Why Are These Railways so Perfect?

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  • čas přidán 23. 07. 2021
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    - When somebody mentions the Japanese railways, everyone thinks of bullet trains, their speed, or the so-called "pushers" or "oshiya" that literally cram people onto crowded trains.
    These are of course interesting details about the Japanese rail system, however, as every time, we will try to give you a bit more - a comprehensive story about these fantastic railways from many different aspects. And we are free to say - the most comprehensive available.
    In the beginning, we briefly spoke about the history of railways in Japan, starting with Japan’s first railway line, from Shimbashi in Tokyo to Yokohama, which was opened in 1872.
    We also covered the development of the Japanese railway network, the creation of Japanese National Railways in 1949, and the high-speed revolution brought by Shinkansen. The first Shinkansen line (Tokaido Shinkansen) was built in 1964 as the world's first high-speed rail line, after which, in the period of few decades, six additional Shinkansen lines have been built.
    Special attention has been paid to the absolutely stunning railway reform that has been carried out in Japan starting from 1987.
    Finally, we discussed the effects of that reform, the current performance of Japanese railways, the finances, and of course, the safety and punctuality of Japanese trains!
    If you want to know all about this great railway system, check out our video!
    Enjoy!
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    #Japan #Railways #Shinkansen

Komentáře • 395

  • @RailwaysExplained
    @RailwaysExplained  Před 2 lety +23

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    • @barrycaplin1394
      @barrycaplin1394 Před 2 lety +2

      For God sake, yet another channel succumbing to the cancer that is sponsorship. Do you hate your viewers? I think you do like so many others you don't give a flying damn!

    • @harshithsadhana7475
      @harshithsadhana7475 Před 2 lety +2

      czcams.com/video/hYUtOj-wtQg/video.html shocking culture of japanese railways led to huge train accident.

    • @r3dpowel796
      @r3dpowel796 Před 2 lety +2

      Your channel is called railway explained then Explain Maglev train.

    • @RailwaysExplained
      @RailwaysExplained  Před 2 lety +2

      We already did that. Check it out: czcams.com/video/GGnzB9BqtIc/video.html

    • @Kaizoku_Zoro
      @Kaizoku_Zoro Před 2 lety +2

      I wonder how JR Hokkaido’s profit margin will change when the Shinkansen to Sapporo gets completed.

  • @R4baDader
    @R4baDader Před 2 lety +621

    The most interesting part about Japanese railways is the fact that they develop new properties centered around the railway itself, allowing for excellent planning that encourages people to use the trains as a primary mode of transit

    • @Mew178
      @Mew178 Před 2 lety +70

      The best thing about it it's all walkable, no need to drive a car and only in rare cases do you need to use a bus to get to the railways line.

    • @magnustan841
      @magnustan841 Před 2 lety +58

      That was pioneered by Ichizo Kobayashi of Hankyu rail in Osaka. Now, yes you’re right, urban railways all over the world use this recipe to secure customers and income. Hong Kong’s MTR is probably the best example, it’s the most profitable subway/metro in the world because of this.

    • @Mew178
      @Mew178 Před 2 lety +12

      @@magnustan841 I wish European railways adopted this.

    • @AlohaBiatch
      @AlohaBiatch Před 2 lety +25

      @@Mew178 Yes, it would be a great thing. It's really a great tactic because it's a positive reinforcement cycle:
      residences/shopping/office close to train stations means they are inherently more valuable because of the convenience
      train lines with this real estate they sell close to train stations are now more popular because people use them for shopping, to get to the office etc..
      Unfortunately in Europe despite some great train services and public transportation, public authorities just basically donate all that real estate close to new train lines to random developers. It's unfair for real estate developers to "capture" all the value around new train lines and stations, when the train is the reason why the land price in that area increases so much!
      This is a big reason why European transit companies are all basically losing a lot of money and supported by the government.

    • @brutustantheiii8477
      @brutustantheiii8477 Před 2 lety +12

      Exactly. In fact Hong Kong Has a truly awesome system like that that is profitable and self sustaining because they are property developers and use the power of one of the best Metros on earth

  • @iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii7738
    @iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii7738 Před 2 lety +126

    I just did the math and to get from my home town to Scarborough, a popular coastal town for holidaymakers, on the train, it’ll take around 3hrs 20mins to do the ~200km journey, and require 2 transfers, costing £183.25. A journey from Tokyo to Osaka (a ~500km journey) normally takes between 2hrs 30 mins and 3hrs 30 mins, and costs ~¥15,000 (which is ~£93).
    So basically in Japan you can go two and a half times further in the same time (if not quicker) for half the price :(

    • @daweilaotou1269
      @daweilaotou1269 Před 2 lety +9

      Then there's Beijing to Shanghai, 350kph, 1,300+km, 4.5hrs total for (in UK money), around £62 ...

    • @lavioliberty8066
      @lavioliberty8066 Před 2 lety +4

      @@daweilaotou1269 首先物价水平截然不同,根本不在一个比较水平。而且高铁巨额负债你没听说过?换言之,所有高铁使用者的部分成本是由全国人买单,至于决议过程?显然是没有的。在这里说中国高铁只是丢人现眼。

    • @lzh4950
      @lzh4950 Před 2 lety +3

      @@daweilaotou1269 Thought that goes for ~¥800, which is more like ~£90 instead

    • @daweilaotou1269
      @daweilaotou1269 Před 2 lety +3

      @@lzh4950 you're right. It's a long time since I've been to Beijing & I must have used old information! Sorry. I also heard from friends in the UK that ticket prices vary depending on when you by the ticket, getting more expensive the nearer the travel date! That's an alien concept after living in China.

  • @magnustan841
    @magnustan841 Před 2 lety +197

    Ah, Japanese railways, my love, my obsession. I enjoy the whole experience of using the Japanese trains so much! The diversity of trains is unmatched, Japanese railways buffs are super passionate, the trains take you through all sorts of place, from the busy city to the beautiful Japanese countryside and for its size and complexity, no other railway system in the world is so easy to use. Plus, there are so many unique features/quirks that you’ll be hard pushed to find elsewhere, like platform jingles, station stamps, ekiben lunch boxes, oshiya, etc. Have been in love since I was 6 years old and will continue to be to my grave.

