JR Railway Group Poll

[Guest ___]

Included are all JR Railway groups and Railway Technical Research Institute & Railway Information Systems, the forgotten groups.

Edited August 6, 2015 by 写真家

[katoftw]

Who on earth are those forgotten groups?  What do they do?

[miyakoji]

RTRI, which I refer to maybe incorrectly as JR Soken, does technical/mechanical research on various matters directly related to railways.  JR System (it looks like System in katakana, but is written Systems in English) does work related to general IT used in railway business, the most well-known example of which is the MARS ticket/fare system.  I think :)

 

RTRI - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railway_Technical_Research_Institute

Systems - http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%89%84%E9%81%93%E6%83%85%E5%A0%B1%E3%82%B7%E3%82%B9%E3%83%86%E3%83%A0 there's no English Wikipedia page

Systems own English page - http://www.jrs.co.jp/staticpages/index.php/english

[trainsforever8]

I'm surprised to see how many people dislike JR Central, what's the reason? o.o I mean yes, their new commuter trains have an "old" style but they still don't look that bad!

[ToniBabelony]

I voted JR East as my favourite and JR Central as my most disliked.

 

+ JR East: I use them the most and I like their service and progressive movement in technology, rolling stock and network development. Granted, they sometimes need to cut on parts of their rural network, but these are usually taken over by 3rd sector companies nowadays. JR East is profit oriented and 3rd sector isn't, so I don't really blame them for that.

 

- JR Central: Their stance towards JR Freight is terrible (as per experience of some train drivers I've spoken) and their choice for rolling stock is conservative (e.g. how many variations of the 313 do you need?), as well as the ride quality of JR Central's trains. It's not the best. It's like they have a a flair of arrogance surrounding them because they have the monopoly on the Tōkkaidō lines and have zero interest in cooperation with other companies. For example, they have only ONE through service on another private company (3rd sector, Ise Railway Ise line) because it provides a connection between two JR Central sections.

[Densha]

Including JR Systems and JR RTRI is a tad bit strange IMHO because while they are part of JR, you ask "Choose your MOST favorite JR Group Railway" while Systems and RTRI are not really railways.

 

Anyway, not having personally ridden on any JR train at all I mainly chose for my rolling stock preferences. JR West has the most diversity of old and new rolling stock running now, so I went with that. JR Shikoku is also a favourite of mine, but they don't have an interesting enough system to put them at number one in this poll. From the 'JR railways' I probably dislike JR Central for them having very very boring rolling stock; all trains looks alike and features shiny metal with an orange stripe.

[HantuBlauLOL]

Love them all.

 

I have a bias towards JR East though, because I have lived a year seeing their trains.

 

From my view JR Central is actually pretty unique, as it operates so many similar trains. (got bored by my country's rainbow trainsets lol)

 

I think their reason to operate similar trains is because of their ease of use and maintain. They can switch any driver to anywhere, and repair those trains in any depot without needing an additional training to their crews.

Edited April 10, 2015 by HantuBlauLOL

[westfalen]

You can only have one choice. :dontknow:  There should be an option that says 'None - I like all JR groups' but I voted for JR freight because I like freight and it's the odd one out in passenger oriented Japan.

 

I only voted against JR Central because they don't allow JR Pass holders on Nozomis and make us wait for a less frequent Hikari.

[ToniBabelony]

They can switch any driver to anywhere, and repair those trains in any depot without needing an additional training to their crews.

 

To be honest, JR Central can't do that as flexible as they'd like, as passenger train divers usually have specific route training and usually stick to one route only. With JR Freight drivers it's the same. However, JR Freight drivers can operate in a number of areas when they have a 2+ man crew in the cab (hearsay from a driver) that double-check the driver, lineside signals, etc. for safety measures.

[westfalen]

To be honest, JR Central can't do that as flexible as they'd like, as passenger train divers usually have specific route training and usually stick to one route only. With JR Freight drivers it's the same. However, JR Freight drivers can operate in a number of areas when they have a 2+ man crew in the cab (hearsay from a driver) that double-check the driver, lineside signals, etc. for safety measures.

