Breakthrou Breakthrough of Japanese Railway

Breakthrough of Japanese Railway 1 Progress of Electric Railways in 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, , while the other platforms sub-committee 13—the motive power there were storage batteries (total of served the Tokaido main line. At the time sub-committee—was responsible for 1332 Ah) at the substations that were used of the station opening, the 22-km section discussing plans for railway electrification, to compensate the output of the rotary between Shinagawa and Yokohama had electrification methods and hydroelectric transformers when trains were climbing been electrified but the overhead double power generation and the results saw the the grade and to store power produced line system used previously had been planning and start of electric operations by regenerative braking when trains were changed to the overhead single line on Tokyo’s . running downgrade. At that time, use of system electrified at 1200 Vdc. The storage batteries in substations was quite Tokyo–Shinagawa section used the Shin’etsu Line and Usui Pass normal and could still be a very good German 60-m compound catenary method The Shin’etsu Line links Tokyo with technology for confronting energy of Siemens while the Shinagawa– Niigata, the gateway port to Japan on the problems today. Yokohama section used the American Sea-of-Japan coast. It was an important The generators, generation equipment and 45-m simple catenary method of Ohio line for transporting agricultural produce, electric locomotives were all imported Bryce. The electrifications works were fish, and petroleum from Niigata to the from Europe and the USA. However, the completed in December 1914 and electric Tokyo metropolitan region. However, the subsequent construction of a gravity-fed operations started from 20 December. 11.2-km section between Yokogawa and oil pipeline parallel to the tracks between However, due to poor work and lack of Karuizawa stations crosses the Usui Pass Karuizawa and Yokogawa making use of experience with the new technologies, with a steep grade of 66.7 per mill (1:15) the difference in elevation saw the line operations were switched back to steam rising and falling 553 m over 26 steeply struggle economically due to decreasing from 26 December and electric operations inclined sections. Steam operations using freight levels and the section was finally were delayed for a further 6 months. The an Abt rack-and-pinion system started in closed in 1997 to become part of an first pantographs used the roller method 1893 but the speed of 7.5 km/h meant that Important Cultural Property after the but soon changed to the slip-plate method 75 minutes were required to cross the pass opening of the Hokuriku (Nagano) still used today. Electricity (DC) was and this section was seen as a candidate Shinkansen. purchased from Tokyo Railway operating for urgent electrification. The start of electric tramways in inner Tokyo and also electric operations in 1912 saw the Tokyo (Central) Station from electric utilities but there were journey time drop 75 minutes to The 1906 railway nationalization problems of price and since the frequency 43 minutes. To supply the required presented the opportunity to move the of the utility power was 50 Hz, the electric power, a coal-fired power station terminus at Shimbashi Station in government railways built their own with three generators each supplying Shiodome to the new Tokyo (Central) power station at Yaguchi on the Rokugo

64 Japan Railway & Transport Review 42 • December 2005 Generators powered by gas engines at Yaguchi Power Station Hydroelectric power station on River Shinano (JR East) (Tokyo–Yokohama Electric Plant Memorial Photograph Album by Railway Bureau)

