JR East rolling stock life cycle

[bikkuri bahn]

In the JR West 225 series thread there was a sub-discussion about differences in JR West and JR East policy regarding rolling stock replacement and lifespan.  This article is dated, but it outlines JR East's philosophy regarding rolling stock life cycles, as well as interesting information about maintenance schedules.  Another bit I had an inkling about but confirmed here: Nagano Depot, where old rolling stock (currently a lot of ex-Boso 113 units) is sent to be scrapped, has a furnace where the metal is melted down- certainly I sight I would rather not see 

 

http://www.jemai.or.jp/english/dfe/pdf/17_4.pdf

 

*it may just be me and the search parameters I use, but it really does seem that most of the published articles in English on modern rolling stock as well as many explanatory articles on modern railway operation are written by Japanese authors.  Certainly the literature available in Japanese blows away anything available in English (what little there is).

[Kabutoni]

Hah, I could've used this during my time as a developer of the Japan Train Set for Transport Tycoon propose a recycling circle of some sorts...

 

Now that I realise it. I've drawn well over a 1000 sprites for that game and researched quite a lot of data on rolling stock. Not very accurate however, but as long as it fitted the game and didn't affect the gameplay it was all right IMO: http://www.as-st.com/ttd/japan/

[miyakoji]

Nagano Depot, where old rolling stock (currently a lot of ex-Boso 113 units) is sent to be scrapped, has a furnace where the metal is melted down- certainly I sight I would rather not see 

 

Interesting pdf, thanks!  I have seen many pics on Onpuchaneru of 113s in Yokosuka livery on their way to Nagano--in at least one pic they were being driven there, which seemed cruel.  Additionally, I've seen at least as many of the now-ex-N'EX 253s on the same final trip.

[KenS]

That's a good article.  Although I wonder just how much they're going to re-use 205/209/231 trains to hit that "20 to 30 year" life, and how much they're going to replace them with future designs that cut power and labor costs more. Still, the 205 is up to 25 years of service now and still seems to be going strong, so they do seem to be following that plan, at least in part.

 

JR East has a similar article with more of a focus on the technical details of the trains, rather than the lifecycle.