How many Trains are in Japan?

[Sascha]

Just out of curiosity. How many different type of Trains do 'y'all think are in Japan today. I counted about 200, Shinkansen included, that are in, or run trough Tokyo, without the surrounding area, and I bet I missed a bunch.There are 16 Tokyo Metro Trains, and a bunch of other Trains that use the the Tokyo Metro lines.

[bill937ca]

This is the Japanese Wikipedia article directory for Japanese trains. Without digging deeper it lists 81 categories by railway name alone and 91 pages just for JR East.

 

https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:日本の電車

[Sascha]

8 hours ago, bill937ca said:

This is the Japanese Wikipedia article directory for Japanese trains. Without digging deeper it lists 81 categories by railway name alone and 91 pages just for JR East.

 

https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:日本の電車

Woah. Okay. That’s a lot. Thanks. 

[railsquid]

The Squidlet has a book which has 1922 photographs of different trains: https://www.yodobashi.com/product/100000009002631559/

 

I never cease to be amazed by the number of different types I have no idea about, and the train companies I've never heard of.

 

I suppose it also partly depends on how you define type, e.g. do all E233 variants count as one type, or E233-0, E233-1000 etc. as separate types.

 

 

Edited July 25, 2019 by railsquid

[Das Steinkopf]

3 hours ago, railsquid said:

I suppose it also partly depends on how you define type, e.g. do all E233 variants count as one type, or E233-0, E233-1000 etc. as separate types.

 

 That's a good point, the JR Tokai 313系 has at least 17 different variants that range from 2 car to 6 car sets.

[serotta1972]

Wow, really the 313 has at least 17 variants.  And how many variants do you have Das Steinkopf? I know you're a fan as am I. 🙂

[Das Steinkopf]

5 hours ago, serotta1972 said:

Wow, really the 313 has at least 17 variants.  And how many variants do you have Das Steinkopf? I know you're a fan as am I. 🙂

 

I have 5 different variants which I have listed below, I was thinking of leaving the fleet at its current level but I am tempted to get a 6 car 313-5000 to use on a Rapid service, originally I started with an Iidasen based fleet which has now expanded to include the Tokaido Honsen as well, this was perpetutated by my forever growing JRF fleet.

313-0

313-1700

313-2300

313-3000

313-8000

 

[JR 500系]

How about the entire fleet of E233s? Those are plentiful too!  🙂

 

They seem to be ALOT of lines: Chuo, Tokaido, Keiyo, Chiyoda, Keihin-Tohoku, Yokohama, Saikyo, Nambu….

Edited July 25, 2019 by JR 500系

[bill937ca]

More than that. The 3rd batch Toei 10-300 series is based on the E233-3000 series. The earlier Toei 10-300s were based on the E231 design.  Tokyu 5050-4000 are base don the E231.  Is it a different train? To run in through service often requires different specifications than regular home line trains. It might be a narrower carriage to run through subway tunnels,, or it might be different signalling and control systems.  While the enda are often different the sides are very similar.

[Yavianice]

20 hours ago, railsquid said:

The Squidlet has a book which has 1922 photographs of different trains: https://www.yodobashi.com/product/100000009002631559/

 

That book looks interesting. Is it all different trains? Is it mostly pictures? I.e. would a non-japanese reader find the book interesting?

[cteno4]

Yodobashi lists it as an ebook (in the translation at least) but the ibsn on amazon.jp says paperback. Not bad at $9 to ship. Might be a good book for us to have out on the club table at shows as we are always telling folks how many different trains there are in japan. My guess has always been 1-2 thousand that are noticeably different over the last few decades.

 

https://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/product/4061971514/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=AN1VRQENFRJN5&psc=1

 

jeff

[railsquid]

3 hours ago, Yavianice said:

 

That book looks interesting. Is it all different trains? Is it mostly pictures? I.e. would a non-japanese reader find the book interesting?

 

Yes, mainly pictures with a sentence or two or explanatory text.

 

IIRC it's organised by region/line, and sometimes also shows older trains associated with the line (e.g. 201/103 series for the Chuo line). It's not exactly a catalogue of every single train running in Japan (at least at the time the book was published), and there are probably some current trains not included, but it gives an impression of the sheer variety.

[nah00]

I have this coming in the mail:

https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10623338

Can't read Japanese but at least it looks like it has stations and hopefully some maps, sounds like it's pretty thorough.