OKINAWA, the only Japanese prefecture without a railway, is to develop plans this year for a 69km line linking the capital Naha on the southern part of Okinawa Island with Nago in the north.

A 228km section of the Hokuriku Shinkansen is scheduled to open in March 2015, which is one of three extensions to the Japanese high-speed network currently under construction, as Yoshihiko Sato and David Briginshaw explain.

THE first battery emu for JR East, which was delivered in January, will enter service in March enabling through operation on the partly-electrified line between Utsunomiya and Karasuyama.

THALES has been chosen by JR East to design Japan's first communications-based train control system (CBTC), following a competition between Thales and Alstom.

MITSUBISHI Electric, Japan, has launched a 1.5kV dc traction inverter system which incorporates what it claims to be the world's first all-silicon carbide (SiC) power modules made with SiC transistors and SiC diodes.

SUMITOMO Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) has agreed to purchase Flagship Rail Services, United States, from Perella Weinberg Partners for $US 1.1bn subject to regulatory approval.

THE first Shinkansen train to be developed jointly by East Japan Railway Company (JR East) and West Japan Railway Company (JR West) was unveiled to the press at JR East's Rifu depot near Sendai on November 28.

THE first feasibility studies into the construction of a high-speed line in Indonesia could begin next year after the government reached an agreement with Japan to develop proposals for a 150km link between Jakarta and Bandung.

JR East plans to introduce its Advanced Train Administration and Communications System (Atacs) on the busy Saikyo Line in Tokyo from autumn 2017.

CENTRAL Japan Railway (JR Central) published the Preliminary Environment Assessment on September 18 for the 286km maglev line from Tokyo to Nagoya.