In Japan, railways are a major means of passenger transport, especially for mass and high speed transport between major cities and for commuter transport in metropolitan areas. Seven Japan Railway companies, once state owned until 1987, cover most parts of Japan. There also are railway services operated by private rail companies, regional governments, and companies funded by both regional governments and private companies. A metropolitan area is a large population center consisting of a large city and its adjacent zone of influence, or of several neighboring cities or towns and adjoining areas, with one or more large cities serving as its hub or hubs. ... Approximate areas that the JR Hokkaido, JR East, JR Central, JR West, JR Shikoku, and JR Kyushu Companies cover. ...

Total railways of 23,670.7 km include entirely electrified 2,893.1 km of 1.435-m standard gauge and 89.8 km of 1.372-m narrow gauge, 89.8 km of which is electrified. Half of 20,656.8 km 1.067-m gauge and 3.6 km of 31 km 0.762-m gauge are electrified (1994). A kilometre (American spelling: kilometer, symbol: km) is a unit of length equal to 1000 metres (from the Greek words khilia = thousand and metro = count/measure). ... The metre, (symbol: m) is the SI base unit of length. ... As railways developed and expanded one of the key issues to be decided was that of the rail gauge (the distance between the two rails of the track) which should be used. ... Narrow-gauge railways are railroads (railways) with track spaced at less than the standard gauge of 4 ft 8 in (1. ...

Japanese Railway History

Railroads were long the most important means of passenger and freight transportation, ever since they were established in the late nineteenth century, but from the 1960s they were rivaled in usage by road transportation. The relative share of railroads in total passengerkilometers fell from 66.7 percent in 1965 to 42 percent in 1978, and to 29.8 percent in 1990. By contrast, automobiles and domestic airlines were carrying ever-larger shares of the passenger traffic in 1990.

Japan Railways

At the heart of Japan's railroad system is the Japan Railways Group, a government-subsidized group of eight companies that took over most of the assets, operations, and liabilities of the government-owned Japanese National Railways in 1987. Initially, the companies remained in the public domain, but privatization began for some of the companies in the early 1990s. There are six passenger companies: the East Japan, West Japan, and Central Japan railway companies, which operate in Honshu, and the Kyushu, Shikoku, and Hokkaido railroad companies, which operate on the islands for which the companies were named. In addition, the East Japan Railway Company, since the opening of the Seikan Tunnel between Honshu and Hokkaido in 1988, also provides express service to Sapporo. Similarly, the Central Japan Railway Company started serving Shikoku after the 1990 completion of the Seto-Ohashi bridges, a system of seven bridges linking Honshu and Shikoku. The six companies had 18,800 kilometers of routes (mostly 1.1-meter track) in use in the late 1980s. About 25 percent of the routes were in double-track and multitrack sections, and the rest were single-track. In 1988 about 51 percent of the six companies' 1,000 locomotives were diesel, and the rest were electric. Another company, Japan Freight Railway Company, ownes its locomotives (295 diesel and 569 electric locomotives in 1988), rolling stock, and stations but hires track from the six passenger companies. It runs fewer trains on less track than Japanese National Railways freight service did before its demise but at increased revenues and higher productivity. The eighth company, the Shinkansen Property Corporation, leases Shinkansen (dubbed "bullet" train in english) railroad facilities--including 2,100 kilometers of 1.4-meter gauge highspeed track--to the passenger companies on Honshu. Some of the Shinkansen electric-powered trains operate at speeds up to 240 kilometers per hour. Japan Railway, more commonly called JR, is a collective term for the privatized descendants of the former Japanese National Railways, formed when JNR was divided into seven parts on April 1, 1987. ... A subsidy is generally a monetary grant given by government in support of an activity regarded as being in the public interest. ... It has been suggested that Definiton of asset be merged into this article or section. ... The word operation can mean any of several things: The method, act, process, or effect of using a device or system. ... In the most general sense, a liability is anything that is a hindrance, or puts one at a disadvantage. ... Japanese National Railways (日本国有鉄道 Nippon Kokuyū Tetsudō), abbreviated Kokutetsu (国鉄) or JNR, was the national railway network of Japan from 1872 to 1987. ... Yamanote Line, Tokyo JR Yamanote Line train in Tokyo, Japan Above Yurakucho in Tokyo East Japan Railway Company (東日本旅客鉄道 Higashi-Nihon Ryokyaku Tetsudo or JR東日本; JR Higashi-Nihon) (TYO: 9020) is a Japanese private railroad company, the largest passenger railway company in the world and one of the seven JR companies. ... West Japan Railway Company (西日本旅客鉄道株式会社 Nishi Nihon Ryokaku Tetsudô Kabushiki Gaisha), commonly known as JR-West (JR西日本 JR Nishi Nihon), is one of JR companies in Japan that covers western Honshu. ... JR Central Towers in Nagoya The Central Japan Railway Company (東海旅客鉄道 JR Tōkai; JR 東海) is the main railway company operating in the Chubu (Nagoya) region of central Japan. ... todo mal de [ [ Shikoku ] ] a través del [ [ mar interior ] ], y noreste de [ [ Kyushu ] ] a través del [ [ estrecho de Kanmon ] ]. Es la séptima isla más grande, y la segunda isla populosa en el mundo después de [ [ Java (isla)|Java ] ] (véase [ [ lista de las islas de la población ] ]). < style=float del div... Kyushu region, Japan Kyushu (九州) is the third largest island of Japan and most southerly and westerly of the four main islands. ... Shikoku (四国, four provinces) is the smallest and least populous of the four main islands of Japan. ... Hokkaido   listen? (北海道 Hokkaidō, literal meaning: North Sea Route, Ainu: Mosir), formerly known as Ezo, is the second largest island of Japan. ... The Seikan Tunnel (青函トンネル Seikan Tonneru) is currently the longest railway tunnel in the world, at 53. ... Sapporo scene Sapporo White Illumination Sapporo (札幌市; -shi) is the fifth-largest city in Japan and it is the capital of Hokkaido Prefecture. ... The Kita Bisan-Seto and Minami Bisan-Seto Bridges The Great Seto Bridge (Japanese: 瀬戸大橋, also known as the Seto-Ohashi Bridge or the Seto-Chuo Expressway) is a series of double deck bridges connecting Okayama and Kagawa prefectures in Japan across a series of five small islands in the Seto... The diesel engine is a type of internal combustion engine; more specifically, it is a compression ignition engine, in which the fuel is ignited by being suddenly exposed to the high temperature and pressure of a compressed gas containing oxygen (usually atmospheric air), rather than a separate source of ignition... The Japan Freight Railway or JR Freight (日本貨物鉄道 Nihon Kamotsu Tetsudō) is one of the constituent companies of Japan Railway (JR). ... A railroad car (or, more briefly, car), also known as an item of rolling stock in British parlance, is a vehicle on a railroad or railway that is not a locomotive - one that provides another purpose than purely haulage, although some types of car are powered. ... Shinkansen 0 Series at Fukuyama Station, April 2002 Shinkansen 500 Series at Kyoto Station, March 2005 300 (Left) and 700 Series Shinkansen at Tokyo Station The Shinkansen (Japanese: 新幹線) is a network of high-speed railway lines in Japan. ...

