Railway Technology Research Insitute open day 2014

[cteno4]

From Profit of the Way (wonderful poster!) on the yahoo jtrains forum:

 

The Railway Technology Research Institute will be open to the public
on October 11 2014 (Saturday).

Last year the hours were: 10:00 - 3:30. (Enter by 3:00)

Nearest station: JR East Chuo Line Kunitachi. Large antennae
visible to the north from platform.

Major research subjects: maglev, lithium ion battery-powered emus,
bolsterless bogies, ride comfort, noise reduction, crowd movement on
platforms and station corridors, durability of catenary, rail and tunnel
walls, weather-resistance of right-of-way, effectiveness of dampers.

http://www.rtri.or.jp/eng/ (English) 
http://www.rtri.or.jp/eng/rtri/map_kuni_E.html (map)

[bikkuri bahn]

Would like to visit this event some day.  Perhaps a bit less kiddie-oriented and more technical/science-focused than the typical open day, given the venue. This year my autumn open day visit will be to Nankai (previous years have been Tobu, Keihan, and JR Freight in Hiroshima).

[railsquid]

Unfortunately I have a work-related event that day so will have to miss it, even though it's relatively close to Chez Railsquid :(

[miyakoji]

Has anyone on the forum been to this open day? I agree with Bikkuri, it seems like it would be interesting, and different from usual open days at depots.

[Shinkansenrailfan]

We don't have these kind of things in Singapore :(

Edited October 4, 2014 by Shinkansenrailfan

[bikkuri bahn]

Some past event video:

 

 

[houari]

Would it be OK to visit and join the event if my Japanese is limited? I mean, I wonder whether I need to follow some kind of guided tour in Japanese instead of wandering around by myself.

[bikkuri bahn]

These open days are open to everyone, and you are free to come and go during the hours the event is held- it's basically like a local festival.  Any demonstrations are done entirely in Japanese, of course, as 99.5% of the visitors are Japanese. Still worth it to get a peek at things normally the public can't see, and get a deeper understanding of modern railway operations and maintenance.

[bikkuri bahn]

Here are some scenes from a typical open day at a private railway depot (in this case, Nankai).  I plan to visit this year's event later this month.