River using engines powered by city gas utilizing the flow of the River Shinano. Kozu, and the 1931 electrification of to generate 6000 kW at 25 Hz, as well as The plan called for construction of a 81 km on the Chuo main line between transformer substations next to the tracks. station producing 11,700 kW at Ojiya Hachioji and Kofu. As a result, coal-fired This marked the start of genuine electric where the main river drops 100 m in a power stations were built in 1923 in railway operations in Tokyo. short stretch. In the following year, the Akabane and in 1930 in Kawasaki to Government Railways Power Company strengthen the electricity supply system. Law was proposed to establish a public– Furthermore, the Tenryu River was Securing Power Supplies private power generation company but examined as a source of power for the although the proposal was passed by the electrification of the Shizuoka–Nagoya Electrification Investigation House of Representatives of the Japanese section of the Tokaido main line in the Committee and power company Diet, discussion was shelved by the House Tokai and Chubu regions and Following the end of WWI, railway of Peers. The first aim of the plan was to responsibility for development of power electrification became the subject of secure power for the government railways’ supplies was shifted in 1952 to the Electric intense debate as a means of securing the electrification by building a public–private Power Development Company Ltd. nation’s rapidly growing transport needs. power company that would supply any Electrification in the Kansai region started The Electrification Investigation surplus power to other railways and with examination of the Totsu River but Committee established in 1919 businesses. The existing private power hopes for developing it as a hydroelectric recommended electrification of 4100 km utilities were worried about this source were abandoned in 1954. of lines and securing sufficient generation competition from a new business and Subsequently, generation capacity was capacity for transport became an petitioned the government to reject the strengthened at the hydro plant on the important issue in developing the plans. idea of selling any surplus, leading to the River Shinano and the coal-fired plant in It was decided, ‘In principle and plan’s abandonment. The plan for the Kawasaki with the former able to generate irrespective of whether power is hydroelectric power station called for 450,000 kW and the latter 550,000 kW. purchased from power utilities or obtained construction to start in October 1920 but Currently, the power stations belonging from a government railways’ power the financial impact of the 1923 Great to JR East supply about 60% of its annual company, it must be both inexpensive and Kanto Earthquake on the public purse electricity needs. high quality. Moreover, consideration will caused a temporary delay and in 1925 it have to be given to the performance of was decided to split the construction into Progress with electrification private power utilities as well as to four phases to permit economies in When the cabinet decided in July 1919 development of government railways’ construction costs and time for raising to economize on coal consumption, the own power companies.’ In concrete funds. Phases 1 and 2 called for Railway Electrification Investigation terms, this meant examining plans to build construction of a power station at Senju Committee had planned to electrify a hydroelectric power station to save coal, followed by the second stage of 4100 km of lines, starting with 83 km on the main fuel at that time. construction at Ojiya during phases 3 and the Tokaido main line between Tokyo and At a cabinet meeting in July 1919, it was 4. The Senju power station finally started Odawara, 26 km on the , decided to economize on the usage of operations in 1939. and 87 km on the Chuo main line coals for government railways’ operations On the other hand, demand for electric between Hachioji and Kofu. and a plan was proposed to secure power power was increasing rapidly following Electrification started, but in terms of for the railway operations in Tokyo by the 1923 electrification of 77 km on the results, only part of the network, such as building a hydroelectric power station Tokaido main line between Tokyo and city suburbs and graded sections was

Japan Railway & Transport Review 42 • December 2005 65 Breakthrough of Japanese Railway

being electrified. As part of the WWII bulk of their income from electric railway However, the urgently desired plan for full controls to strengthen military transport operations soon became relatively large electrification of the Tokaido main line all capacity, some sections of private electric electric lighting and supply utilities. the way between Tokyo and Kobe was railways were purchased by the Conversely, electric power utilities also opposed by the Civil Transportation government railways between 1943 and entered the electric railway business. Section (CTS) of GHQ and work was not 1944, giving a total of 19,620 operation- However, the small generation capacity started until the signing of the 1951 San km of which 1315 km (6.6%) were of the railway companies in the huge Francisco Peace Treaty. It was completed electrified lines. Of these 1315 km, electricity supply business meant that they 10 years later in 1961, taking 46 years 690 km were government railways’ lines could not compete with the power since electrification was first proposed and and 625 km were purchased private companies and their electric lighting 35 years since the first work started. electric railways. business was soon consolidated with that During this early postwar period, the of the larger power utilities, leaving five government railways established the powerful national companies at that time. Railway Electrification Committee in Private and Public Railways The 1938 National Mobilization Law and September 1947 that drew up a plan to the National Electricity Regulations of electrify a total of 1849 km of main lines. Electric railways April 1942 saw management of the With the spread of electric trams services electric railways’ power generation from the main cities into regional cities, business (70 operators) pass to nine power AC Electrification not only tram services but also small and distribution companies. Ever since then, medium size electric railways started the electricity business has been Reports about the postwar success of the appearing to link urban railways with independently managed by the nine French National Railways (SNCF) in tourist regions. In the 1930s, there were regionally divided power companies but electrification using commercial single- 3800 km of regional lines and 2060 km recent approval for liberalization of the phase AC power were soon heard and the of tramway lines forming the private generation market seems likely to lead to JNR President Sonosuke Nagasaki visited railway network. Subsequently, the April the entry of new players. France in 1953 to study the potential of 1938 publication of the National AC electrification, resulting in the Mobilization Law and the Land Transport formation of the AC Electrification Business Coordination Law resulted in Postwar Electrification Inspection Committee on his return to takeovers and transfers of the many Japan (see JRTR 27. pp. 32–39). This was various private companies to form the Following WWII, private railways were the start of AC electrification technology basis of the nine major private railway the mainstay of electric operations while in Japan, which would be subsequently operators that exist today. Furthermore, the government railways had still only adopted for the Tokaido Shinkansen the birth of the publicly owned Teito Rapid managed to electrify a few difficult opened in 1964. Compared to DC Transit Authority in 1941 marked the start sections and regions in and around the electrification, the voltages used in AC integrated subway services in Tokyo now major cities. The government lines were electrification are an order of magnitude operating as the Tokyo Metro. experiencing great difficulties with steam higher, so the distances between trackside operations due to the poor-quality postwar transformer equipment can be much Electric lighting business coals. The need for electrification had to longer, which might be expected to Electric railways need electricity to be negotiated with MacArthur’s GHQ and reduce the number of ground facilities. produce motive power and the early was commenced slowly during postwar However, for rolling stock using DC railways operated their own power shortages of food and materials. motors, a rectifier is needed to transform stations using coal or water to generate By 1947, 106.5 km of the Joetsu Line had the AC to DC. Similarly, for rolling stock electricity. Naturally this was supplied to been electrified between Takasaki and using AC motors, a voltage–frequency their railway operations but they Minakami (41.5 km) and between Ishiuchi controller is required. inevitably saw a business opportunity for and Nagaoka (65 km). A further 40 km were In 1951, SNCF engineers successfully supplying lighting to trackside areas too. added by 1949 on the Ou Line between completed development tests on a section In addition to lighting, they also loaned Fukushima and Yonezawa, followed by of the Annecy Savoie Line, which they industrial electric motors to factories. 130 km in 1951 on the Tokaido main line reported at an international meeting in Companies that started out getting the between Numazu and Hamamatsu. 1952. This ‘Nancy Report’ led to the

