Japan bids for UK rail

[dabsan]

Just noticed this news item on the NHK World website ....

 

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20160916_32/

[bikkuri bahn]

An earlier thread about this:

http://www.jnsforum.com/community/topic/11379-jr-east-on-uks-west-midlands-franchise-shortlist/

 

A line in the NHK article piques my curiousity:

The Japanese side will be hoping British judges recognize Japan's rail traffic control system, which is known for its safety and punctuality.

 

Mere salesmanship, or perhaps hinting at an introduction of something like ATOS? 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATOS

 

*a pet peeve I have about Western news outlets (unfortunately NHK is not immune either) is they tend to have headlines of "Japan does this, Japan does that" with no qualifier of "~company/firm" when in fact it is private companies who are making investments/business decisions just as British/American/French/Dutch/Etc. companies do everyday.  You get the feeling they are trying to prey on jingoistic tendencies of the public by giving the impression, however slight, that it's a government action or some monolithic entity with implied sinister intentions...

Edited September 17, 2016 by bikkuri bahn

[railsquid]

You should have seen the uproar about the letter Japan sent to the UK about leaving the EU.

 

Anyway good time for buying stuff in the UK, with the pound the way it is I might snap up a railway or too myself ;)

[bikkuri bahn]

^^

Yes, I have recently become interested in fine men's footwear.  Hopefully the exchange rate will stay as it is at least until I visit London to pick up a pair of Edward Green oxfords :)

[dabsan]

You should have seen the uproar about the letter Japan sent to the UK about leaving the EU.

 

Anyway good time for buying stuff in the UK, with the pound the way it is I might snap up a railway or too myself ;)

Railsquid I hope you can snap up some bargins. The Brexit result was the best thing that could happen here even at the cost the devalued pound.

Edited September 17, 2016 by dabsan

[railsquid]

Yes, well certainly some good short-term chances to arbitrage some British outline stock imported at the old exchange rate...

 

I wish y'all luck, you're going to need it, and will say no more as not appropriate for this forum.

[dabsan]

Yes, well certainly some good short-term chances to arbitrage some British outline stock imported at the old exchange rate...

 

I wish y'all luck, you're going to need it, and will say no more as not appropriate for this forum.

Thanks Railsquid, I get the feeling most of the complainers don't even reside in the UK.

[Kabutoni]

*a pet peeve I have about Western news outlets (unfortunately NHK is not immune either) is they tend to have headlines of "Japan does this, Japan does that" with no qualifier of "~company/firm" when in fact it is private companies who are making investments/business decisions just as British/American/French/Dutch/Etc. companies do everyday.

NHK is operated directly by government agencies, so anything positive coming from a Japanese company or person is directly being attributed as a national effort. It's to keep the conservative mind in a state of bliss.

[miyakoji]

You should have seen the uproar about the letter Japan sent to the UK about leaving the EU.

 

Yeah what kind of reception did that get in the UK?  I saw it in a US-based tech news feed and didn't pay too much attention to the comments below it.

[Drunkenclam]

Didn't even see it in the papers as they are to busy taking about Chinese firms building our nuclear power stations and supplying cctv cameras to businesses and government buildings.

 

 

I have noted that Honda are no longer in the building near Heathrow airport and Panasonic don't have the building in Bracknell that they had for years.

 

Don't forget the time Stephen Fry had to apologise to the Japanese after an episode of QI. That also commented on how good the railways were 70 years ago.

Edited September 17, 2016 by Drunkenclam

[dmustu]

Thing is, JR East will only have a minority stake in the franchise, about 10% IIRC, so I don't think my local cross city line trains will be branded as 'Japanese Run', should this consortium win the bid. The company will basically be run by Abellio, part of the Nederlands Railways, with minority intrest from JR East and Mitsui. 

[Claude_Dreyfus]

I for one would dearly love to see some Japanese influence on our railways - particularly the high-density commuter lines. Sadly, that is unlikely, even if they are part of a successful franchise bid. 

 

The post 'Brexit' vote letter did cause some ructions - especially in the press. Some have said that it was a 'don't forget about your friends' reminder as we seem to be cosying up to China more and more. In part that is true, but veiled threats about moving car production etc. was never going to go down too well - particularly as the UK is one of the biggest markets in Europe for Japanese cars; indeed Japanese manufacturers seem to be doing pretty well out of the UK full-stop at the moment. Threats and dire predictions from all corners in the run-up to the referendum only seemed to galvanise the leave vote; Obama's comments around trade deals etc. in particular went down badly until it was realised that what he has to say is pretty irrelevant - by November he'll be gone.

[kvp]

The brexit might mean a way out of the mandatory installation of ETCS safety systems, except on lines running european trains.

 

Some companies will move though, mostly those that were manufacturing for the european market (mostly cars) and those that are sold and were only kept in the UK to have access to the european market (like ARM and most banks).

 

It wouldn't help with the immigrant situation much as the biggest problem groups have already became citizens generations ago.

 

Now it's up to the british people to make something out of the whole situation as nobody will push laws on them anymore (except capitalists but thats a british tradition)

[railsquid]

Can we please keep discussion of Brexit away from this site (unless maybe there's some very specific issue involving railways and Japan)?

[cteno4]

Yes, thanks lets please keep the politics out of the forum. Fine for a little around specific rail stuff, but please not past that.

 

Thanks

 

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