Another nearly 3,400 kilometers of routes, mostly 1.1-meter gauge, are operated by major private railroads and by what are known in Japan as third-sector railroads--new companies, financed with private and local government funds--which absorbed some of Japanese National Railways' rural lines. There were twenty-seven private and third-sector companies in 1989.

What remained of the debt-ridden Japanese National Railways after its 1987 breakup was named the Japanese National Railways Settlement Corporation. Its purpose was to dispose of assets not absorbed by the successor companies and to execute other activities relating to the breakup, such as reemployment of former personnel. The demise of the government-owned system came after charges of serious management inefficiencies, profit losses, and fraud. By the early 1980s, passenger and freight business had declined, and fare increases failed to keep up with higher labor costs. The new companies introduced competition, cut their staffing, and made reform efforts. Initial public reaction to these moves was good: the combined passenger travel on the Japan Railways Group passenger companies in 1987 was 204.7 billion passenger-kilometers, up 3.2 percent from 1986, while the passenger sector previously had been stagnant since 1975. The growth in passenger transport of private railroads in 1987 was 2.6 percent, which meant that the Japan Railways Group's rate of increase was above that of the private sector railroads for the first time since 1974. Demand for rail transport was improved, although it still accounted for only 28 percent of passenger transportation and only 5 percent of cargo transportation in 1990. Rail passenger transportation was superior to automobiles in terms of energy efficiency and of speed in longdistance transportation. The private sector of a nations economy consists of those entities which are not controlled by the state - i. ... In physics and engineering, including mechanical and electrical engineering, energy efficiency is a dimensionless number, with a value between 0 and 1. ...

