https://www.yomiuri.co.jp/national/20251220-GYT1T00097/ A car got in the way of a Kintetsu Kyoto Line limited express, scraped another one on the side, and went on fire. Everyone on the train was fine, but one car passenger died.
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Anonymous12/21/25(Sun)05:32:45
https://www.asahi.com/articles/ASTDM3RD8TDMPXLB00JM.html (paywalled) https://toyokeizai.net/articles/-/915252 (not paywalled but has retarded javascript, but you can load the site just fine if you disable all javascript)
Gobo Railway in danger of disappearing next year >2.7 km line in Wakayama with 5 stations >was in danger of closing in 1973 >but got bought out by a Tokyo real estate company because they wanted to raise the company prestige by running a railway >deficit kept getting worse >fast forward to this year >real estate company is bought out by chinks >chink management says if they don't find a buyer in 2026 they'll shut it down
Ure-Seat (reserved) on side-facing bench seats. Absolutely vile. How does JR West get away with this crap? What's stopping people from just walking into it and sitting down w/o a reservation? Is there a conductor enforcing anything?
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Anonymous12/22/25(Mon)17:29:40
>>2061729 >they didn't even bother to remove the ederly/disability seat sticker Lowest effort possible cash grab
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emcynnic!!ptLRpSKtkEn12/22/25(Mon)18:46:27
>>2061729 honor, i suppose. still retarded as fuck but i guess its basically the same as flixtrain or northern in the west lmao
https://www.jrkyushu.co.jp/common/inc/news/newtopics/__icsFiles/afieldfile/2025/12/25/251225_thenameofthenewstationhasbeendecided.pdf JR Kyushu is building a new station near Fukuoka Subway/Nishitetsu Kaizuka station, and thankfully they will name it JR Kaizuka instead of some stupid shit that came up in the surveys like "Kaizuka Gateway" or "Hakozaki Smart City". Also interesting that the filename is in English instead of Japanese.
If you're travelling on the Joetsu Shinkansen, and maybe even the regular Joetsu line, expect a lot of traffic for a while, especially around New Years, because there's only 2 paved roads between Gunma and Niigata, and one of those(Kan-etsu Expressway) just got closed due to a huge pileup crash and a fire, and the investigation and cleanup will apparently take weeks if not months. The other road(National Route 17) only has 1 lane each direction, and has a tunnel that doesn't fit taller coach buses, so you'll be competing for seat reservations with group tours which would otherwise have to make huge detours, either via Nagano through Karuizawa(Route 292 closes for winter so can't do Nagano through Kusatsu) or Ban'etsu Expressway through Koriyama.
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Anonymous12/28/25(Sun)06:09:12
Multiple local outlets seem to be reporting that the Japanese government has earmarked money in the new budget proposal for re-evaluation of Basic Plan Shinkansen lines yet to be built, but every single one is paywalled so all I can see are tweets about these articles. Are they really saying that the chances of Tsuruga - Shin-Osaka track being built are so low that other Shinkansen could be built first?
>Waltz up to Akita station this morning with my Resort Shirakami ticket to Wespa Tsubakiyama (Anothet great station name >>2061903 might like) >Sorry, due to sharyou toraburu it's cancelled, here's a replacement generic kaisoku though
And Jewpan Rail'd again today from Wespa -> Aomori, was meant to be one of the new ones but have been shafted with the old Kumagera set. Also my ticket was for a seat in car 4 row 11, and this ancient one only has 10 rows, so got tossed into the lounge.
What are diesel trains called in Japanese? 電車 means literally electric train, or is it also used?
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Anonymous12/31/25(Wed)10:41:12
>>2062278 Diesel railcars and DMUs fall under 気動車, but the average non-enthusiast will just refer to everything as 電車 the proper generic term for all trains is 列車
JR East starts 2026 with a car collision and derailment on the Utsunomiya Line between Shin-Shiraoka and Kuki. Car driver had to be ambulanced to a hospital, everyone on the train seemingly fine.
>>2062403 Is it? Wouldn't have made that connection, but Japan extremely recently (like last month) made the issuing of a Japanese drivers' license for foreigners harder. You actually need to know your 日本語 at this point. Previously you didn't need to at all. The license test was in fucking English.
>>2062333 I swear I saw an in train announcement saying the chuo line was delayed due to said derailment, how does that make sense? I can't be remembering that correctly, but I definitely saw that on the screen. great start for jr, maybe today will break the three day streak of shonan shinjuku line being suspended or severely delayed
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Anonymous01/03/26(Sat)04:22:27
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0CD__65aVs >Comments are turned off
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Anonymous01/03/26(Sat)07:16:38
>>2062408 Closing the driver's license exchange loophole (even to tourists who have not tangible connection to Japan and are by definition are non-residents) is an obviously rational thing to do,
Japan over the past 15 years under globalist/LDP control have pushed replacement migration into every sector of the economy. Hell, they even changed the laws letting temporary foreign workers into the transportation industry (yes that includes railways), anything to depress wages. The current Prime Minister is a lot more honest and anti-globalist, but that's a lot of harm to undo from over the years
What's the deal with this loop near Nishi Tsuruga?
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Anonymous01/03/26(Sat)15:45:43
>>2062461 The straighter portion has a 25‰ grade which limits freight capacity on the uphill and requires a second pusher locomotive, so in the 60's JNR built the second track with a less direct route but with 10‰ grade and use it uphill.
