Private Railway Companies

[Guest bill937ca]

Private railways are a favorite aspect of Japanese railroading for me and for those not familiar this is short outline of Japan’s private railways.

 

In addition to the JR network, over 100 private railway companies owned and operated by the private sector operate railway passenger service in Japan today. Of these private railways, 15 are considered to be major private railways. The major private railways are profitable and often cheaper to ride than the publicly run railways. By region, these are the major private railways.

 

Kant? region

• Keihin Electric Express Railway  ( Keiky?)

• Kei? Corporation or Kei? Electric Railway

• Keisei Electric Railway

• Odaky? Electric Railway

• Sagami Railway (S?tetsu)

• Seibu Railway

• T?bu Railway

• T?ky? Corporation (or T?ky? Ky?k? Electric Railway)

 

Map of Tokyo private railway lines:

http://www1.u-netsurf.ne.jp/~ichiban/tyo/tyomap.jpg

 

Ch?bu region

• Nagoya Railroad (Meitetsu)

 

Kansai region

• Hanky? Railway

• Hanshin Electric Railway

• Keihan Electric Railway

• Kintetsu Corporation (or Kinki Nippon Railway)

• Nankai Electric Railway

 

Ky?sh? region

• Nishi-Nippon Railroad (Nishitetsu)

 

Background

 

Once the Japan National Railways network were created in 1905-1907 new private railways were only permitted in local transport where they would not interfere with JNR operations.  As a result of these restrictions, newly-established railway companies began developing residential areas along new lines to build traffic.  The pioneer was the Hanshin Railway in the Osaka region and the Hankyu Electric Railway soon emulated Hanshin’s business diversification.  Hankyu’s real estate subsidiary sold houses at cost on a monthly installment plan and collected payments at the Hankyu Railway’s Umeda terminal. By 1924 100,000 people a day passed through Hankyu’s Umeda terminal and Hankyu began developing its retail businesses.

 

Operations

 

The major private railways (and many of the minor private railways) are now diversified business operations which operate with no government subsidy. To reach the big city terminals of these busy lines you generally have to pass through a department store affiliated with the railway line. Tokyu Hands a Tokyo craft department store is part of the Tokyu Railway corporate empire. Meitetsu’s Nagoya station is surrounded by other railway stations and Meitetsu operated hotels, department stores and bus terminals.

 

http://www.meitetsu.co.jp/ICSFiles/artimage/2006/10/13/c2e0101/nagoya_map.gif

 

But the railway lines and department stores are only a small part of the organization.  Private railways also operate buses, taxis, hotels, real estate developments, sightseeing operations at resorts, supermarkets (at train stations), travel agencies, baseball teams (Seibu, Kintetsu and Hankyu), television stations, railway rolling stock manufacturing (Tokyu, Kintetsu and Hankyu) and at least one operating private railway museum.

 

But, above all these companies remain essentially railway operations known for very intense traffic patterns. The tram and interurban origins of these lines have given way to trains as long as 11 cars running on very short headways. Deluxe extra-fare trains often operate with designer trains like the Keisei SkyLiner, Odakyu’s Romance Trains and Meitetsu’s Panorama cars. As with virtually all Japanese private railways, all stations are high platform.

 

Most of these lines were originally powered at 600 V DC.  All Hankyu’s main lines were upgraded to 1500 V DC by 1971.  The Keio Electric Railway went to 1500 V DC in 1983 and the Keihan Electric Railway was the last major interurban to convert to 1500 V DC also in 1983.  At one time many of the private railway lines used trolley poles for current collection.  Hanshin converted to pantographs in 1928 and Keihan replaced trolley poles with pantographs in 1932.

 

Since the 1980s freight traffic has slowly disappeared from all but a few of the Japanese private railways.  Freight operations are still found on the Chichibu Railway and the Gakunan Railway.

 

Private railway models are offered by Micro Ace and Green Max and to a lesser extent by Tomix and Kato.  Models are offered include many of the deluxe extra-fare as well as the more mainstream commuter rolling stock.

