Japan’s JR East to Launch a Luxury Train Service by 2016

[domino]

Hey all

 

Love to see this Model on my layout :

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brian

 

PS I still can`t paste link or text in this topic , why is this ??

[Guest ___]

I suspect they saw what the projected profit margins are for the new Lux train in Kyushu. (reminds me, I bought a 120min video on the new Kyushu train)

Edited May 29, 2014 by Shashinka

[loulasalle]

Hmm, Shashinka what is your source for Japanese Rail videos? Also, do you know of any maker of tin or porcelain JNR or JR logo plagues similar to the many available for US railroads?

 

Thanks

 

Lou La Salle

[JR 500系]

Here's one more from JR West...

 

http://ajw.asahi.com/article/business/AJ201405220046

 

All other regions not gonna lose out to Kyushu 7-stars!

[miyakoji]

Here's one more from JR West...

 

http://ajw.asahi.com/article/business/AJ201405220046

 

All other regions not gonna lose out to Kyushu 7-stars!

 

I suppose JR West will not be so radical as to build a D/EMU like JR East is doing.  This will be loco-hauled, won't it?  Although I like what JRE is doing, a cut of passenger cars will (probably) mean a new loco, even if it's just quantity 1 of a DF200 variant.  Something new to look at.

[kvp]

The attached link shows a multiple unit train, with classical high driving cabs above the end balconies and the colors of the twilight express. I can't see any pantographs in the video, but that might just be an omission from the animators. The set could be a new production or an older emu rebuilt as a joyful train (on the current drawings it looks like a 287 series with a modified nose and green paint).

[miyakoji]

I thought that was a sunroof or sunlight above the end of the passenger compartment.  If it's a driver's station, wouldn't the clearance under it, inside the passenger compartment, be fairly low?  I'd think that passengers would have to duck down to get out the door and on to the balcony.

[Densha]

This JR East train was announced already last year or maybe even two years back, the JR West one is new to me though.

[kvp]

I thought that was a sunroof or sunlight above the end of the passenger compartment.  If it's a driver's station, wouldn't the clearance under it, inside the passenger compartment, be fairly low?  I'd think that passengers would have to duck down to get out the door and on to the balcony.

The internal drawings indicate that they plan to use the classic high cab design, with the driver sitting in the middle, the driver's access steps and door on right and the passanger corridor on the left. Essentially they go around the raised cab, with only the instrument panels hanging over the corridor. The only thing that i'm still wondering is the balcony which can't really be used when the train is travelling at any significant speed and needs at least a closable glass roof to be usable.

[bikkuri bahn]

The JR West trainset will be an an all-new design.  It will have power units at both ends (push-pull), the drive system will be diesel hybrid- underfloor diesel engines will generate electricity coupled with a battery system.  As the whole train will be a "high decker" raised-floor design, presumably there will be sufficient space for equipment underneath. Maybe if Hitachi is given the contract to build this, they can slip a MTU 1600 R80L powerpack underneath each driving car :)

[JR 500系]

Wouldn't there be a safety hazard with passengers standing at the front of the train around the balcony area? Talk about luxury, it's 10 carriages, yet only 30 passenger capacity, which means 3 passenger per carriage!

[cteno4]

sounded like it was only used on the rear end direction.

 

jeff

[Davo Dentetsu]

This was discussed at our local model show.  And by discussed... laughed at or that scrunchy type of face that denotes what in the heck...

[1954G]

The planned JR East luxury train has a sleek, futuristic look to it; it's quite a contrast to the retro styling of the Seven Stars in Kyushu. 

[kvp]

The biggest challange to running hotel trains is the lack of width on a normal train. So the designers either use the full width and loose the possibility of walking through the train or only the end cars can have full width rooms and they loose the possibiliy of having a common space on the head and/or trail of the train. The japanese network doesn't have the double stack clearance of the US rail network and the cape gauge network doesn't really help in that. Add to this the strange style ideas for the joyful trains and you have some quite interesting looking trains.