  • @Nairda00
    @Nairda00 Před 2 lety +88

    i fell in love with trains after seeing the jaw dropping countryside on a bullet trip from sendai up north

  • @kttmmoto7247
    @kttmmoto7247 Před 2 lety +94

    Japan's major private railway companies are essentially real estate companies.
    Private railway companies develop commercial, tourist and residential areas in the suburbs. They then connect them to the city centre.

  • @napoleonibonaparte7198
    @napoleonibonaparte7198 Před 2 lety +248

    Japanese trains should be the model everyone envies.

    • @rpyc
      @rpyc Před 2 lety +14

      Australia needs to take a page out of JR.

    • @rocketpunchgo1
      @rocketpunchgo1 Před 2 lety +5

      It is.

    • @septology
      @septology Před 2 lety +5

      They are though

    • @paulorocky
      @paulorocky Před 2 lety +11

      @@rpyc Airlines and road builders have too much sway over here

    • @madeinchina1450
      @madeinchina1450 Před 2 lety +7

      [[[ Why Are These Railways so Perfect? ]]] --- Stop at 20:21 , as you can see clearly, you have to step up and step down to be on and off the train, don't you think this (doorstep) is a stupid design? In addition, those windows are just too small, like the windows of aeroplanes, it must be very stressful inside the train with limited views, Chinese train windows twice the size. Furthermore, the Japanese train is not stable, when moving, the train up and down, left and right, compared to the Chinese train czcams.com/video/Wx1GV0R79Tw/video.html. In summary, it is far from perfect.

  • @user-mg4ct9il8j
    @user-mg4ct9il8j Před 2 lety +9

    地方と都市間のギャップはいい指摘です。
    実際、都市部では2分に1本という過密運転を行っている路線がある一方、一日に列車が3本しか来ない路線もあります。
    これは、高速道路の発達により、ハイウェイバスが料金、所要時間の面で有利になり、鉄道のメリットが少なくなったことが理由の1つとしてあげられます。

    • @hiyoppyrappyzundamon
      @hiyoppyrappyzundamon Před 3 měsíci

      北海道は、利用客が少ない路線では赤字になり廃線になることがあります。今年も春に富良野ー新得が廃線となります。

  • @MustardChannel
    @MustardChannel Před 2 lety +7

    5:09 😐

  • @BlackSharkfr
    @BlackSharkfr Před 2 lety +41

    15:08 The number of employees per km of line is not an indicator of working efficiency. This is because measuring efficiency requires at least one of the parameters to be linked to the purpose of the company : either passengers transported or the company's turnover.

    • @syh30801
      @syh30801 Před 2 lety +4

      JR Tokai has a lot of non-train businesses such as properties, hotels, travel agencies and a department store and JR Shikoku has less. So, many of Tokai employees are not related to train services.

  • @urbanliner529
    @urbanliner529 Před 2 lety +49

    I appreciate people that love my country but you can’t say Japan does everything perfectly with no problems. Each country needs solutions for their respective countries. You can’t just apply a system that works for one country to any country.

    • @millevenon5853
      @millevenon5853 Před 2 lety +2

      Do you guys plan to build an underground train to korea?

    • @urbanliner529
      @urbanliner529 Před 2 lety +5

      Well, that would be unrealistic and there is very little support for it.

    • @gazel7424
      @gazel7424 Před rokem +1

      @@millevenon5853 The idea was originally from back when Korean was still a part of Japan, therefore there was a reason to link it up to the railway network. With the current state of two countries and their relationship, it is unrealistic to think that it would happen in the future.

  • @Manni1122
    @Manni1122 Před 2 lety +72

    The economic background of Japans railway success is the most important lesson other countries should learn. Separating track and rolling stock creates bad incentives. Keep it all together and let railway companies develop the land around their stations and you don’t need to subsidize them.

    • @peteradaniel
      @peteradaniel Před 2 lety +15

      We tried that here in the UK and it lead to the private contractor companies relaxing their rail maintenance practices. As a result of which we had 3 major accidents in two years. Also land development is much more controversial here in the UK.
      But I think you also need to realise that success the Japanese “privatisation” is a myth, because they’re monopolies, not competitive companies.

    • @hcguyz
      @hcguyz Před 2 lety +26

      Unfortunately privatization only works in major urban area. Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka, Fukuoka have thriving private railways, but elsewhere in Japan smaller companies are running in the red.
      Technically they are "monopolies" in the sense that only one company run a single route (some exceptions in major corridor like Kyoto-Osaka-Kobe), but they "compete" to attract people to live in areas near their station, which is often developed by the train companies themselves.

    • @peteradaniel
      @peteradaniel Před 2 lety +3

      @@hcguyz what if I can’t afford to live in an area developed by JR?
      Also should JR be investing in network expansion using the profits garnered by there own revenue, you know like any other private company? Because by the sounds of it, the Japanese government are the ones expanding the network therefor they’re really state subsidised private companies.

    • @hcguyz
      @hcguyz Před 2 lety +14

      @@peteradaniel Price is most often determined by how close it is to the city center, so if it's too expensive you can choose to live somewhere a bit further from the city center.
      I think the problem now is that most of the recent expansions are for new Shinkansen lines, which are too expensive to be covered solely by their profits.
      They're not strictly speaking subsidized, but they got cheap loans from the government.
      Considering those Shinkansen lines are national-level major infrastructure project, I think the government consider it a good investment.

    • @91Durktheturk
      @91Durktheturk Před 2 lety

      Except that it was not an economic success, but something that loaded up the Japanese government with 300 billion dollars in long term debts, debts that have so far not been paid off. It is one of the main causes of the large government debt that Japan currently has.