Subways

In addition to its extensive railroads, Japan has an impressive number of subway systems. The largest is the Tokyo subway, where the network in 1989 consists of 211 kilometers of track serving 205 stations. Two subway systems serve the capital: one run by the Tokyo Metro (named Teito Rapid Transit Authority until 2004), with eight lines (the oldest, Ginza line was built in 1927), and the other operated by the Tokyo metropolitan government's Transportation Bureau (Toei), with four lines. Outlying and suburban areas are served by seven private railroad companies, whose lines intersect at major stations with the subway system. More than sixty additional kilometers of subway were under construction in 1990 by the two companies. This article describes subways as mass transit lines. ... The Tokyo Subway (地下鉄 chikatetsu) is one of the worlds most extensive metro/subway systems. ... new Tokyo Metro sign and logo This office tower, above Tokyo Metro Ueno Station, houses the headquarters of the Tokyo Metro. ... Ginza Line (Click on image to enlarge. ... The Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation (東京都交通局 Tōkyō-to Kōtsū-kyoku) is Tokyos public transportation authority. ...

There are a number of other metro systems in other Japanese cities, including the Fukuoka City Subway, Kobe Municipal Subway, Kyoto Municipal Subway, Osaka Municipal Subway, Nagoya Subway, Sapporo Subway, Sendai Subway and Yokohama Subway. The Fukuoka City Subway (福岡市地下鉄) serves Fukuoka City, Japan. ... Kōbe Municipal Subway (神戸市営地下鉄 Kōbe shiei chikatetsu) is the subway of Kobe. ... Kyoto Municipal Transportation Bureau (京都市交通局 Kyōto-shi kōtsū-kyoku) operates municipal subways and city buses in Kyoto, Japan. ... A Nagoya subway train on the Higashiyama line. ... Sapporo Subway(札幌市営地下鉄: Sapporo Shiei Chikatetsu) is the rapid transit system in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan. ... The Yokohama subway network in Yokohama, Japan is operated by two groups. ...

Hiroshima and Kobe have light rail systems, and Osaka, in addition to its subway, had an intermediate capacity transit system (rubber-tired motor cars running on concrete guideways). Main keep of Hiroshima Castle The city of Hiroshima (広島市; -shi) is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture, and the largest city in the Chugoku region of western Honshu, the largest of Japans islands. ... Kobe (Japanese: 神戸市; kōbe-shi) is a city in Japan, located on the island of Honshu. ... Osaka Castle (ÅŒsaka-jō) Location in Japan Osaka Aquarium (Kaiyukan) Osaka railway station The Osaka Tower (TsÅ«tenkaku) Osaka City   listen? (大阪市; ÅŒsaka-shi) is the third-largest city in Japan, with a population of 2. ...

Some cities operate street car systems, including Hiroshima, Matsuyama, Nagasaki, and Tokyo (one line only). Main keep of Hiroshima Castle The city of Hiroshima (広島市; -shi) is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture, and the largest city in the Chugoku region of western Honshu, the largest of Japans islands. ... See Matsuyama (disambiguation) for other places having a name Matsuyama. ... Nagasaki at night, 2003 Megane-bashi (Spectacles Bridge) Nagasaki   listen? (長崎市; -shi, literally long peninsula) is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture located on the south-western coast of Kyushu, the southernmost of the four mainland islands of Japan. ...

All of these cities are also well served by public and private railroads.

See also

• Monorails in Japan
• List of railway companies in Japan
• List of railway electification systems in Japan
• List of railway companies in Japan
• List of Railway Stations in Japan

Here is an alphabetical list of monorails in Japan: Categories: Japan-related stubs | Rail stubs | Transportation in Japan ... Japan Railway (formerly Japanese National Railways) Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central) East Japan Railway Company (JR East) Hokkaido Railway Company (JR Hokkaido) Kyushu Railway Company (JR Kyushu) Shikoku Railway Company (JR Shikoku) West Japan Railway Company (JR West) Japan Freight Railway Company (JR Freight) Big 15 major private railways... This is a list of Railway Electrification Systems in Japan: A-F Agatsuma Line - Akita Shinkansen - Aoimori Railway - Chuo Main Line - first electric line in Japan Chuo-Sobu Line - Fukuchiyama Line - G-K Gakkentoshi Line Hachiko Line Hakone-Tozan Line Hankyu Kobe Line Hankyu Kyoto Line Hanwa Line Hokuriku Main... Japan Railway (formerly Japanese National Railways) Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central) East Japan Railway Company (JR East) Hokkaido Railway Company (JR Hokkaido) Kyushu Railway Company (JR Kyushu) Shikoku Railway Company (JR Shikoku) West Japan Railway Company (JR West) Japan Freight Railway Company (JR Freight) Big 15 major private railways... List of Railway Stations in Japan List of Railway Stations in Japan is a list of Railway stations in Japan, ordered in the natural Japanese order. ...

Reference

• This article incorporates public domain text from the Library of Congress Country Studies. - Japan