Progress of Electric Railways in Japan Teruo Kobayashi
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Breakthrou Breakthrough of Japanese Railway Breakthrough of Japanese Railway 1 Progress of Electric Railways in Japan Teruo Kobayashi Current State of Electric the dawn of railways to today’s shinkansen the year before railway nationalization, Railways in Japan high-speed railways and the progress in the government railways covered power technologies required for 2413 km while the private railways In 2001, railways in Japan carried 21.79 successful electric operations. reached 5231 km. billion passengers (25.1% of all passenger After the Russo–Japanese War (1904–05), transport) or 384.5 billion passenger-km Start of Railway Electrification the railways were soon making a major (27% of all passenger transport). Rail in Japan contribution to Japanese politics and the freight totalled 59 million tonnes (1.0% of economy but there were increasing calls, all freight transport) or 22.2 billion tonne- Railways in Japan started with the 1872 especially from the military, for railway km (3.8% of total), clearly indicating that opening of the 29-km line built by under nationalization. The passage of the Japanese railway operators are almost the guidance of British engineers between Railway Nationalization Law in 1906 saw exclusively passenger companies. Tokyo and Yokohama—the gateway port the start of railway nationalization when Following the 1987 privatization and to Japan in those days. Early railway the government purchased 4800 km of division of Japanese National Railways construction and operations were the lines belonging to the 17 private railway (JNR), railways in Japan are now composed responsibility of the Railway Bureau of the companies transferring 48,000 employees of the six passenger operators and JR Freight Ministry of Public Works. Railway and 25,000 pieces of rolling stock to the in the JR group plus as other public and construction started throughout the nation publicly owned government railways. private railway operators. but a large number of new lines were Japan’s first electric railway was opened Table 1 to 4 show that Japanese railways being built by private investors. In 1893, in May 1890 when Tokyo Electric Light are principally passenger railways and the the Railway Bureau became the Railway Company built a 400-m track (1372-mm majority of lines use EMUs, with Agency and the 589-km line between gauge) at the Third Industrial Exposition companies in the JR group using both DC Tokyo and Kobe was opened in 1899 as in Ueno Park, Tokyo where they operated and AC electrification methods and other the nation’s main rail artery. Other main two tramcars imported from J. G. Brill & private railway companies using DC lines were being built in rapid succession Co. of the USA. The first genuinely g electrification only. by private companies and the length of commercial operations started in 1895 Today’s operations by the JRs started with private lines was soon three times that of when Kyoto Electric Railway started transport in the large cities and then government lines; many private lines were operating four tramcars using a 500-V progressed to electrification of main lines also offering better speeds and services trolley pole system in Kyoto City with h between major cities and the opening of than the government railways. In 1895, hydroelectric power generated by water shinkansen high-speed railway links; the other private and public railway Table 1 Electrified Operation-km of JR Group Companies in March 2003 companies handle transport in and around Operation-km DC km AC km Electrification the larger cities. Moreover, the low Conventional lines 17,857 6280 3,662 55% numbers of locomotives is due to the Shinkansen 2,249 – 2,249 100% better suitability of EMUs for passenger and high-density operations in the major Table 2 Electric Rolling Stock of JR Group Companies cities. Electrification technologies in Electric locomotives EMUs Total Japan started with tramway operations and Conventional lines 780 21,719 22,499 then developed into DC electrification of Shinkansen – 3,731 3,731 city operations. The major changeover point occurred in 1955 on the JNR Senzan Table 3 Operation-km and DC Electrified Operations of Private Railways Line when it was converted to single- Operation-km DC Electrified km Electrification phase AC using the commercial electricity Railways 7,108 5,088 71% supply. Subsequent main-line Tramways 482 475 99% electrification saw widespread adoption of AC, which was also adopted at the 1964 Table 4 Electric Rolling Stock of Private Railways opening of the Tokaido Shinkansen. This Electric locomotives EMUs Totals article describes the development of Railways 119 25,649 25,768 electrification technology in Japan from 62 Japan Railway & Transport Review 42 • December 2005 JNR-designated Railway Memorial Nade 6141 electric railcar (two trolley poles) Rotary transformers (JR East Oi Workshop) (Tokyo–Yokohama Electric Plant Memorial Photograph Album by Railway Bureau) carried by canal from Lake Biwa. A few method had a complex structure