  • @youcanpunchmeintheface
    @youcanpunchmeintheface Před 2 lety +26

    The best thing japanese railway companies do is they develop properties around their lines and gave incentives to the loyal consumer base so it's not an overstatement that railway is part of most Japanese live.
    For example, I could live in an railway-built apartment and got lifetime discount on my specific commuter trip of that particular railway line

  • @PikaPikaLOL
    @PikaPikaLOL Před 10 měsíci +3

    15:26 my guess would be maybe that, despite JR Central’s small geographic area, they run the Tokaido Shinkansen

  • @lherth3260
    @lherth3260 Před 2 lety +27

    日本の鉄道を解説してくれてありがとう❗

  • @matthewsmith2787
    @matthewsmith2787 Před 2 lety +20

    Japan is a very efficient country and they take great pride in what they do

  • @neo_0125
    @neo_0125 Před 2 lety +8

    15:24 I'm Japanese.It's have two reasons.
    First,JR central (JR東海)has Tokaido Shinkansen.Tokaido Shinkansen is the most profitable route in Japan.(378 trains run/1days)
    Second,If we drive Shinkansen,we must get a special license.
    So it has a lot of employees.
    (sorry.I can't speak English well. if you can't understand this sentence,I'm very sorry.)

    • @umeshsurenthiran9205
      @umeshsurenthiran9205 Před 2 měsíci

      No please don’t be sorry, your English is perfect mate. Cheers ❤

  • @21Kyzix12
    @21Kyzix12 Před 2 lety +58

    I think the high numbers of employees per length of track in JR Central are because of the relatively small area and density of the area. Almost the entire area serviced is the Nagoya metropolitan area and the Japanese Alps (which has very few train lines). In comparison, East and West have large densely populated lines, but also extend into other less densely populated prefectures.
    As for JR Shikoku, my guess is that many of the lines are very sparsely staffed because there is a large amount of unmanned stations and many trains are operated by a single driver.
    Also, the Shikoku Shinkansen might be an interesting thing to look into. The project was cancelled, and there are still places where you can see gaps where the Shinkansen was supposed to run.

    • @user-io7ou3er2j
      @user-io7ou3er2j Před 2 lety +12

      You are right . I live in Shikoku. JR Shikoku has many of unmanned stations. Shikoku is covered with mountains so railways are very very winding. But Shikoku has many beautiful sightseeing spot. I want you to visit Shikoku my beautiful home land.

    • @21Kyzix12
      @21Kyzix12 Před 2 lety +9

      @@user-io7ou3er2j Actually, I live in Aichi now, but I lived in Tokushima for several years. Shikoku is one of the most underrated places in Japan. Most Japanese people have never even been there. Hopefully more people will visit in the future.

    • @millevenon5853
      @millevenon5853 Před 2 lety +4

      @@user-io7ou3er2j unmanned as in automated ticketing?

    • @siki2022
      @siki2022 Před 2 lety +6

      @@millevenon5853 Instead, I'll answer, some unmanned stations in Shikoku have automatic ticket vending machines and automatic ticket gates, but most pay on the train like a bus. Sorry for the poor English.

  • @elfinurfitri6906
    @elfinurfitri6906 Před 2 lety +4

    Japanese and Indonesian trains are like brothers ❤🇮🇩🇯🇵🚝 greetings from Indonesian train lovers.

  • @amonrei
    @amonrei Před 2 lety +15

    Now i know why the stations are so well integrated with the shopping malls. Interesting history too.

  • @AlohaBiatch
    @AlohaBiatch Před 2 lety +54

    Just a small detail that needs clarification at 2:29 The JNR was not a nationalization of all railways in Japan. Many private operators remained. And in many cases they were more successful and popular than JNR
    But great video nevertheless! It's the best summary I've seen of JR

    • @RailwaysExplained
      @RailwaysExplained  Před 2 lety +11

      Yes, you are right. It was a step by step nationalization, primarily for military reasons and the enlargement of the largest railway companies at that time. But yes, a number of private companies have remained private.

  • @sntmse
    @sntmse Před 2 lety +21

    As a Japanese who knew all of this, I think this video did the best explaining the history of JR and former JNR including the brief history and backgrounds👍👍

    • @RailwaysExplained
      @RailwaysExplained  Před 2 lety +2

      Thank you ☺️

    • @arbs3ry
      @arbs3ry Před 2 lety +2

      Where is this 0:13 location in Japanese please?

    • @GizmoSheep
      @GizmoSheep Před rokem +1

      @@arbs3ry Its the west side of Ouji station (王子駅) in Tokyo. Coordinates: 35°45'10.1"N 139°44'13.5"E

  • @thebravegallade731
    @thebravegallade731 Před 2 lety +6

    one thing to point out is that japan doesn't use freight on rails much, becasue of the weight limitations of trackbed and becasue it is narrow gauge.
    in fact, this is why japan's newest MBT is actually fairly light. its a 40 tonne 3.5 gen tank with the defence of a 60 ton 3.0 gen tank basically... casue when they made the type 90 with 3rd gen tank stats it became too heavy to transport by rail.

    • @markdebruyn1212
      @markdebruyn1212 Před rokem

      Actually South Aftica uses the same gauge, but has a lot of heavy freight trains, so i don’t think narrow gauge has much to do with it

  • @H-24-66
    @H-24-66 Před 2 lety +6

    I wish the US could have a rail network like this, but we are not allowed to have nice things here

    • @sking2173
      @sking2173 Před 2 lety +3

      The Japanese do not have the “diversity problem” that the US has - so their nice things tend to stay nice ...

  • @captainaffection
    @captainaffection Před 2 lety +9

    15:24 The reason is because not all "per km" is the same everywhere. Some are more densely populated than others and such need more staff to handle passengers in train stations and paperwork in the background.

  • @Trainviking
    @Trainviking Před 2 lety +52

    YES, Japan. This is a great train country.

  • @spikedpsycho2383
    @spikedpsycho2383 Před 2 lety +8

    Japanese National Railways was a profitable, if state-owned, company when it build the first high-speed rail line in 1964. Political pressure to build more high-speed rail lines forced it to borrow over 27 trillion yen ($300 billion in today’s dollars) to finance the construction of those lines and subsidize rail operations. The company effectively went bankrupt in 1987 and the government was forced to absorb most of the debt, which was a major factor in that country’s economic doldrums since that time.

