Ministry to place body scanners and sniffer dogs at Tokyo train stations during Olympics
A number of train stations in Tokyo will conduct anti-terrorism inspections during the Olympics and Paralympics using sniffer dogs and body scanners, sources said Monday. The transport ministry will revise a related law to allow railway firms to prohibit passengers from entering a train if ...
JR Central logs 8% drop in shinkansen passengers amid COVID-19 outbreaks
The number of passengers on the Tokaido Shinkansen line between Feb. 1 and Wednesday declined 8 percent from a year earlier, operator Central Japan Railway Co. (JR Central) has said. The decrease reflects low travel demand due to the outbreak of new coronavirus COVID-19, and ...
Canada passenger trains to run again but pipeline protests block freight
Passenger operator VIA Rail Canada said on Tuesday it would soon resume partial services between Quebec City and Ottawa while the government sought to end anti-pipeline protests that are blocking rail freight in eastern Canada. VIA Rail said passenger services between the two cities would ...
Shibuya's Hachiko Square train car moving to Akita ahead of renovation
An old train car that has been used as a tourist information center outside Tokyo's busy Shibuya Station is being moved to the northeastern birthplace of Hachiko, the famously loyal dog immortalized by a nearby statue. The Tokyu Railways carriage, which was in service from ...
Japan Railways glitch halts credit card ticket purchases nationwide
Railway firms including East Japan Railway Co. and West Japan Railway Co. experienced a technical glitch with their ticketing system Monday morning for nearly five hours that prevented credit card purchases, their ticketing system management company said. Cash purchases and Central Japan Railway Co.'s "Smart ...
Japan's rail employees take to social media to air frustrations over work
On the surface, Japan’s train station employees might appear deferential, profusely apologizing for the slightest delay and helpfully guiding passengers through the intricacies of the various transport hubs dotting Tokyo. On the inside, however, a darker side of their personality seems to exist. To get an ...
New train route eyed between Haneda Airport and Tokyo Disney Resort
East Japan Railway Co. is considering opening a new route linking Haneda Airport to the Tokyo Disney Resort, sources said Saturday. The idea is part of JR East's plan to establish three lines to and from the airport, mostly using its existing networks in the ...
JR East to test new app for reporting train gropers on notorious Saikyo Line
East Japan Railway Co. (JR East) said Tuesday that it has developed a smartphone app for sharing reports of train gropers that it will test on its Saikyo Line, notorious for the frequency of such incidents. Around 25 passengers including employees of JR East will ...
Maebashi Station gives students tickets to school of their dreams
With many students busy with last-minute efforts to pass entrance exams, Maebashi Station of East Japan Railway Co., or JR East, is attracting attention for distributing replica tickets bound for a person's first-choice school. The idea of making such tickets to show support for students ...
New Harajuku Station building unveiled ahead of March opening
The new Harajuku Station building in Tokyo's pop-culture hub, which is set to open on March 21 in time for the Tokyo Olympic Games, was unveiled to the media Wednesday by East Japan Railway Co. The new station facility, which is on the capital's busy ...
Railway operators in final phase of preparing for Tokyo Games
Railway operators in the Tokyo area are in the final stages of preparations for the Olympics and Paralympics this summer. East Japan Railway Co., or JR East, is scheduled to open a new station on its Yamanote Line for the first time in 49 years ...
AI to assist railway companies combat problems with snow accumulation
Japanese railway companies are turning to artificial intelligence to help tackle potential problems for their shinkansen bullet trains caused by snow accumulation. West Japan Railway Co. is developing an AI system to gauge the amount of snow that collects on Hokuriku Shinkansen trains that travel ...