and Railway Nationalization and years later, electric operations started over made it difficult to achieve faster Railway Agency a 2.3-km line in Nagoya City using power operations speeds so the single overhead supplied by a coal-fired power station. line method was investigated and by Railway Agency Working Tram ordinances promoted electrification 1911, electric carriages were running Committee of city tramway operations and the first using this method. Following the 1906 nationalization, in steam railway to be electrified was the 1908, responsibility for administration of 10.9-km line operated by Kobu Railway Power supplies and overhead line railways was transferred from the Ministry between Iidamachi and Nakano in 1904. voltages of Communications to the Railway This section was purchased by the Today, Japan’s national power grid uses Agency, which was part of the cabinet, Ministry of Railways as part of the 1906 two frequencies; 60 Hz in the east and and this administration system continued nationalization to become the first 50 Hz in the west, with the border at the until 1987 when JNR was privatized and electrified section of the government River Fuji near Mt Fuji on the main island divided. The first Director-General of the railways. of Honshu. The historic reason is because Railway Agency was Shimpei Goto generation equipment was imported (1857–1929) who had been appointed the Single and multiple overhead separately from Europe and the USA. first President of the South Manchuria lines Unlike today, in the early days of electric Railway in 1906. The early electric operations used cars railway operations, commercial power In 1910, Goto established the Railway with either one or two trolley poles. In from the national grid was not used and Agency Working Committee to deal with modern electric railways, the negative the railway companies built their own the enormous expansion in the current (return) flows back to the power power stations and the generated power government railways caused by purchases substation via the rails but at that time, was then transformed to the 600-V supply resulting from the Railway Nationalization the return current was returned to the used by railcars. Some generation stations Law. This committee had 17 sub- substation via the overhead line. Since used hydroelectric power but most were committees. The avowed purpose of communications lines in those days used thermal stations generating power from nationalization was to streamline railway a single wire, this overhead return was coal. The power transformation from AC management and operations; increase used to prevent railway earth leaks to DC was done using rotary converters transportation capacity; promulgate the interfering with communications and also but since the technology of the day made ascendancy of manufacturing; plan to prevent electrolytic corrosion of rectification of commercial frequencies railway infrastructure; cut administrative underground structures caused by leakage difficult, a 25-Hz rotary converter was costs; and reduce transportation charges. current. In 1899, a special working group used and the railway power stations The second sub-committee of the decided on future use of multiple supplied power at a frequency of 25 Hz. committee was responsible for matters overhead lines for any suburban electric As a consequence, dedicated related to track gauge; until then tracks railway and the start of Kobu Railway tram hydroelectric power stations generating had been laid to the narrow-gauge operations used two trolley poles. power at 25 Hz were built to supply power standard (1067 mm) and this sub- However, the multiple overhead line to tram lines and railways in Tokyo. committee examined whether or not to Japan Railway & Transport Review 42 • December 2005 63 Breakthrough of Japanese Railway recommend a change to standard gauge (1435 mm). The opening of the Tokaido and the San’yo main lines had already seen discussion about the advisability of changing to standard gauge and in 1911, the government established the so-called ‘Standard Gauge Railway Upgrade Committee’ to compare the standard and narrow gauges, and examine the economic effects of standard gauge and whether it should be adopted for the national railways network. However, due to the massive costs of reconstructing the Usui Pass (Electrification Works on Shin’etsu Main Line (1912) by Railway Bureau) existing narrow-gauge network to standard gauge, it was decided to put 1000 kVA was built along with 6.6-kV Station completed in 1914. The new priority on new constructions, a situation power lines and two substations to station had four platforms serving 8 lines; that remained unchanged until 1964 transform the power to 650 Vdc using two platforms and four lines served when the Tokaido Shinkansen was opened rotary transformers. A third rail supplied Tokyo’s urban lines and the Tokyo– running on standard gauge. In addition, the electric locomotives. Interestingly, Yokohama line, while the other platforms sub-committee 13—the motive power there were storage batteries (total of served the Tokaido main line.