JR Tokai chief urges U.S. to introduce Japan's N700 bullet rail system

Wednesday 01st July, 04:07 AM JST

WASHINGTON —

Central Japan Railway Co. Chairman Yoshiyuki Kasai on Monday appealed to the U.S. administration of Barack Obama to adopt Japan Railway’s state-of-the-art N700 Series bullet train system for a proposed new high-speed passenger rail system. Kasai, now visiting Washington D.C., made the appeal at a meeting with U.S. Transportation Secretary Raymond LaHood, Kasai told a news conference after the meeting. The chief of the key Japanese railway operator, known as JR Tokai, said he told LaHood the N700 Series system would satisfy the needs of the United States most suitably among a range of high-speed rail systems now available from various rail car makers worldwide. He quoted LaHood as replying that Washington is keen to consider the creation of U.S. jobs in choosing a rail system. Kasai said that he told LaHood that adopting the N700 Series would have considerable positive effects on U.S. employment. Obama has recently called for the country to move to a system of high-speed rail travel which would better ease congestion and air pollution as well as save energy.

In a related lecture Kasai gave to officials from the U.S. public transportation sector, he briefed them on the N700 Series rail cars’ performance in connection with their speed, safety and environmentally friendly features. Kasai called on the officials to adopt the N700 technology as an integral system including rail infrastructure-related machines and their controlling systems as well as rail cars. Describing reactions from the U.S. side, Kasai said, ‘‘My perception is that U.S. considerations over the high-speed rail network have just started and it is necessary for us to make a long-sustained effort.’’ Today’s meetings ‘‘mark just the beginning of the effort,’’ he said. ‘‘We must step forward’’ in marketing efforts, rather than letting the Japanese government do it, he added.

Kyodo

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Latest 15 of 19 Total Comments Show All

cnc at 09:40 AM JST - 1st July

Cost-wise the Japanese always come up with the mosr expensive solution, which is why they lost a lot of contracts in China and the Middle-East to European manufacturers.
mrsynik at 09:54 AM JST - 1st July

The 500 series are a much more attractive looking train. Sell them instead of the mutant looking N700's.
Kwaabish at 10:00 AM JST - 1st July

It shouldn't be about trying to sell the N700 or the Type 500... it's not about the rolling stock. No matter how fast the trains may physically be able to travel on rails, it's the signals, switches and, most importantly, the dedicated right of way without at-grade crossings that counts.

Even if JR Tokai is successful in talking to the US in purchasing the N700 style rolling stock, with the antiquated, freight-first rail systems that they have in place currently, you can't have a successful high-speed network.

Look at all the times that Amtrak (or any freight train) experiences derailments and train-auto accidents, every year in the States.
kwatt at 10:26 AM JST - 1st July

The US just started to think nationwide electric trains in the future without making enormous CO2 from public transportations. But I think that they would build it after using up all crude oil.
NeoJamal at 12:18 PM JST - 1st July

Cost-wise the Japanese always come up with the mosr expensive solution, which is why they lost a lot of contracts in China and the Middle-East to European manufacturers.

Of course, only the Japanese worry about things like "passenger fatalities"
JeffLee at 02:13 PM JST - 1st July

The US uses its rail system well - 40% of all freight goes by train, much higher than in Japan. The US doesn't need foreigners coming and lecuturing them on how to use their train system.
Darkichi at 02:14 PM JST - 1st July

Cailforia rails are in disarray. No one can agree on how to fix it. Some rails were first laid in the 1890's and are still being used with a warning to be at a speed of 20mph or less. This slows all trains. Plus Ca. is very environmental so you just can't go ripping up hillside for new rails nor can you replace some rails unless you do that. And now Ca. has no money so all are at a loss.
SebastianFlyte at 02:46 PM JST - 1st July

The Bullet train and all it entails is out of the Americans league. They can't afford it and don't have what it takes to operate it safely.
JeffLee at 08:08 AM JST - 2nd July

(America) can't afford it

Japan can't afford it either. Japan's national debt at 194% of GDP is the world's highest, and the shinkasen system developed under a public-sector corporation.
upnorth71 at 12:42 PM JST - 2nd July

The US uses its rail system well - 40% of all freight goes by train, much higher than in Japan. The US doesn't need foreigners coming and lecuturing them on how to use their train system.