 

Personally my favourite type of train hotel car is the classic saloon sleeper used in the past, where you have between 2 and 6 rooms in a car, each opening from a side corridor with a central full width saloon area that can be modified into a diner. Add the classic panoramic and fully openable windows used on most european trains in the past and you have something that scales well and can be attached to any train, while providing the same comfort one expects from a hotel.

[Guest ___]

Local Japaneswe book store. I just buy the DVD-books. ¥1500 train magazines that include a DVD.

 

Hmm, Shashinka what is your source for Japanese Rail videos? Also, do you know of any maker of tin or porcelain JNR or JR logo plagues similar to the many available for US railroads?

Thanks

Lou La Salle

[Guest ___]

I hope that JR-E and JR-W who have these new lux trains entering service do not try to wrangle in the foriegn tourist market (or at least project profits based off what they hope will be overseas tourists) like JR-K did. Recent JR-K numbers have revealed that the Seven Stars has not come close to pulling in the international tourists they had really been hoping for. I would go so far as to speculate, that if JR-K projected thier profits based off heavy international tourists, that they may have lost money on the Seven Stars this year. Of course at ¥750'000 per person per three day ride, they may have over-reached. I'd hate to see the same fate bestow JR-E or JR-W.

[bikkuri bahn]

JR Kyushu will do OK with their train- fewer foreign passengers than projected (honestly, Kyushu is not a major tourist destination for foreigners...), but it's more than made up by the huge wait list made up of wealthy Japanese customers.  I think the targeting of foreign tourists (read: wealthy Asians) is more a "would like to have them consider us" plan than anything else, plus the fact that Kyushu is close to mainland Asia- the main target customers are domestic (at least for the next 10~20 years, the retirement years of the baby boomers).

Edited June 1, 2014 by bikkuri bahn

[Davo Dentetsu]

I think we can safely say there will probably be an even bigger wow factor on the two mainland designs and will probably attract tourist money that way.  I must say I still have my doubts (I'm still rather mopey the blue trains disappear soon) but maybe seeing them in the metal would go some way to make my mind up.  Could yet be a winner.

[miyakoji]

Here's an artist's rendering on Tetsudou Fan news: http://railf.jp/news/2014/06/03/180000.html

 

(this is the JR East train)

Edited June 3, 2014 by miyakoji

[Densha]

Not really my taste...

 

Interesting note is that pantographs can be seen, so it is an EMU, or maybe a BEMU?

[bikkuri bahn]

It's an electro-diesel- it draws current from overhead catenary, as well as having diesel engines for running on non-electrified lines.

 

I never really like the styling of these or any of the joyful trains- they are optimised for enjoyment of the view from the inside out, given their leisure duty, and any pretenses of streamlining/sleekness are discarded, as these are not high performance units.  However, the technology/systems being used for propulsion is interesting, and I'm looking forward to seeing the specs when these units are rolled out of the factory.

Edited June 3, 2014 by bikkuri bahn

[miyakoji]

It's an electro-diesel- it draws current from overhead catenary, as well as having diesel engines for running on non-electrified lines.

And idea why such a method wasn't used on blue trains? I always wondered why the generator car was included/running on routes that were significantly under wire.

[kvp]

And idea why such a method wasn't used on blue trains? I always wondered why the generator car was included/running on routes that were significantly under wire.

My guess is that it was mostly lazyness because they already had the generator cars and didn't want to use locomotives that had head end hotel power capacity for the whole train. This is the same as when some train companies use diesel railcars on fully electrified routes. Nowdays, with new small and lightweight generators, cheap and light batteries and small power electronics, it is easier to make a diesel-overhead/battery electric locomotive or power car.

[ToniBabelony]

Woah. That new design. I saw it on TV this morning and WELCOME TO THE FUTURE. I love it! Of this train, I'd like a model.