    • @RicciChoi1109
      @RicciChoi1109 Před 2 lety +1

      Frequent strikes by JNR trade unions were also a problem.
      In the early 1980s it costed the JNR 120-130 JPY for every 100 JPY in revenue because the staff costs were going higher and higher.

  • @Tubingenstr
    @Tubingenstr Před 2 lety +18

    Japanese Bullet Train, Shinkansen was planned in 1920's. It was originally planned railways from Tokyo to Germany through Korea and Russia/Soviet Sivelia.

  • @ChinchillaBONK
    @ChinchillaBONK Před 2 lety +8

    I read the title of this video and immediately thought our brother had a traingasm.
    But seriously, I have been thinking of where to migrate to, the main reason why I just can't imagine myself in the States is because of their f--ked up public transport infrastructure. Japan and anywhere in Europe with bullet train access are my top choices now. Just need the pandemic to clear in 1 or 2 years.

  • @user-qy6pf2mo8j
    @user-qy6pf2mo8j Před 2 lety +3

    Tokyo Metropolitan Employment Area :3,925km2
    Tokyo metropolitan area:Railway length 4904.3km
    Japan total:Railway length 3,0000kmover😃

  • @mfaizsyahmi
    @mfaizsyahmi Před 2 lety +39

    The answer to JR Central's high employee per km track are two words: Tokaido Shinkansen.
    This video felt like it covered only half of all the reasons of Japan's railway excellence - the JR side. A second video is required to cover the private commuter railways, and touch about the tiered infrastructure management structure and through running arrangement. For example, how the inter-airport express service from Haneda to Narita runs on tracks owned by like 5 different companies, including Toei the subway company.
    Also the part about railway companies building real estate on [top of] railway line holds true even more for these private city commuter railway companies. For example, JR's side of Shinjuku station, while occupying the most acreage, is mostly concourses with shops peppered around, but the Keio and Odakyu side has full on department stores and offices on top.

    • @lzh4950
      @lzh4950 Před 2 lety +2

      IIRC the _Tokaido Shinkansen_ rolling stock employs not 1 but 2 conductors due to their length (~25m x 16), 1 conductor riding in the middle & another at the back

  • @SotonyaAcckaya
    @SotonyaAcckaya Před 2 lety +7

    For whatever reason every vid on japan's railways focus on JR and shinkansen only occasionally mentioning private railway operators. It paints rather false view on Japan's railway stuation.
    JR operates totally separate tracks than those owned by private companies, you often see that tracks of two or even more companies goes in parallel, competing with each other. They often use different gauge While no private company owns direct competitor to shinkansen, they also operate slower but yet rather high speed rapid trains. In some areas more people use private railways than directly competing JR ones.
    Comparison to european reforms is rather inaccurate as even in times of nationalisation, JNR still had competition in form of those separate private rail networks.

  • @AISPs
    @AISPs Před 2 lety +22

    This video is talking about JNR/JR mostly so I want to list the footage of non-JNR/JR trains:
    0:40 Tokyu
    0:57 Keisei
    1:07 Keikyu
    10:24 Kintetsu
    13:42 Soutetsu
    14:15 Odakyu (possibly)
    17:16 Tobu
    btw JR Hokkaido's yearly debt of 2020 is 80 billion yen

    • @AISPs
      @AISPs Před 2 lety +7

      besides financial problems, JR Hokkaido got serious incidents in the past few years
      JR Central is arrogant to local governments (Shizuoka case)
      JR Freight is shifting some services to trucks
      Only one sleeper train is in service, and freight hump yards are nowhere to be found
      Saying it's perfect means it did better on passenger service than other countries, despite some problems
      ... and remember to lay railways early. Other asian cities didn't do that, and has to endure road jams plus debt of subway system

    • @youcanpunchmeintheface
      @youcanpunchmeintheface Před 2 lety +2

      JR Hokkaido is seriously failing on maintenance due to scarce fund. At least a train derailed due to rail gauge slipping on a curve hence the gauge is too wide few centimeters above tolerance. It's a fatal mistake.

    • @kennantjessavi7648
      @kennantjessavi7648 Před 2 lety +4

      Yeah JR Hokkaido and Shikoku are suffering by lack of population density.

    • @youcanpunchmeintheface
      @youcanpunchmeintheface Před 2 lety +2

      @@kennantjessavi7648 they are in brink of total financial collapse though. Quite sad.
      even there's doubt of JR Hokkaido's ability in maintaining the Hokkaido Shinkansen

    • @alidavis1538
      @alidavis1538 Před 2 lety

      @@youcanpunchmeintheface should the railways been nationalised ??

  • @metricstormtrooper
    @metricstormtrooper Před 2 lety +6

    The cape gauge is 3feet 6inches and is used in Queensland and Tasmania Australia, in Queensland because of the need to replace sleepers very often because of white ants, you get more shorter sleepers per tree, and in Tasmania because of the tight turns and need for lots of tunnels.

  • @hououinkyouma2426
    @hououinkyouma2426 Před 2 lety +25

    it would be interesting if there was a series that compared various railway network of different countries

    • @RailwaysExplained
      @RailwaysExplained  Před 2 lety +10

      We already covered Switzerland, and there will be more interesting countries 🙂

    • @thealitaliaa7714
      @thealitaliaa7714 Před 2 lety +4

      @@RailwaysExplained Do you think that you can cover the Italian railway network? Cos i think that Italy has beautiful railways and rolling stock.

    • @RailwaysExplained
      @RailwaysExplained  Před 2 lety +4

      @@thealitaliaa7714 yes, Italy could be covered

    • @lutfiprayogi2
      @lutfiprayogi2 Před 2 lety +3

      @@RailwaysExplained The Netherland please

  • @Paranoid_Found
    @Paranoid_Found Před 2 lety +3

    My thoughts
    1. Railway companies, both JR and private operators, are closely integrated with the areas they serve. The train stations are (unlike many other countries) integrated with the local commercial circle, allowing operators to profit off of retails and real estate development.
    2. Commuter centered station layout, train design, and scheduling that enabled steady ridership.
    3. A tiered (base on distance and speed) but integrated system. There are few administrative barriers between operators (between metro, local, medium, and long distant services): easy interchanges, comprehensive info sharing.

