Japan Railway & Transport Review No. 61 (p22-p29) Feature : Export and Import of Railway Technologies Japan’s Railway Technologies Serving on Overseas Railways Yasuki Kurasawa |
Geographical Features of Japan |
As many JRTR readers know, railways only grow in line with social and geographical conditions. Consequently, before delving into the topic of overseas expansion of Japanese railway industry, we need to know a little about their situation, so this article starts with a simple introduction to Japan’s geography. |
Railway Business in Japan |
Japan’s first railway opened in 1872 with a single line between Shimbashi and Yokohama. New lines soon followed in parallel with land development and industrial growth. Progress was rapid in the latter half of the Meiji era (1868–1912) and a network spanning 20,000 km had been built by 1940. Early lines were built using British technology and locomotives along with engineers were also imported from Great Britain. |
Features of Japan’s Railway Industry |
According to a 2012 report by the German transport consultants SCI Verkehr, the world market for rolling stock is about ¥8.6 trillion, rising to ¥14.3 trillion when system technology and infrastructure are included. |
Overseas Expansion of Japan’s Railway Industry |
Japan has exported railway rolling stock since the mid-
1950s and the nation’s railway technology is highly
acclaimed globally. The government, the Japan International
Cooperation Agency (JICA), and the JR group of operators,
provide international assistance as technical cooperation in
Asia, Africa, and South America. So, although it makes up less than 10% of the global market, why is Japanese railway industry well accepted? The reasons and some specific examples in each region are described below. Morocco In the first example, three types of electric locomotives totalling 42 units were exported from 1977 to 1984 to the Morroccan Railways (ONCF). These units are now 30 to 35-years old but are still hauling trains hundreds of kilometers each day with an overall operation rate of better than 90%. With the appropriate maintenance these locomotives will be usable for another 30 years, fully demonstrating ONCF’s satisfaction with their high reliability. These words are more than hearsay; they were said by ONCF’s deputy director, the African representative at the 2010 UIC General Assembly in Tokyo. As life cycle costs (LCC) have become a key issue, this example is even more important. Egypt The second example is the export of more than 1000 tramcars since 1962 to Cairo (Cairo Transportation Authority, CTA and Heliiopolis light rail, now controlled by CTA) and Alexandria in Egypt. The tram rails and overhead lines were in poor condition and reduced the equipment life when new orders were placed in 1977. JICA provided assistance to CTA in establishing a training centre for electric train operation at the request of the Egyptian government. Dispatching experts and lending equipment helped increase the operation rate of Cairo city trams, leading to orders for more cars for Cairo Metro Line 1 and Line 2. The government of Egypt also asked for Japanese assistance in building its own tramcars in Egypt. Many engineers from Japan provided assistance resulting in the first domestic production of Cairo city trams in 1979. Venezuela A Japanese/Italian/Venezuelan international consortium received contracts for a double-tracked AC electrification project near Caracas in 1992 and 2004. Japanese rolling stock was supplied for a 42-km line between Caracas and Cúa, and a rolling-stock maintenance factory, depot equipment, signals and communications equipment, station services equipment, spare parts, and more were delivered. The line started in 2006 and it is the only line of Venezuela’s State Railways Institution (IFE) running as planned. Venezuela is proceeding with a project to build a national 13,000-km railway system and construction is proceeding under Italian direction. The Japanese management, finance structuring ability, and excellent rolling-stock design and production technology for the suburban line projects are highly acclaimed. Lines are operating smoothly, and passenger transport volumes are increasing, leading to an order in 2012 for 52 more cars for 13 train sets. Taiwan Any description of Japanese railway exports cannot overlook the Taiwan High-Speed Rail Project. Japanese and European consortiums competed from the early 1990s to win the order for a high-speed rail project covering the 340 km between Taipei and Kaohsiung. The project was full of twists and turns, changing from a national project to a build-operate-transfer (BOT) project, and it seemed to have been finalized in 1997 when the European consortium was chosen as the preferred bidder. However, the Japanese consortium worked hard to convince Taiwan to adopt the shinkansen system, gaining preferred bidder status in 1999. This surprised the European consortium and led to a lawsuit. There were several reasons for the dramatic reversal. First, the European consortium suffered a German ICE derailment and rollover killing more than 100 people just after Taiwan railway personnel visited in 1997 to observe. Concerns about the safety of Europe’s high-speed rail technology increased along with requests for more information on Japanese shinkansen technology. In response, the Japan Overseas Rolling Stock Association (JORSA) held seminars in Taiwan on high-speed rail in April and September of 1999, creating a sensation. Then, a major earthquake struck Taichung just 2 weeks after the seminar. As a result, earthquake countermeasures became a major issue and Japan was the only bidder with experts in earthquake resistance. A specialized seminar on earthquake countermeasures for railways was held in December at the request of Taiwan side, and most speakers were from Japan. That earthquake seminar was the final push for Japan’s high-speed rail system receiving the order, attesting to the excellence of shinkansen technology and making Japan’s presence in the railway industry felt worldwide. United Kingdom The last example is from the UK’s Class 395 high-speed commuter train in suburban London. Japan’s railway industry has considerable experience in exporting rolling stock and equipment to European markets. Electric locomotives and equipment for metro rolling stock have been exported to Spain along with complete EMUs and DMUs to Ireland. Moreover, Japanese manufacturers ship many large-current semiconductor devices to Europe’s major railway manufacturers. However, the circumstances were slightly different for delivery of complete trainsets to the UK, which no longer has domestic rolling-stock manufacturers. Railway privatization has not always been smooth in the UK; in the early days, the network suffered from frequent delays and train breakdowns, as well as signalling troubles. Delivery delays and breakdowns of rolling stock from European makers were prominent issues, dealing a blow to their reputation. In an attempt to enter the UK market, Hitachi, Ltd. started efforts to win orders in 1999. However, it suffered from the disadvantage of not being widely recognized as a railway manufacturer, but more as a manufacturer of TVs, refrigerators and other home appliances. Hitachi believed it had developed a good feel for the market by participating in bids in 2000 and 2001, but their trains were mocked as being ‘paper trains’ due to a lack of actual results. Eventually, Hitachi proved its reliability through efforts to promote understanding, such as participation in international conferences and exhibitions as well as by fitting British conventional trains with Hitachi controllers free-of-charge for operational tests. In a third attempt in 2003, Hitachi won the bid for the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL) high-speed commuter train. A ceremony attended by Queen Elizabeth II was held on 7 November 2007 at London’s St Pancras Station, which had been newly enovated for the CTRL extension, ahead of the start of extended operations into central London later in November. The UK railway ndustry was stunned by Hitachi’s Class 395, hailed as ‘the first train to be delivered on schedule’ in a country where delays were the norm. Japan’s first railway in 1872 was introduced using British technology and now 140 years later, high-speed rail technology from Japan had returned to support the original home of railways—Great Britain. |
Photo: Electric Locomotive for Morocco (JORSA) Figure 1: Diverse Urban Transport Photo: Tram for CTA in Egypt (JORSA) Photo: Electric Cars for Venezuela (JORSA) Photo: Taiwan High-speed Rail Line (JORSA) Photo: UK’s Class 395 high-speed commuter train (JORSA) |
Outlook |
Railway equipment centring on rolling stock is unlike
computers and other electronic devices because it
has many moving parts that eventually fail due to wear,
consumption, and aging. Passenger railways in particular
have an important mission because they are tasked with
ensuring people’s safety. Railways depend on experience
amassed over time and lasting engineering technology. |
Yasuki Kurasawa Mr. Kurasawa is currently a director of Administration Department at Japan Overseas Rolling Stock Association. |