66 Japan Railway & Transport Review 42 • December 2005 establishment of the AC Electrification Investigation Committee in 1953. The committee minutes concluded that, ‘Since it will be difficult to immediately start building AC electric locomotives in Japan, it would be advisable to conduct test runs using imported locomotives on the Senzan Line and to start test production of main equipment with a view to building a base for future manufacturing. Furthermore, prototyping of domestically manufactured AC electric motors and mercury rectifiers for replacement of DC motors must be started along with simultaneous trial production of transformers and controllers, etc., and AC Electrification of Senzan Line using ED44 Electric Inspection Car (JNR Centennial Photo History) preparation of two test cars. Two units of one class of the most difficult to Figure 1 BT Feeding System domestically manufacture electric locomotives for which manufacturing Boosting transformer licenses can be obtained will be imported. Negative feeder We have confidence in domestic manufacture of mercury rectifiers for Contact wire rolling stock so mercury-rectifier locomotives will be trial manufactured in Rail Japan.… If there is no hope of importing 3 to 4 km AC electric locomotives, there seems little chance of importing test locos unless we can guarantee an order of 10 to 15 units. were built and tested using both mercury is higher so lighter smaller locomotives But if there is a chance, we have given an rectifiers to convert AC to DC to drive DC can haul heavier loads. In addition, since intermediary carte blanc to purchase one motors and direct AC motor drives. The the pantograph collection current is unit each of an AC electric locomotive results demonstrated the excellence of smaller, high-speed operations are more and a mercury rectified locomotive from using mercury rectifiers and formed the easily achieved. As a consequence, AC French National Railways.’ basis of new electric carriages to be used electrification became the favoured In 1955, SNCF successfully completed the with subsequent AC electrification. method for the Tokaido Shinkansen when first genuine AC electrification over a Testing started in September 1954 and ran it opened in 1964. 363-km section between Valencienne and until March 1956. This early electrification work formed the Thionville in northern France and Japan’s first AC electric operations started basis for all subsequent railway reported the results to the AC a year later in 1957 over a 46-km section electrification in Japan. In concrete terms, Electrification International Conference of the Hokuriku main line between AC electrification is achieved by using a held in Lille that year. Japan sent five Maibara and Tsuruga. Scott transformer to adjust voltage delegates and when the conference A feature of AC electrification is that since imbalances in the three-phase power from finished, they unsuccessfully attempted to high voltages of 20–25 kV are supplied to the power utility to provide a single-phase negotiate the purchase of two electric the trolley wire (compared to 1500 V for load. Boosting transformers (BT) with a locomotives. DC), large cost savings can be achieved winding ratio of 1:1 are installed every At the same time, tests were being due to the fewer on-ground substations at 3 to 4 km along the trackside to reduce conducted over a 23.9-km section wider intervals compared to DC inductive interference in communication between Kitasendai and Sakunami on the installations. Moreover, since there is less lines caused by earth leakage current by Senzan Line; four types of locomotives wheel slip when starting, the traction force absorbing return current (Fig. 1).