True, but JR Central can still move trains between different depots and the crews at those depots would be qualified on the trains.

 

JR freight crews being able to go anywhere sounds a bit dodgey, to use an Australian term, as there is much more to 'knowing the road' than where the signals are.  I would supsect what was meant was the freight driver running over a line where he was not qualified would have to have a person who was passed on the route, likely a local driver from the route, to pilot him.

[ToniBabelony]

JR freight crews being able to go anywhere sounds a bit dodgey, to use an Australian term, as there is much more to 'knowing the road' than where the signals are.  I would supsect what was meant was the freight driver running over a line where he was not qualified would have to have a person who was passed on the route, likely a local driver from the route, to pilot him.

 

Ah yes, that sounds logical. I'd suspect the same that there'd be a crewmember with route knowledge (and beyond) to assist the driver.

[miyakoji]

True, but JR Central can still move trains between different depots and the crews at those depots would be qualified on the trains.

 

JR freight crews being able to go anywhere sounds a bit dodgey, to use an Australian term, as there is much more to 'knowing the road' than where the signals are.  I would supsect what was meant was the freight driver running over a line where he was not qualified would have to have a person who was passed on the route, likely a local driver from the route, to pilot him.

West, what's the practice regarding qualifying drivers on various lines?  Is total track distance just as a much of a consideration?

[JR 500系]

Definitely JR East the most favourite. Look at their vast amount of rolling stocks!  

 

Shinkansen:

 

E1 MAX, E2, E3, E4, E5, E6, E7, 200, 400 excluding variations  

 

Limited Express:

 

251, 253, 255, 257, 259, 185, 183, 351, 531, 651, 657 etc and many others...

 

Commuter:

 

103, 105, 201, 205, 209, 231, 231-500, 231-800, 231-1000, 233-0, 233-1000, 233-2000, 233-3000, 233-5000, 233-6000, 233-7000, 233-8000 etc...

 

Really amazing, together with their daring use of colours is amazing. I mean: red, blue, green, yellow etc is definitely better than white and blue stripes right?  

 

 

I chose JR systems as the least favourite simply because I don't really know what they do... The rest of the JR group each have their beautiful train rolling stocks, JR West has my favourite 5000 series, JR Central has nice limited express like 383, Kiha-85 etc, JR Shikoku has Nampa, Shiokaze etc, JR Hokkaido has several beautiful Kihas like Kiha-185, Kiha-283 etc, JR Kyushu has so many joyful trains I just cannot finish listing them etc...

[cteno4]

They have also been great with our club working with us in DC and nyc to promote high speed rail. Their staff here in the nyc and dc offices are really great. The U.S. executive director even donated a couple of his personal trains to our club along with a tomytec controller!

 

Jeff

[Guest ___]

Wow, so much JR Tokai hate!

[Robert46]

Very nice post.. :) I think so that JR East has most wonderful rolling stocks especially the shinkansens... but since my favorite shinkansen are 300series both from JR Central 300-0 J sets and JR West 300-3000 F sets thus I would choose either JR Central and JR West as my 2nd favorites.. JR West also has nice JR500 too..

 

Btw, sorry for asking here, does anyone know where the preserved car 323-20 from 300-0series at Nagoya park SC Maglev was removed? Was it scrapped or moved to another place? will be so sad if the last model from operational train is also scrapped...

[200系]

Unfortunately according to my information, 323-20 was moved to Hamamatsu to be scrapped after being removed from the museum.

A shame considering the difference between the pre-production prototype, and the eventual 300系 production formations (I personally never liked the look of the prototype). JR West didn't preserve any cars from their 9 F formations either.

So yes, there is nothing left of the production formations.

 

 

 

will be so sad if the last model from operational train is also scrapped...

