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For the serious railfan- especially those interested in cement trains hauled by double headed box type electric locomotives, a visit to the Sangi Railway Sangi Line in northern Mie Prefecture would be most enjoyable. Today was my second or perhaps third visit, on a very nice early spring weather day. Anyway, the aforementioned freight trains are the main attraction, but the passenger trains offer interest as they are ex Seibu types. Also, manually issued tickets are still used, very rare as almost everywhere else the machine dispensed types are the norm. The three tickets on the left are Sangi Rlwy type B tickets, using the traditional thicker card stock. Note the station specific punches. On the right is the common type A ticket issued by most railways by automatic ticket machines. These use flimsy magnetic backed paper. I also bought a working diagram, available for 400 yen. All freight and passenger trains are shown on the string diagram. Excellent product and a nice break from the usual keychains, toys, and bric a brac. If you are ever in the Tokai region, why not spend a few hours chasing freights on the Sangi Line?

The magazine "Travel and Railways" is conducting an online survey of railfan favorite/most popular private/third sector railways. The voting began on March 22 and will last until April 20. Final results will be published in the July issue of the magazine, on the newsracks May 20. As of April 15 JST, the most popular railway is Keikyu, with Hankyu coming in second and Kintetsu third. https://www.tetsudo.com/special/tabitetsu/

Some members may want to check this out. To be published this June. http://www.robert-schwandl.de/jp/

Interesting speculative article about what Odakyu may see as its primary competitors. Kanto is seen as having less heated competition between railways than Kansai (save maybe Keikyu/Keisei vs. JR East), but this highlights a possible battleground for passenger traffic. As a result of its four track mainline project, Odakyu is targeting a 4.3% increase in passenger traffic by 2020. In daily terms, this comes to an increase of about 80,000 to 90,000 passengers from the current number. The first rival is Keio Dentetsu, for the Nagayama/Tama Center to Shinjuku traffic. Keio has the advantage in passenger numbers currently, with daily riders from Tama Center using Keio numbering 84,000 to Odakyu's 48,500. It could be the prospect of competition with Odakyu that has led to Keio introducing 5 new trainsets with reserved seating by spring 2018. Another railway many may think would be a rival is Tokyu, with their Den'entoshi Line. But this line is already running at or over capacity, and it could be said that a fractional diversion of traffic to the Odakyu Line would be welcomed by Tokyu. The article then proposes that Odakyu's biggest rival for passengers will be Sotetsu, which is currently building a line eventually connecting with Tokyu at Hiyoshi via Shin-Yokohama (completion spring 2019). Not to mention a connection with JR East. The market would be for passengers from the Ebina and Shonandai areas, which currently Odakyu holds an advantage (daily 135,000 pax vs. 113,000 and 88,000 pax vs. 27,000, respectively). Sotetsu has an advantage post-construction over Odakyu in that its services begin at these stations, so passengers boarding at these stations have a better chance of securing a seat all the way to Shinjuku, Shibuya or Meguro. Asked about whether Sotetsu is favoring promoting services to Shibuya, or to Meguro via Hiyoshi (Meguro Line), the president of Sotetsu Group said he wanted to promote both. http://toyokeizai.net/articles/-/121002

Regional operator Shizuoka Railway has announced that it has ordered new rolling stock for the first time in 40 years. Delivery will begin in Spring 2016 and extend over eight years, and totals 24 units organized in 12 sets of two units each. Carbodies will be stainless steel, VVVF inverter equipped, AC motors. Service speed will be 70km/h, the same as current units. Energy consumption will be 50% of current units. http://response.jp/article/2014/11/28/238503.html http://train.shizutetsu.co.jp/shingata-syaryou.html

Rolling stock quantities for major Japanese private railways (as of April 2013) 1. Tokyo Metro 2719 (cars) 2. Kintetsu 1952 3. Tobu 1948 4. Hankyu 1319 5. Seibu 1286 6. Tokyu 1257 7. Meitetsu 1069 8. Odakyu 1062 9. Keio Rlwy 849 10. Keikyu 796 11. Keihan 718 12. Nankai 706 13. Keisei 598 14. Sotetsu 412 15. Hanshin 361 16. Nishitetsu 331 Source: Tetsudou Fan, August 2013