs being supplied by Kinki Sharyo for the Osaka Loop Line was unveiled to the media by West Japan Railway Company (JR West) on June 24.

CENTRAL Japan Railway Company (JR Central) announced on June 25 that it will introduce a new-generation Shinkansen train on the Tokaido and Sanyo lines in 2020.

EAST Japan Railway Company (JR East) has unveiled a Yen 250bn ($US 2.4bn) project to rebuild three stations in central Tokyo in preparation for the 2020 Summer Olympics and Paralympics.

INCREASING ridership on Shinkansen services helped the three Japan Railways Group (JR Group) companies listed on the Tokyo stock exchange to achieve record consolidated sales and operating profits for the 2015 financial year, according to their annual results, which were published on April 27.

TOSHIBA, Japan, has announced plans to build a factory in Hyderabad, India, to manufacture power conversion and train control systems.

HIGH-speed services began operating through the 53.8km Seikan tunnel between the Japanese islands of Honshu and Hokkaido on March 26, with the launch of commercial services on the Hokkaido Shinkansen from Shin-Aomori to Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto.

JR East has awarded a contract to Toshiba to supply its H2One autonomous hydrogen energy supply system for installation at Musashi-Mizonokuchi station on the Nambu Line in Kawasaki City. The system will start operating in the first half of 2017.

JAPANESE private railway operator Keio Corporation has awarded Japan Transport Engineering Company (J-Trec) a contract worth around Yen 10bn ($US 89.6m) to supply five 10-car 5000 series EMUs for use on its 85km network, which links Tokyo's Shinjuku station with the capital's western suburbs.

JAPAN's Seibu Railway has awarded Hitachi a contract to supply seven eight-car EMUs for limited express services on its 1067mm-gauge network to the northwest of Tokyo.