Japanese Shinkansen Thread

[Aepsilons]

Texas high-speed rail firm eyes JR Tokai as partner in shinkansen technology



Texas Central Partners LLC, a U.S. company aiming to build a high-speed rail link in the state, is envisaging Japanese companies potentially providing vehicles and technologies for its planned bullet train service connecting Dallas and Houston.

In a recent phone interview, Texas Central CEO Tim Keith reiterated that the shinkansen technology of Central Japan Railway Co. (JR Tokai), Japan’s lead bullet train operator, will be employed to link the two major cities, which are about 385 km apart.

“Texas Central Partners is 100 percent committed to the shinkansen system with JR Central as our life-of-system partner,” Keith said.

The U.S. company’s assurance is encouraging news for Japan, which has been pushing for exports of high-speed train infrastructure as a centerpiece of the government’s economic growth strategy but recently suffered a setback in the face of competition from China.

The Texas project is contemplating an eight-car bullet train based on the N700 series employed for the top-of-the-line Nozomi services on the Tokaido-Sanyo Shinkansen Line that links Tokyo and Osaka and beyond, according to Keith.

The Dallas-Houston link, with a third station on the way, will be served by one to two trains per hour, running at a maximum speed of approximately 320 kph to shuttle passengers between the two cities in under 90 minutes.

Keith rated Japan’s shinkansen technology highly for its safety record and indicated that he expected Japanese manufacturers to join the Texas project. “A major part of the success for the perfect safety record of the shinkansen system is the fact that it’s a total system, including manufacturers that have been manufacturing and maintaining that system for years in Japan,” he said.

“I think there will be opportunities for many Japanese companies to participate in our project,” he added in regard to rolling stock manufacturing.

The Texas Central CEO projects around 4 million passengers per year by 2026, and they will “have fares that will be competing with business traveler rates on airlines but also low enough to attract people to choose riding on a train over driving in a passenger vehicle.”

The U.S. company is soliciting investments in the $10 billion to $12 billion range for the infrastructure and the system including the rolling stock, controls and signaling devices, without relying on grants from the U.S. government, although it is planning to seek government loans, Keith explained.

Once funding commitment is secured, “we want to be operable in 2021,” he said.

He welcomed the $40 million investment planned by Japan Overseas Infrastructure Investment Corporation for Transport & Urban Development, or JOIN. The funding by the entity owned in part by the Japanese government was authorized by the Japanese transport ministry in November.

“We see a global appetite from investors and lenders to provide capital for a project like this,” he said, suggesting that sovereign wealth funds and insurance companies in Canada, Japan, Australia and Europe would be potential backers for a project like Texas Central.

While JR Tokai has indicated that it will consider taking a minor stake in the U.S. project, Keith said, “we have not engaged in discussion about that,” describing the Japanese railway as “a technology partner” rather than “an equity investor.”

But he mentioned the government-affiliated Japan Bank for International Cooperation as one of the potential lenders it seeks for the project.

For Japan, the Texas project may be an added blessing following a deal in early December to introduce shinkansen technology to India, announced by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during his trip to the South Asian country.

Tokyo, however, suffered a blow in September when Indonesia opted for a Chinese bid at the last minute for a rail link, even though Japan had spent considerably more time and effort than China to pitch its proposal.

In the U.S. railway sector, too, China is increasing its presence and posing strong competition.

Just before Chinese President Xi Jinping’s trip to the United States in late September, Beijing announced that a Chinese consortium will be joining a U.S. partner to build a 370 km high-speed rail link between Los Angeles and Las Vegas — a project to which JR Tokai had hoped to deliver technology several years ago.

Japanese railway officials are hoping Texas Central’s commitment to the shinkansen system may help Japanese businesses fight such competition and penetrate the U.S. market.


http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/20...ai-partner-shinkansen-tech-cars/#.VqhSm1k2H5l

 

[Aepsilons]

Stylish black shinkansen, decorated with fireworks, spotted on the rails of Japan

TOKYO —



Back in October, Japan Railway announced its plans for what the company bills as the world’s fastest for of art appreciation: a special shinkansen decorated both inside and out with artwork from contemporary painters, sculptors, and photographers. Dubbed “Genbi” (meaning “Contemporary Beauty”), the unique bullet train will be going into service on the Joetsu Shinkansen Line, which connects Niigata Prefecture with Tokyo.

The city Sendai, in Miyagi Prefecture, also has a shinkansen station, but it’s on the Tohoku Shinkansen Line, a completely different leg of the high-speed transportation network. Nevertheless, rail fans in the city got a special treat last week when the Genbi pulled into Sendai Station.

The Genbi is currently undergoing testing on the Tohoku Shinkansen Line between Sendai and Kitakami Station in Iwate Prefecture. The choice of location gives JR the opportunity to drum up a little publicity in other parts of Japan for the train, which in literal contrast to Japan’s ordinarily white shinkansen carriages sports a stylishly sophisticated coat of black paint.

Along the cars’ flanks are gigantic photographs taken at the Nagaoka Fireworks Festival (photo below), which is held annually in Niigata and is one of Japan’s premier displays of aerial pyrotechnics.