 

Formation J1 (originally J0, the formation of which 322-9001 was a part of) though built in 1990 as a test train/prototype, did see normal service between 1993 and 2000 before once again serving as a test train until 2005 when the first N700系 prototype took over.

 

Still, would've preferred to see 323-20 preserved somewhere. 

[kvp]

Does anyone know why the JR companies keep scrapping already preserved cars, instead of just tossing them to a siding somewhere in a maintenance facility? They might have more value in one piece after a few decades than they do in scap metal form now.

[NuclearErick]

and thats why JR Central is a piece of &!@#!@*#@!#

 

they at least should talk with JRWest and do a little trade with a 500 end car for the future when this 1 will retire

 

 

[200系]

 

 

Does anyone know why the JR companies keep scrapping already preserved cars, instead of just tossing them to a siding somewhere in a maintenance facility? They might have more value in one piece after a few decades than they do in scrap metal form now.

 

Real estate is at a premium in Japan, and storing disused cars for decades takes up valuable space that could be used much more profitably for in service equipment. Notice the speed at which retired cars are scrapped after their final runs, you normally won't see condemned cars loitering around for months or even years before they are dismantled, scrapping normally begins within days of the final run. There have been a few exceptions to this rule, and sometimes disused cars do end up preserved after a few years, but those are the exception not the rule.

Also, have you ever considered that people in Japan might have a different view on subjects like preservation, history and nostalgia? And that cultural differences might amount to decisions that may look strange or even unimaginable to an outsider, though make perfect sense when placed into context? This isn't to say that there are no dissenting opinions within society, but I'm of the personal opinion that if you want to understand decisions like these, or anything related to the Japanese culture (or any other culture for that matter) , that you have to try and view a situation through a Japanese lens (trying to look at it from an inside perspective) as opposed to the outside-in perspective most people seem to employ when dealing with unfamiliar cultures (I'm not trying to single you out though, speaking more in broad terms).

 

 

 

 

and thats why JR Central is a piece of &!@#!@*#@!#

 

That's a bit harsh in my opinion, while I don't necessarily like JR Tōkai's decision to scrap the car, it's not like JR West preserved any cars from their F formations.

I also don't see why JR Tōkai would want a 500系 end car, seeing as they had nothing to do with the development or operation of the 500系, with the exception of it running on the Tōkaidō shinkansen from 1998 till 2010. With their own flagship the 700系(for the early 2000's), already starting service in 1999, I don't see what a 500系 end car would give them, that the current 700系 end car on display doesn't already provide.

 

As for the original poll,

 

Though, as i'm really more of a Kokutetsu (J.N.R.) fan I find it hard to get excited about more modern developments.

That said I voted for JR East as my most liked of the JR companies, partly because it was the first of the JR companies I came in contact with in Japan, and there are quite a few things I like about them.

Though I'm not too big on their latest designs (say from the late 2000's on wards), I do like some of their designs for their elegant simplicity in terms of styling (e.g. the E231系 looks good in my opinion, even though It's pretty modest in terms of external design) while still managing to move forward in terms of technology. I also like most of their post split Shinkansen designs (400系till E4系) As well as their renewal of the 200系 K formations. And even though there aren't that many J.N.R. designs left at JR East, they at least kept a few of them around for a long time after the split.

 

For least favorite, I seem to be the only one going for JR Kyūshū. For me this has nothing to do with them as a company in particular, but more with the designs of their trains.

With the exception of the 787系, I'm simply not a fan of the styling of a few of their trains (the KiHa71/72系 is the worst offender in my opinion) nor am I a fan of 'painted trains'. It also doesn't help that they have my least favorite shinkansen series, the 800系, which is probably the only shinkansen series where I can't find anything positive to say about.

 

Anyway, that's just my 2 yen opinion.

[Densha]

Well, I am not fan of freight trains, that's why I didn't put JR Freight on my least favourite..

Sorry, maybe I wasn't clear. I meant that there is no option in the poll at all to choose for JR Freight as least favourite. @写真家

Edited August 5, 2015 by Densha

[miyakoji]

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