Japan Railway & Transport Review 42 • December 2005 67 Breakthrough of Japanese Railway

Figure 2 AT Feeding System

Auto transformer

Feeder Tokaido Shinkansen Contact wire

The Tokaido Shinkansen was opened in Rail October 1964. Prior to that time, Japanese 10 to 15 km electric operations had been predominantly DC on narrow-gauge tracks so the Tokaido Shinkansen heralded the problem was finally solved by However, the pressure on the a new era of high-speed operations on AC- development of the auto transformer (AT) infrastructure resulting from running electrified standard-gauge tracks. feeding method, which does not require 8-pantograph train sets at a headway of To achieve high operations speeds, one boosting transformers. 6 minutes caused a number of problems shinkansen train set requires about Third, to prevent shorts between sections due to wire vibration. At the time, the 10,000 kW of power, which meant using different power supplies resulting easiest solution was to suppress wire developing various new technologies for from feeds from different substations, on vibration by changing to a heavy pickup currents in excess of 1000 A. conventional lines, the driver sets the compound catenary design using thicker First, for the pantograph to collect handle notch to off and back on again. wire at a higher mechanical tension. sufficient current from the catenary, six Since the driver of a high-speed Since this made the catenary structure pantographs were installed on one train shinkansen could never do this, trackside extremely complex in sections containing set and a compound catenary composed power supply auto-switching was a BT, there were more wire accidents, of contact wire, auxiliary catenary and developed to automatically switch power resulting in the urgent need for an upgrade messenger wire was used. To prevent wire supplies when passing between sections. solution. The solution was development vibration due to the action of the These technologies were developed as of the AT feeding method instead of the pantograph, many hangers with a damper part of the 1950 AC electrification tests BT. The AT method was already in use at effect were inserted close to the overhead on the Senzan Line and subsequent 11 kV and 25 Hz on the New Haven Line wire supports. However, this method experience of full-scale commercial AC in Connecticut, USA, but had not been experienced a large number of faults due operations on the Hokuriku main line tested using commercial power to wire vibrations caused by increases in before being perfected as the shinkansen frequencies. In the AT method, the feeder the number of shinkansen running at very electrification system. line and contact wire are linked by a short headway. The present overhead Since the Tokaido Shinkansen runs single-winding transformer, and the wire structure uses a contact wire with a between Tokyo in the 50-Hz region and neutral point is connected to the rail. thicker cross section and a higher wire Osaka in the 60-Hz region and 60-Hz in- Since the substation feed voltage is twice tension. In addition, use of a high-voltage carriage electrical equipment was the overhead wire voltage, the interval bus running between pantographs has adopted to lighten weight, two frequency between substations is much longer than permitted the latest 16-car shinkansen conversion stations were built in the the BT feeding system and the ground train sets to collect sufficient power 50-Hz shinkansen operations region. infrastructure can be simplified. However, through just two pantographs. Conventional AC electrified lines use there is a problem with voltage drops due Second, although the old BT AC 20 kV because that was the voltage to the insertion of the AT single-winding electrification of conventional lines could supplied by the power companies at that transformer but the great merits of the be used at 25 kV, since a single shinkansen time but the shinkansen catenary is simple structure and the elimination of train set has a current load of 1000 A, energized at 25 kV. sections containing BTs made adoption of some new technology was required. the AT method very attractive. Simulation Using BT at 3-km intervals to suppress of AT feeding circuits was started in 1964 induced interference in communications Latest Shinkansen and after proof-of-technology tests on lines resulted in a great amount of arcing some narrow-gauge lines, it was adopted at pick-up slip plates; this was controlled Following the 1964 opening of the commercially over the 259-km section by inserting serial capacitors in the Tokaido Shinkansen, transport demand between Yatsushiro and Nishi Kagoshima negative feeder. However, such a grew rapidly and the first 12-car train sets (now Kagoshima Chuo) on the Kagoshima complex overhead structure resulted in a were quickly increased to 16 cars with main line in October 1970. Subsequently, number of overhead wire accidents and about 10 services running every hour. this method became the standard AC