>>2062476 State-controlled media do not tolerate commentary they did not create themselves. Have you seen what the much worse contemporaries of the NHK (like the BBC) does?
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Anonymous01/04/26(Sun)11:12:16
>>2062535 Oh Well but we knew that. Thought there was some other reason.
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Anonymous01/07/26(Wed)18:18:29
>>2062440 > Railway Journal > it's about overselling redevelopment of towns
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Anonymous01/08/26(Thu)22:08:42
>Japan Railway Journal does a rehash episode of the Choshi Electric Railway >Now they did another rehash of the Geibi line Why are they doing this? the old and new episodes are seldom any different. Yes I know they selling the stations name, Yes I know they sell canned ballast, yes I know the CEO doubles as a driver you did exactly the same content on the old episode you NHK fucks
>>2062902 Retards who have a problem with recline can go ride buses or low cost carriers. You have no right to decide what the passenger in from of you does with *their* seat (that is not yours, and does not consider whatever the fuck you think is good or bad). We already had this stupid shit on airlines, now retards and their dishonest tatemae are pretending it's some virtue on trains
/long time airline status holder
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Anonymous01/09/26(Fri)13:25:38
>>2062910 The solution is to close the border. No more stupid, fucking gaijin. I'm one myself, but at this point, I'm thinking, it might be for the better. Japan is probably better off without foreigners in any capacity.
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Anonymous01/10/26(Sat)07:38:09
https://tabiris.com/archives/nagaragawa202601/ Nagaragawa Railway avoids proposed partial closure for now, municipalities on the line decided to try to implement tourism promotion measures.
https://tabiris.com/archives/kumamotoshiden202601/ Kumamoto Metro Area Urban Transport Master Plan contains three planned extentions to the tram network, plus one already greenlit for construction >Kengunmachi - Kumamoto City Hospital already greenlit, construction will start next year >Kengunmachi into Mashiki Town most likely to come next to ease congestion around TSMC facilities >Tasakibashi to the Nishi Ward Office area >Karashimacho - JR Minami-Kumamoto station >through-service with Kumamoto Electric Railway also to be considered
I sort of agree with both sides here, reclining without warning is bad etiquette, but at the same time I'd be hard pressed to think of a really good reason why I shouldn't be allowed to recline most of the time. My solution is I kind of play with the recline button and make like I'm going to recline a few times, then recline slightly like 2cm, then go upright to give them a chance to get ready, then I do the full recline. That way if something gets crushed it's on them.
People on JP railtwitter are doomposting about the future of Soya Main Line due to several things being suddenly changed or removed overnight, like the marker post on the platform being changed to a sticker, or a sign between Nukkai and Minami-Wakkanai stations pointing out the view of Rishiri Fuji being removed.
Surely they'll at least wait for the next typhoon that causes a decent amount of damage before canning it. But yeah glad I rode it last year at least as I doubt it'll last too many more years.
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Anonymous01/12/26(Mon)19:58:46
>>2063143 >typhoon They'd be waiting a long ass time. The last typhoon to get near was Songda in 2004, which broke apart in Sea of Japan before it could make a Hokkaido landfall(but was still strong enough to cause damage in Teshio).
MLIT has given JR Hokkaido a deadline until the end of fiscal 2026(so March 2027) to assess the 8 sections in the "yellow group" from the 2016 deficit announcement(200 - 2000 transportation density). You can see which lines are a part of that, and data about them here: https://www.jrhokkaido.co.jp/corporate/region/current.html Of the eight, Sekihoku Main Line(4,99 billion yen) and Soya Main Line north of Nayoro(2,73 billion yen) stand out. Every other line is below 2 billion yen deficit. So it's fair to assume that both would be under the most scrutiny. However, Sekihoku Main Line has the Kitami - Abashiri area with activity(one specific morning rush train pulls in 214 passengers), and the Asahikawa - Kamikawa section isn't doing that horribly either. So the logical next step, which I imagine Kitami and Abashiri cities will take to keep the line alive, is to say "Alright, you can save money by getting rid of all local trains between Kamikawa and Rubeshibe." Decrease in services plus adding a seat fee will reduce the money bleed and keep the line alive. Meanwhile, the most used Soya Main Line local train has 22 passengers between Horonobe and Wakkanai, and none of the 6 express trains have even 40 people going to or from Wakkanai itself. There is no real argument for keeping the line just for 6 express trains. It's too long, and JSDF already drives to Onishibetsu anyway. If I was a betting man, I'd put money on March 2028 closure. March 2027 is when JR will start pushing municipalities to sign agreement to close using the MLIT deadline as a justification. It will take time, but will likely be a matter of months, not years.
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Anonymous01/12/26(Mon)20:40:55
>>2063194 >Meanwhile, the most used Soya Main Line local train has 22 passengers between Horonobe and Wakkanai, and none of the 6 express trains have even 40 people going to or from Wakkanai itself. That's an average of ~20% occupancy rate since the 4-car KiHa 261-0 set used for Soya / Sarobetsu has 204 seats, jfc. Should I assume that it'd have even less passengers on certain periods?
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Anonymous01/12/26(Mon)23:47:29
>>2063194 Transportation density averages out the whole route, doesn't it, so on a line-wide scale it doesn't tell you if there are sections that are significantly above/below the figure for the whole line?