    • @lzh4950
      @lzh4950 Před 2 lety +1

      When you're waiting at a Tokyo Metro underground station but an _Odakyu_ Romancecar long-distance train shows up instead (showing how much integration there is between different rail operators, though it can be piecemeal i.e. each Tokyo Metro line is integrated with a different other rail operator)

  • @kennantjessavi7648
    @kennantjessavi7648 Před 2 lety +13

    Thank you for that comment display 😀. Yeah it's a shame it's declining. Many scenic routes are rural lines.

  • @rsc9520
    @rsc9520 Před 2 lety +3

    EXCELLENT summary! Thanks for this video.

  • @user-wx6mi5xh7w
    @user-wx6mi5xh7w Před 2 lety +3

    Why JR Central has higher employee density per kilometer:
    1) As others have mentioned, the Tokaido Shinkansen is serviced by more people than the conventional train lines.
    2) Compared to JR East and JR West, the two other companies occupying honshuu (main island), JR Central is responsible for much less of the Tokai region's rural transport. While JR West has to contend with the empty Sanin region, and JR East is responsible for the Tohoku and the northern part of honshuu (main island); JR Tokai has few lines north of the Tokaido Line. As such, while JR East/West have many kilometers of rail to staff with minimal employees, JR Central only has a few lines to staff.

  • @jupiterswingby
    @jupiterswingby Před 2 lety +6

    00:22 I think this is a typical image of Tokyo's crowded train.
    I've been living in central Tokyo for a few decades, and I go to work by train, but I've never been there. (I teleworks almost everyday from Apr. 2020. )
    It occurs at stations in specific sections of popular railway routes, and at specific times.

  • @standin.excaliblur7510
    @standin.excaliblur7510 Před 2 lety +3

    10:46 despite being island isolated from the main Honshu Island, JR Kyushu seems doing well than JR Hokkaido and JR Shikoku.

    • @kanojune5754
      @kanojune5754 Před 6 měsíci

      They have multiple major city (Nagasaki, Fukuoka, Kitakyushu, Kumamoto, and Kagoshima). Compared to Sapporo-dominated Hokkaido and the barely any major centre in Shikoku.

  • @cks2k2
    @cks2k2 Před 2 lety +2

    just want to add a couple of things:
    1. JR Kyushu gave up on making money from normal train service, instead focusing on specialty trains and non-transport related business i.e. hotels, real-estate etc
    2. The JNR -> JR switch caused major strikes + sabotages and some ppl were murdered IIRC.
    3. JNR was used by politicians to win votes from rural voters by building tracks-to-nowhere.
    One ex-Prime Minister infamously had the Joetsu shinkansen built just because he was from Niigata.
    4. The JR companies are really GLCs (govt-linked companies), with national and regional govts being major shareholders so they will still get cheaper loans and bailouts from the state.
    5. IIANM for shinkansen line, the construction cost is split btw national and regional govts. Not sure what the % is.

  • @josir1994
    @josir1994 Před 4 měsíci +1

    In less urban area like Shikoku, they have in unmanned stations and 1 man operated trains, which likely contribute to the low head count per km

  • @flabiger
    @flabiger Před rokem +2

    Japan also has a geographic advantage in that all of its major cities are in line from A to B to C as opposed to major population cities spread out.

  • @raybianco
    @raybianco Před 2 lety +3

    Thank you for this excellent review.

  • @Mayangone
    @Mayangone Před 2 lety +2

    I haven't been on a shinkasen for over 30 years, I remember traveling from Tokyo to Osaka on a shinkasen in the 90's. In the WC, there were two compartments. The first compartment is a urinal with half- length shield, but no door. The 2nd compartment was the toilet and had a door. A man was supposed to pee in the urinal, while women walked past the narrow passage behind him, and not supposed to glance at his direction.

  • @Daler1213
    @Daler1213 Před 2 lety +5

    Ohh been waiting for this

  • @aeotsuka
    @aeotsuka Před 2 lety +4

    JR Tokai/JR Central has such a high number of employees per route mile because the Tokaido Shinkansen has such a high intensity of service. There are a truly phenomenal number of 16-car trains per hour on the route, and unlike commuter trains these Shinkansen have food & beverage staff in addition to engineer and conductor staff. Additionally, while some Tokyo commuter lines for JR East may have more trains per hour, the mileages of those routes as a percentage of JR East's total route network is small relative to the Tokaido Shinkansen's percentage of the entire JR Tokai/Central route network.

  • @jerryheritage
    @jerryheritage Před 2 lety +4

    A railway educational channel that I'm looking for... done sub! Thank you!

  • @WilliamBarksdale
    @WilliamBarksdale Před 2 lety +6

    Your inflection reminds me of a flight attendant explaining the safety procedures, haha. Enjoyed the video

  • @jermainetrainallen6416
    @jermainetrainallen6416 Před 2 lety +12

    Thanks for the video. Please do a video on the Shinkansen rolling stock. That would be great

  • @prashantsavla5060
    @prashantsavla5060 Před 2 lety +8

    Hope youve given credit to Mustard for those shinkansen animations!
    amazing video though!

  • @p.nparthasarathy2855
    @p.nparthasarathy2855 Před 2 lety +4

    Research,efficient design and good planning from start to finish makes a railway nation like Japan.

  • @simsportif
    @simsportif Před 2 lety +5

    9:41 this should be an exemple on how to do things. If you wanna lay off government employees try to at least find them a job to recycle to instead of just saying "aight you're fired, ta-ta!"

  • @lindavainomae3489
    @lindavainomae3489 Před 2 lety +3

    Thanks for another great video - very informative and entertaining. I think the discrepancy in relation to JR Central may be due to the fact that they run the whole Tokkaido Shinkansen from Tokyo to Osaka - which is the busiest rail corridor in the country. Please feel free to as many videos on Japanese trains as you like - possible subjects could be the incredible diversity in rolling stock designs for passenger trains, the non-JR private operators or the special "joyful trains" with bespoke local rolling stock designs, including the "art gallery" shinkansen that runs on the Niigata line.