68 Japan Railway & Transport Review 42 • December 2005 the maximum is about 300 km/h. Some early postwar period saw promotion of test sets have recorded speeds of main-line electrification by the newly 430 km/h. formed JNR due to severe postwar coal The Japanese shinkansen have all been shortages hampering steam operations. constructed to standard gauge but to The major turning point came with SNCF’s improve access to the conventional lines success in using commercial single-phase of regional cities, tests were made on AC power for rail operations while operating shinkansen through services by Japanese electric railway companies were upgrading narrow-gauge lines to standard still using DC electrification. On hearing gauge. This resulted in the recent opening about SNCF’s success, JNR pushed ahead of the 148-km Yamagata mini-shinkansen with AC electrification of the Senzan Line (1993) linking Shinjo with Fukushima using its own technical developments and, Station on the Tohoku Shinkansen, and the as a result of this experience, was able to 127-km Akita mini-shinkansen (1997) introduce AC electrification on the new

Simple Catenary on Nagano Shinkansen (RTRI) linking Akita with Morioka also on the Tokaido Shinkansen when it opened in Tohoku Shinkansen. 1964. electrification technology in Japan where In the early days, the BT feeding method it was adopted for both conventional and using trackside boosting transformers was shinkansen lines—it also became the Summary adopted but was subsequently replaced standard method of AC electrification by the AT feeding method using low-cost overseas. Due to increases in demand Looking at the history of railway single-winding auto transformers, which and aging infrastructure on the Tokaido electrification in Japan, most technology became the standard AC feeder system for Shinkansen, the old BT feeding method in the Meiji period (1868–1912) was railways around the world, including was replaced by reconstruction to the AT imported and copied but then the trend high-speed lines. ■ method and as soon as all the old BT soon moved towards electric operations sections were eliminated, operations using domestic technology. Private Further Reading speeds were increased to 270 km/h from railways took the lead over government Railway Electrification Organization, History of the original 210 km/h (Fig. 2). railways in introducing urban electric rail Electric Railway Technology Developments, In addition, although the thick, high- services and during this period, electricity December 1983 (in Japanese). tensile strength contact wire of the for operations was supplied from the T. Kobayashi, History of Electric Railways in Japan, compound catenary developed in Japan railway companies’ own generating Tetsudo Gengyosha, June 1966 (in Japanese). continues in use, a new contact wire stations with surplus capacity sold to S. Yamanouchi, If There Were No Shinkansen, Tokyo design was adopted on the 117-km section trackside housing and factories. However, Shimbun, December 1998 (in Japanese). of the Nagano Shinkansen between the railway companies’ electricity supply Japan Railway Electrical Technology Organization, Takasaki and Nagano opened in 1997, on business disappeared due to severe cost Railways and Electrical Technology, Vol. 14, 11 the 96-km extension of the Tohoku competition with the larger power utilities (in Japanese). Shinkansen between Morioka and and because wartime government Hachinohe opened in 2002, and on the regulations forced transfer of generation 137-km first southern section of the capacity to the utilities. Electric rail Kyushu Shinkansen between Shin operations continued growing and the Yatsushiro and Kagoshima Chuo opened in 2004. This new contact wire has a Teruo Kobayashi copper-clad steel core, providing a high wave propagation velocity and permitting Dr Kobayashi was Executive Operating Officer in the Business Development Unit of Nippon Densetsu Kogyo, Co., Ltd. until Novemeber 2005, and now Executive General Manager of JR East Japan construction of a simple catenary structure Information Systems. He joined JNR in 1970 after graduating in Communication Engineering from with high-tensile strength; R&D into new Tohoku University. He was manager of the Electrical Facilities Dept. at JR East and obtained a catenary structures is still continuing. doctorate in engineering in 1988. After leaving JR East in 2001, he joined the National Space The move to increased operations speeds Development Agency of Japan (NASDA) before taking up his position at Nippon Densetsu Kogyo. depends on the section in question but

Japan Railway & Transport Review 42 • December 2005 69