National Jul 9, 2020
Is that hand strap clean? Tokyo Metro sprays silver to fend off coronavirus
Tokyo's labyrinthine rail network of about 900 stations and roughly 85 lines has seen passenger numbers approach pre-virus levels.
Business Jun 2, 2020
JR East to open 100 unmanned convenience stores in next four years
East Japan Railway Co. will accelerate plans to open 100 unmanned convenience stores within the next four years, sources close to the matter said Tuesday, as it takes advantage of the need to reduce human contact amid the coronavirus pandemic. The company's first unmanned convenience ...
National Jun 1, 2020
East Japan Railway Co. opened a new platform for its Saikyo Line for use Monday at Shibuya Station in Tokyo. The railway operator moved the Saikyo Line platform north by about 350 meters so that the new platform and the Yamanote Line platforms are positioned ...
Business May 25, 2020
Masatake Matsuda, former president of East Japan Railway Co. and promoter of the April 1987 privatization of the Japanese National Railways, died of liver cancer last Tuesday, it was learned on Monday. He was 84. Matsuda, who joined the JNR in 1961, became an executive ...
Business / Corporate May 22, 2020
Japan's railways plan to scale back shinkansen suspensions as COVID-19 epidemic wanes
Three Japan Railways Group firms said Friday they plan to scale back cancellations of regular bullet train services ahead of a recovery in travel demand expected from the government's lifting of the state of emergency in many areas of the country. Central Japan Railway Co. ...
National Apr 14, 2020
Seat reservations for JR trains in Golden Week holiday at record low
Seat reservations for shinkansen and limited express services for the upcoming Golden Week holidays have plunged 90 percent to a record low in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, data by six major railway companies showed Tuesday. Total seat reservations as of Monday at East ...
National Apr 14, 2020
Yamanote Line commuters down 60 percent following state of emergency
The number of passengers on the Yamanote Line in Tokyo during morning commuting hours last Wednesday to Friday, the first three days after an emergency declaration over the new coronavirus, was down 60 percent from early February, East Japan Railway Co., or JR East, ...
Business Mar 21, 2020
Harajuku Station replaced by gleaming glass box for Tokyo Games
The new version of Harajuku Station opened on Tokyo's busy Yamanote loop line Saturday as visitors in masks gathered to gawk despite the coronavirus pandemic. The new building, situated just south of the original wooden one, is a two-story structure straddling the tracks with exits ...
Business Mar 17, 2020
A robot that cooks soba noodles is serving hungry commuters at a train station in western Tokyo in yet another example of Japan's shift to automation as labor remains in short supply. The robot was introduced Monday on a trial basis at Higashikoganei Station on ...
Business / Corporate Mar 14, 2020
Tokyo's Takanawa Gateway Station opens to public as Shinagawa development marks milestone
by Ryusei Takahashi
Takanawa Gateway Station opened its doors to the public on Saturday, becoming the latest addition to Tokyo's Yamanote and Keihin Tohoku lines and marking a major milestone in a decadeslong project to transform a large part of the Shinagawa district into a global transportation ...
Business / Corporate Mar 14, 2020
JR East's Joban Line fully reopens after nine long years following Fukushima disaster
The reopening of a section near the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant means that all Tohoku lines have completely resumed operations following the 2011 disaster.