  • @markplain2555
    @markplain2555 Před 2 lety +1

    In about 2007 I did a study on the JR East and had an opportunity to meet and interview the management of JR East. This is a VERY good and accurate video.
    .
    .
    There is a lot more I'd love to add to this video.... but I'll be typing for hours. JR East is actually straddled with a staggering 2 Trillion US$ debt (in 2007) with a life long payment structure (Very unique). JR East has been forced to be creative and find alternative revenue.... and man have they ever found amazing methods to use their rail infrastructure to raise revenue (this video has only touched on some of their alternative revenue streams). They actually raise more revenue through their 'other' streams than they raise from the "farebox". They should now serve as a business model to be repeated by all rail authorities around the world.
    .
    .
    Although in honesty, they sort of copied the MTR of Hong Kong.

  • @adiba9734
    @adiba9734 Před 2 lety +16

    Fyi oshiya, jingle stations and pointing are also carried out in Indonesia and 95 percent of 電車(electric trains) in Indonesia are used trains from Japan.
    Btw would you like to make a video about how Indonesia can change its train system from the worst in the world to the best in Southeast Asia

    • @willa8720
      @willa8720 Před 2 lety +4

      is it actually the best in southeast asia tho?

    • @nadhul3876
      @nadhul3876 Před 2 lety +5

      Lol its hard to say best in South east asia when there is singapore right there

    • @adiba9734
      @adiba9734 Před 2 lety +3

      What i mean in term of intercity

    • @willa8720
      @willa8720 Před 2 lety +2

      How about Thailand? I heard they are pretty good too

    • @sherlocksinha2435
      @sherlocksinha2435 Před 2 lety

      Over here in India thats why we don't have doors on suburban trains . No need for pushers .

  • @carlosa7598
    @carlosa7598 Před 2 lety +4

    Great video. Here in Kyushu Island, they're building a New Line from Fukuoka City to Nagasaki and we have a bullet train stop in my town in Saga Prefecture. I can finally take the fast train instead of taking the bus to the bigger city next to mine. 2023 is when the line will be opened. Can't wait😊✌️🚄

    • @kkf54353
      @kkf54353 Před 2 lety +2

      The Nagasaki line will not be connect to Fukuoka in the foreseeable future. You still have to take local train/bus.

    • @carlosa7598
      @carlosa7598 Před 2 lety +1

      @@kkf54353, actually it will connect to the Shin-Tosu station which connects to the Fukuoka-Kagoshima Line. So you have to transfer to that line to reach Fukuoka

    • @kkf54353
      @kkf54353 Před 2 lety +2

      @@carlosa7598 Nishi-kyushu line will only see the completion between Takeo-Onsen to Nagasaki in 2022. The Japanese government still haven't figure out what they want to do for the Shin-Tosu to Takeo-Onsen portion yet. So the completion of route will probably take another 10 years.

    • @carlosa7598
      @carlosa7598 Před 2 lety +1

      @@kkf54353 yeah. I live in Ureshino. The reason its taking long because JRKyushu is still having trouble with that new Rail train. Not sure weather to keep it at that or make a new Line all the way to Shin-Tosu, which some constructions is going on as we speak. Seems like the rail train is having problems switching over to the wider rail line. Its still set to be completed by August or October 2023

    • @lzh4950
      @lzh4950 Před 2 lety

      @@carlosa7598 Heard it's also because residents along the existing Nagasaki Main Line (connecting Nagasaki-Fukuoka/Hakata) are resisting the new _Shinkansen_ as they fear it'd cannabalise ridership from the existing line & thus lead to train service cuts to their areas

  • @yakkun1926
    @yakkun1926 Před 2 lety +3

    Great video.

  • @wasd0109
    @wasd0109 Před 2 lety +1

    Well I think the discrepancy in employees per km of line originated from the station staff, JR East and Central station are almost always fully staffed while Shikoku and Hokkaido have a lot of staff-less station

  • @petrhajduk9955
    @petrhajduk9955 Před 2 lety +6

    How about a video on the breakdown of cost of a single passenger ticket? I think people would be surprised that fuel is only 5 to 10 %...

  • @baronvonjo1929
    @baronvonjo1929 Před 2 lety +6

    I would love to have trains in the US but then I realize I wouldn't give up my car because everything is so separated i would need to use a car to get to a practical location for a station. Never even been in a train. I have seen one Amtrak Train and all cars were empty except one guy in one.

    • @qjtvaddict
      @qjtvaddict Před 2 lety +1

      Amtrak doesn’t run enough service to attract consistent ridership

  • @dawydd8421
    @dawydd8421 Před 2 lety +2

    Missed your videos!

  • @not_eazy7642
    @not_eazy7642 Před 2 lety

    Very good work there.

  • @NerdX151
    @NerdX151 Před 2 lety +7

    The only thing I dislike about the Japanese Railways is the fact that there is no long-distance alternative to the Shinkansen. in countries such as France and Germany, you have the option of using slower InterCity services at a lower price. If I want to travel from Tokyo to Osaka without having to pay a fortune for the Shinkansen, I need to change trains 5 times. Japan also lacks a proper night train network. There are currently only 2 sleeper trains in the country that are even more expensive than the Shinkansen and require you to book tickets months in advance.

    • @Wbliss
      @Wbliss Před 2 lety +3

      Have you travelled with China’s HSR system before ?, as this country has the most extensive HSR network in the world and its high speed trains are unbelievable machines at speeds well over 380kph. Their network covers most parts of China & there is one latest addition of HSR in Tibet recently, starting from Lhasa to another city near to Beijing. The fares are affordable for many riders throughout their system, the rides are very smooth & seats r comfortable from economy to their impressive first class. Their HSR system is very efficient & on time performance.

  • @mikemiller7377
    @mikemiller7377 Před 2 lety +5

    Nice video. I think the prevalence of so many toll roads between major cities and the lack of free parking in those cities is also a great incentive for people to take the train instead of driving.
    Sadly JR Shikoku was given a tough hand in the privatization of JR. It’s a relatively sparsely populated part of Japan compared to Honshu, which limits revenues.
    Also, there’s no Shinkansen service to anywhere on the island, which encourages people to fly and drive more to destinations than take the train.