And in order to provide both a bigger canvas and a bit of fashionable asymmetry, the special cars have windows on only one side.

Trainspotters along the Tohoku Shinkansen Line are encouraged to keep a close eye out for the Genbi, since not only is it scheduled to move to the Joetsu Line to start service in spring, being a bullet train means that if you blink, you just might miss it.

http://www.japantoday.com/category/...-with-fireworks-spotted-on-the-rails-of-japan

---------------------------------------------------------------

Japanese bullet train makes inroads into the U.S.


Japan`s Shinkansen bullet train is likely to make inroads into the U.S. market for the first time. The Kyodo News said Wednesday that the 400 kilometer long high speed rail that runs between Dallas and Houston in Texas will introduce the Shinkansen system. A staff at Texas Central Partners that is in charge of the project said the company promised 100 percent to use the Shinkansen technology and wants to start the service in 2021.

When the service is launched, it will take more than one hour and a half between two certain areas that takes three hours by car. Texas Central Partners is currently in the process of procuring construction costs worth 10 billion dollars to 12 billion dollars, and is examining getting some financing from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation.

In the mid of the month, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited India where he had summit talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The two leaders confirmed the technology exports to the 505 kilometer stretch between Mumbai and Ahmedabad. The project will be made on the condition that 80 percent of construction costs worth 15 billion dollars is financed through loans.

Shinkansen bullet train is Japan`s core infrastructure export item. Since Japan introduced the world`s first bullet train system in 1964, it has accumulated related knowledge for more than half a century. Shinkansen is evaluated as superior to any other bullet trains in terms of safety and accuracy.

Japan and China have been fiercely competing to win orders to build high speed railways overseas. In September, Japan suffered an unexpected defeat by China over the bull train project linking 150 kilometers of Jakarta and Bandung. Japan almost won the bid, but due to lack of government guarantee, it lost to China at the last minute. China had offered one-third of what Japan presented for construction costs. A Japanese government spokesman had strongly protested by saying, "It is difficult to understand and is matter for regret."

While Chinese President Xi Jinping was visiting the U.S. in September this year, China and the U.S. agreed to build a 370-kilometer high speed railway between Los Angeles and Las Vegas. China is also pushing for its high speed rail exports to Thailand and Malaysia.


http://english.donga.com/List/3/03/26/411975/1

===========================================




How Japan's Bullet Train Is Taking Over the World

urbanism




The shinkansen-Japan's bullet train that brought high-speed rail to the world in 1963-is as symbolic for the nation as sushi and cherry blossoms. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe wants to export it across the world. And so far, he seems to be doing just that.

Although high-speed rail has flourished in countries like Japan, China, Germany, and France for decades, the transportation innovation is gaining more ground recently. Both developing nations and advanced economies like the US are now aggressively pursuing the technology. Japan's pushing hard to be the number-one high-speed rail supplier.

Earlier this year, we reported on how JR Central, the company behind Japan's shinkansen, is working with private companies in Texas to build a near-exact shinkansen replica linking Dallas and Houston. Since then, more places across the world have started working with Japan to bring the bullet train to their cities, as well.

India's the latest example. It chose Japan over China to collaborate on building a bullet train that'll join Mumbai and Ahmadabad for $15 billion, expected to cut travel time between those two cities from eight hours to two. This past May, it was revealed that the shinkansen is being exported to Thailand, as well. Next up, on the heels of the Indian victory, Japan's pushing to build yet another shinkansen in a two-nation deal that'll join Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and Singapore.

Japan's not stopping at plain ol' high-speed trains, either. After breaking a train speed record earlier this year with its new, even faster maglev train, Prime Minister Abe has revealed he wants to help America build its own maglev joining Baltimore and Washington, DC, even offering to cover half of the $10 billion price tag. US Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx even traveled to Japan in November to test-ride the maglev himself.

Of course, Japan isn't the only place in the world that knows how to do high-speed rail-and how to do it well. China's been running a maglev train in Shanghai since 2004, and that's technology still considered a futuristic fantasy ripped from Asimov in many parts of the world. And non-maglev high-speed trains have been serving Western Europe for years.

What makes shinkansen different? In the over 50 years it's been running, there have been zero accident-related injuries or deaths for passengers. It also has phenomenal anti-quake technology, which is crucial in a Pacific Rim straddler like Japan. That's infrastructure that beefs up the sales pitch to other seismically active locations, like California, Chile, or Indonesia. (California started construction on its own high-speed rail earlier this year.)

One caveat: These countries that are inheriting shinkansen (or any high-speed rail system) must be properly trained on how to run it. The shinkansen is often celebrated worldwide for its average delay of a mere six seconds, but a lot of that has to do with the general gold standard level of excellent for Japanese customer service.

Here in the US, high-speed rail remains somewhat controversial: Some argue it's way too expensive, and that in spread-out countries like America, investing in this kind of infrastructure is impractical. We'll see how it shakes out.


http://www.gizmodo.in/design/How-Ja...aking-Over-the-World/articleshow/50318227.cms