Um, the topic here is high speed passenger trains, not freight. The US does have a good freight railroad network, surely. And, most heavy freight in Japan moves by ship- after all, most places are within 100 miles of the sea- it is an island country, after all.

Japan can't afford it either. Japan's national debt at 194% of GDP is the world's highest, and the shinkasen system developed under a public-sector corporation.

Yes, Japan has enormous government debt, but then again, it isn't China's b**ch, unlike the USA. Japanese people want high speed trains, and their massive savings will back up any government spending.
griff at 12:50 PM JST - 2nd July

The US uses its rail system well - 40% of all freight goes by train, much higher than in Japan. The US doesn't need foreigners coming and lecuturing them on how to use their train system.

have you used Amtrak? denver to san francisco in THREE DAYS. i believe that's what's known on the internet as a FAIL.

the reason the US doesn't have a decent rail network anymore is because the auto companies bought up the railroads, dismantled them or put on ridiculous speed limitations. then they brainwashed the public into believing that the car was the embodiment of the american dream. funny, before that it was the train
JeffLee at 05:49 PM JST - 2nd July

Griff, US rail system is committed to carrying freight, not passengers. That doesn't make it inferior.

The shift away from passengers occured due to rising affluence, which has allowed more Americans to own their own cars. The shinkasen, meanwhile, has helped bankrupt Japan, whose national debt now stands at 190% of GDP, the highest in the developed world. Most shinkanse routes lose money and will lose even more in the future as the population shrinks. The U.S. rail system makes money thru freight; Japan's system is a massive white elephant that will continue to be a financial burden for generations to come. Which do you think is preferable?

America would do well to avoid that.
upnorth71 at 11:00 PM JST - 2nd July

Ah, Japan is not bankrupt, yes it has high government debt, but almost all the IOUs are domestic, unlike the US, which must go begging to China to fund its military adventures, among other expenses. Which do think is preferable? And that Shinkansen system (and outstanding passenger rail system overall) will hold Japan in good stead when the oil wells quit gushing- Japanese will thank themselves for this "financial burden" (like taxing themselves for universal health care). I guess Americans will have invented flying cars that run on pixie dust by then- har har!!
JeffLee at 08:15 AM JST - 3rd July

upnorth - and Japanese trains run on "pixie dust"? no they run on electricty generated by nukes. And given the gruesome deaths at Tokai-mura and the string of technical and administrative problems that have consistently plagued Japan's nuke plants over the years, I wouldn't be so complacent.

Future cars, meanwhile, will be run on clean-burning hyrogen.

The Shinkasen is certainly fast and convenient, but as a taxpayer in Japan, I reject its money-sucking, uneconomical nature (only route that makes money is Tokyo-Osaka). By the time "the oil runs out" Japan's rurual population will be miniscule, and those elevated shinkasen rails to nowhere will look pretty lonely and forelorn.
Kwaabish at 11:32 PM JST - 4th July

JeffLee,

You got sources to back "only route that makes money is Tokyo-Osaka"? I think the last figures I saw (maybe back in 2006?) indicated that all Shinkansen Routes were in the black. This was due to the fact that many airline routes tend to get cut or cancelled when the Shinkansen routes are deemed the better alternative. Some examples are Tokyo to Niigata, Hanamaki, Akita, etc.

The Kyushu Shinkansen lead to many intra-Kyushu flights (mainly Fukuoka - Kagoshima) routes to get cancelled (or changed), and once the Hakata (Fukuoka) - Shin Yashiro segment is completed, this route is expected to turn to black very quickly.

Many of the newer routes were better thought through in planning and, like the Tsukuba Express, many are forecast to be able to pay back its loans much faster than originally thought.