    • @AlohaBiatch
      @AlohaBiatch Před 2 lety +2

      Yes so many people forget these aspects (also that in Japan employers pay 100% of the train commuting costs for employees and often ban people from commuting by car for liability reasons)
      What mode of transport you choose is not just about how good it is, it's about how superior it is compared to alternatives. And in order to push for efficient rail operations, sometimes the best nudge is to make other forms of transportation less convenient by implementing tolls and making people pay market rate for parking.
      Politicians in the US are never going to get far by just improving rail when highways are free despite the enormous costs involved and on street parking is often free. You need to use both the carrot and the stick!

    • @lzh4950
      @lzh4950 Před 2 lety +1

      @@AlohaBiatch In Singapore the government taxes private vehicles a lot & limits how many of them can be registered too. So you end up having an entry-level S-Class cost about the same as a previous-generation Mercedes-Benz Citaro public bus, or a motorcycle cost ~3months salary of a fresh graduate. But as demand for private vehicles drop as our MRT (subway/metro) network expands, tax revenue here will probably drop, so the government might then make up for the shortfall by hiking public transport fares instead

    • @qjtvaddict
      @qjtvaddict Před 2 lety +1

      @@AlohaBiatch the problem is that train service is so bad that in order to get support for discouraging cars you have to FIRST make transit excellent first. The one thing you can do is make rapid transit run on viaducts and existing train lines or use monorail (suspended) to avoid traffic disruption. Use highways and separate ROW for buses and other methods to speed up buses without messing with cars

    • @qjtvaddict
      @qjtvaddict Před 2 lety +1

      @@lzh4950 Singapore also has trains nearly everywhere and they are frequent. Good luck doing that when buses run hourly or trains barely run a mere 5 per day

  • @Brianrockrailfan
    @Brianrockrailfan Před 2 lety +3

    great video

  • @Sacto1654
    @Sacto1654 Před 2 lety +3

    Essentially, the JR companies adopted the Hankyu and Tokyu private railway model of making money: real estate. Look at all the real estate developments and businesses surrounding JR stations; a good example is JR Kyushu's Hakata Station in Fukuoka, which now has a massive shopping complex built around the station.

    • @AlohaBiatch
      @AlohaBiatch Před 2 lety +1

      Not all did. Famously JR Central (JR Tokai) still makes most of its money from the Tokaido Shinkansen. It's also the most profitable of all JR companies.
      The percentage of revenue/profits from real estate among all JR companies is still relatively speaking low compared to private railway operators such as Tokyu, Hankyu etc..
      Only exception is JR Kyushu which has successfully become profitable thanks to real estate, drugstores etc..

    • @Sacto1654
      @Sacto1654 Před 2 lety

      @@AlohaBiatch The current JR Central Nagoya Station essentially is a giant shopping center. Interestingly, there are a lot of shops and restaurants near the Shinkansen platforms at Tokyo Station on both sides of the ticket gates.

    • @AlohaBiatch
      @AlohaBiatch Před 2 lety

      @@Sacto1654 I know, however I am just saying compared to the other Japanese railway companies they haven't put as much of an effort on real estate developments, since 80% of their revenues are from rail.
      You can read the JR Central annual report (2019 or earlier is better because no COVID rail usage impact) to learn more about their business. You can also compare with all the other publicly listed JR railway companies (JR East, JR West, JR Kyushu)
      global.jr-central.co.jp/en/company/ir/annualreport/_pdf/annualreport2019.pdf

  • @railwayjade
    @railwayjade Před 2 lety +1

    Very interesting, thank you!
    Its also interesting they run the locos with both pantos up

  • @bluepine651
    @bluepine651 Před 2 lety +2

    こんな風に紹介されると日本人として嬉しいな!

  • @DangerAngelous
    @DangerAngelous Před 2 lety +11

    The worst part about Japanese trains is you get home and think you have to run for the train that's in 1 minute...

    • @qjtvaddict
      @qjtvaddict Před 2 lety

      Shinkansen trains don’t have that kind of frequency

    • @DangerAngelous
      @DangerAngelous Před 2 lety

      @@qjtvaddict I meant when you get home from Japan

  • @muhammadirfanataulawal7630

    One thing they are associated with (and fascinating to watch) are the point and calling procedure. It looks weird if you are watching it first time but it's very logical once you understand the science behind the procedure.

  • @elfinurfitri6906
    @elfinurfitri6906 Před 2 lety +2

    Wow yokohama train greetings from indonesia
    (indonesian and japan railfans🇮🇩❤🇯🇵🚝🚄🚆🚅

  • @gavinkneale2707
    @gavinkneale2707 Před 2 lety +2

    I would speculate that wherever a State acts as a honest agent for Public Interest suitable outcomes are obtained. Wherever a State acts as an agent for Private Interests unsuitable outcomes are realized. A State should always hold Public Interest as Paramount. I suspect that is the case concerning Japan. To some degree it is most likely cultural. Do we care about each others interests or not.

  • @silluete
    @silluete Před 2 lety +2

    YES more japan railway video please.

  • @DonaldoftheNWR
    @DonaldoftheNWR Před 2 lety +6

    Japanese Railways are really interesting

  • @razermarks7750
    @razermarks7750 Před 2 lety +10

    employees per km of rail isn't good for showing effeciency. Many of Tokyo's busiest stations are located on the yamanote line. The yamanote line isn't that long and yet out of the top 20 busiest stations in Japan, the yamanote line passes through 10 of them. Busy stations means more employess.

  • @NeidhardtDerBlitzschnelle

    My only criticism of the video is that you didn't address the toxic work culture many japanese train drivers face, e.g. facing punishments (such as being shouted at by managers or being forced to clean pigeon droppings from tracks) for doing things such as arriving less than a minute late at stations (I know punctuality is important and all, but this is just bonkers). It was also this work culture that caused the Amagasaki Derailment in 2005, where a commuter train derailed due to overspeeding into a curve and 107 people (including the driver) where killed.