 

Private railway right of way photos (mainly in the Tokyo region):

 

http://www.tawatawa.com/page013.html'>http://64.233.179.104/translate_c?hl=en&langpair=ja%7Cen&u=http://www.tawatawa.com/page013.html

 

http://www.tawatawa.com/page013.html

 

 

Further reading:

 

How Japan’s Hankyu Railway Became A Retail Powerhouse

 

http://www.calrailnews.com/crn/0802/0802_45.pdf

 

Japanese Private Railway Companies and Their Business Diversification

 

http://www.jrtr.net/jrtr10/pdf/f02_sai.pdf

[Guest Bernard]

Really interesting, I always wondered why in the listing of Hobby search it said Private RR, now I know. It also explains why there is a diversity of train designs in Japan.

Bill do they also have their own rails or is on a lease basis? Why I ask is in NYC, the Long Island RR (LIRR) doesn't own the track at one point going into Penn St. or Penn St. they lease the track from Amtrack. If Amtrack goes on strike the LIRR can't run. 

[Darren Jeffries]

I'll add to this by saying, do Private RR's use the same make and model commuter trains sets as JR? Or do they have to comission their own types.

Really interesting, I always wondered why in the listing of Hobby search it said Private RR, now I know. It also explains why there is a diversity of train designs in Japan.

Bill do they also have their own rails or is on a lease basis? Why I ask is in NYC, the Long Island RR (LIRR) doesn't own the track at one point going into Penn St. or Penn St. they lease the track from Amtrack. If Amtrack goes on strike the LIRR can't run. 

[Guest bill937ca]

I'll add to this by saying, do Private RR's use the same make and model commuter trains sets as JR? Or do they have to comission their own types.

 

The private railways own three of the car builders but also buy from other builders. 

 

Tokyu Car Corporation is part of the Tokyu Railway

Kinki Sharyo is part of the Kinki Nippon Railway.

Alan Sharyo is part of the Hankyu Railway.

 

There also is Kawasaki Heavy Industries, and Nippon Sharyo.  I beleive JR has its own car building plants as well.

[Guest bill937ca]

Bill do they also have their own rails or is on a lease basis? Why I ask is in NYC, the Long Island RR (LIRR) doesn't own the track at one point going into Penn St. or Penn St. they lease the track from Amtrack. If Amtrack goes on strike the LIRR can't run. 

 

These are major industrial corporations.  If they want to own it they are quite capable of owning it.  Generally it is their own track, although there are cases where lines are shared.  But I don't know all the details....

[Guest bill937ca]

Yes, JR does have a car building factory.  Here's an article about the factory:

 

http://www.jrtr.net/jrtr41/pdf/f30_Niitsu.pdf

[bill937ca]

I'll add to this by saying, do Private RR's use the same make and model commuter trains sets as JR? Or do they have to comission their own types.

 

A long delayed answer to Darren's question.  Yes.  For instance, the Tokyu 5050 series is the E231 adapted for subway operation by a private railway.  It is standardization driven by the elite bureaucrats at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. Their Shido which roughly translates as "guidance" but in reality is much closer to a directive usually is behind this type of thing. Japan is very much a centrally planned society. The standardization itself is being driven by through routing between railway lines and subway lines in Tokyo and Osaka and to some degree from railway to railway.

 

Tokyu 5050   http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/image/10048914a2/20/2

 

E231     http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/image/10074237a2/20/2

[westfalen]

There are a few cases where a money losing section of a JR line has been sold off to a private company but JR still run trains over it to reach other parts of the system, or a private company has built a new, shorter route between two points that JR trains use as a shortcut. If you have a JR pass you have to pay the private railway's fare for that section, similarly there are JR lines used by private railways between separate parts of their system where you can ride the private railway's trains using a JR pass. Then there are cases like the Tohoku Mainline north of Morioka which was sold by JR after the Shinkansen extension opened but is still used by JR Freight.