SPEEDUP OF NARROW GAUGE RAILWAY

Except Shinkansen, all trains of Japan Railways Group's railway companies run on the 1067 mm narrow gauge lines. The narrow gauge railway is responsible for high-speed transportation on inter-city lines scattered all over the country as well as transporting commuters and students in urban areas including Tokyo. This fact qualifies the narrow gauge railway as a key in JR transportation business. For the last five years or so, JR companies have been eager to push speedup plan taking into account improvement of passenger convenience; competition with other transportation means; extension of commuting distance, etc. Meanwhile, the Government promotes railway speedup as a part of the policies for improved welfare of the nation. Against this backgound, the Narrow Gauge Speedup Project at the RTRI is driving various kinds of technology development toward speedup on narrow gauge railway. This article looks at the recent achievements of this project.