  • @maximushaughton2404
    @maximushaughton2404 Před 2 lety +3

    JR Central covers the higher populated areas, so that brings more stations, so more staff are needed to maintain them. Also they are more likely to run more trains esp Tokyo. So I would say that going by the KM - staff is wrong here, it should be passenger numbers to staff. I think JR Central covers just over 60% of Japans population.

    • @AlohaBiatch
      @AlohaBiatch Před 2 lety +1

      That is wrong. JR central runs the tokaido shinkansen line which is their main money maker, but they run lines mostly in the Nagoya area. JR east is the company that runs train lines in Tokyo.
      It's a bit confusing because only for the Tokaido Shinkansen, even though it goes from Tokyo to Osaka, it is all run by JR Central. Whereas all other rail lines are simply based on the region that the JR rail company controls.

    • @fcfhkmelb
      @fcfhkmelb Před 2 lety +1

      JR Central doesn’t run the trains in Tokyo. JR Central run trains around the Nagoya metropolitan area and the Tokaido Shinkansen. All JR trains in Tokyo except the Tokaido Shinkansen are run by JR East.

    • @lzh4950
      @lzh4950 Před 2 lety

      @@AlohaBiatch Other than the _Tokaido Shinkansen_ & Sunrise Express I don't think JR Central operates services west of _Maibara_ (~50km E of _Kyoto_ ) or east of _Atami_ (~90km SW from _Tokyo_ ). Probably that's a way to evenly more distribute rail revenue between the 3 original privatised JR companies - JR West gets to serve & profit/earn revenue from the highly populated _Osaka_ plains/ _Kinki_ region, likewise for JR East from the _Tokyo_ plains/metropolis, while JR Central gets to profit from the world's busiest HSR line connecting the 2 (contributing to ~85% of the company's profit I heard)

  • @nilsp9426
    @nilsp9426 Před rokem +2

    Now imagine a country with vast flat areas between large cities - how they would easily implement a high-speed railway system for maximum capacity at a low price. A country like the USA. Oh wait.

  • @user-sq8uu3ny3m
    @user-sq8uu3ny3m Před 2 lety +1

    0:13 That video is so old!! The video must be taken more than 10 years ago.

  • @rahadiansastrowigenan2277

    amazing !!!

  • @Mocha-hy3sd
    @Mocha-hy3sd Před rokem +1

    The most important thing which is shocked me for the first time coming to Japan is *_the subway line system_* for instance in the city of Tokyo, as you know *_there are so many subway line also JR line_* same times it's confusing me if I am gong to go to somewhere without *_subway line map_* on my pocket. On the other hand I am not so surprised talking about high speed or bullet train because at least there are 10 countries have been operated it, such as china/british/france/germany/spain/belgium/netherland/italy/portugal, etc.

  • @jillsmith3937
    @jillsmith3937 Před 2 lety +2

    More trains please

  • @josephingles7472
    @josephingles7472 Před 2 lety +11

    More shinkansen please :)

  • @Bristoltwingo
    @Bristoltwingo Před 2 lety +2

    What about Brunel's line from London Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads? Wasn't that the world's first high speed line?

  • @RobRob5656
    @RobRob5656 Před 2 lety +1

    thanks for your explaining Japanese trains in English!!

  • @mikexhotmail
    @mikexhotmail Před 2 lety +1

    Be there couple of times. It take you 20mins something by foot to reach the closest train station and from there you can travel the whole country. (as long as you willing to pay)
    ps. The only country where I don't need to rent a car to enjoy the remote area.

  • @Obloms
    @Obloms Před 2 lety +2

    We can only dream about such great high speed rail in US. Can't even manage to create one route between LA and SF. :(

  • @Tealice1
    @Tealice1 Před 2 lety +6

    The quality of this channel is really superb and sadly very underrated, but that will hopefully change soon!

  • @brucemastorovich4478
    @brucemastorovich4478 Před 2 lety +2

    Seems like more densely populated areas have more employees per km of track. I would think the discrepancy is just more stations and more frequent trains.

  • @Jorzha
    @Jorzha Před 2 lety +1

    I wish Norway could take some inspiration from this

  • @Orionleo
    @Orionleo Před 2 lety +3

    I'm usually a big proponent of nationalization, but I suppose in this case it made it so that it was such a large thing that it couldn't be steered correctly. I guess privitization and nationalization/federalization works in their own merits.

  • @nixcails
    @nixcails Před 2 lety +9

    When the isolationist Conservative Government sold off the rail network they chose completely the wrong model. They should have followed the Japanese system.

  • @jamtuazon5216
    @jamtuazon5216 Před rokem +2

    Japan is the only country that can succeed on railway privatization. Britains attempt was an absolute disaster and as for the North American network, it’s failing but still getting pushed. I’d say if it fails it’ll be worse than Britain’s privatization attempt

  • @RollingFish91154
    @RollingFish91154 Před 2 lety +1

    6:57 densha de d moment XDDDD

  • @SkyLineR34GT-R
    @SkyLineR34GT-R Před 2 lety +1

    4:04 @Mustard

  • @ddream777
    @ddream777 Před 2 lety +1

    You see the station staff pushing people like meat into tofu. What's so perfect about.

  • @shuyoushi893
    @shuyoushi893 Před 2 lety +2

    4:31 言い方可愛い
    サンヨウシンカンセン

  • @gunthertoastbrot3738
    @gunthertoastbrot3738 Před 2 lety +6

    Well, interesting would have been all the reasons why they earn so much money, or why they are so perfectly on time.

    • @PenzancePete
      @PenzancePete Před 2 lety +5

      Japan has invested heavily in it's rail services.
      The railway is upgraded totally, not in bits and pieces like Britain's.
      The high speed trains run on their own dedicated tracks. They don't share their line with freight or commuter trains.
      Japanese trains aren't always perfect. Currently the fleet of Hitachi trains used by GWR and LNER in Britain are being withdrawn for rectification work.

    • @Jinkypigs
      @Jinkypigs Před 2 lety +1

      And cultural factor dude.