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In Japan bus conductors who announced the stops were phased out pretty much by the early 1980s (Yokohama Municipal Bus Lines kept two routes with conductors until 1988)- announcements are recorded now and activated by the driver at the appropriate times, and riders who wish to alight push a...

The 500 series is aesthetically pleasing, but in no way superior operationally nor comfort wise to newer models- the airplane fuselage shape made for a more constricted interior space, and regular passengers preferred the more square shaped and spacious interiors of other types (700, N700 etc.)...

Thank you for the informative post. Yes, those AES units would have sounded pleasant (for the railfan at least) with their axle hung motors. Is it true they were nicknamed "cachos" when they were in regular service?

As HSTEd explained above, the Kodama stopping services use trainsets with the same performance as the faster Hikari and Nozomi services (JR Central has standardized all services on the N700 series). This is necessary as the Kodama services have to take pathings that weave through the faster...

Quite surprised at this. Now the concourse stair/escalator arrangement below the platform level can be a bit confusing to the new visitor (the ziggurat-like effect is a legacy of the marshy ground the station foundation is built upon), but overall the experience is quite decent and I might say...

Looks like a surplus strap handle off a commuter train (or a bus), the shape is the old round style, most new stock is fitted with a more ergonomic triangular type. The strap attachment point is curious, not very common, and perhaps the flat space below it allows the name of the railway/bus...

Trackside locations have pretty poor sight lines as there are typically high walls/fences separating you from the tracks. Better to go to an intermediate station and watch from the platforms, which have excellent sight lines. My recommendation is to go to either Odawara on the Tokaido...

In the Tokyo area, I highly recommend taking the Keikyu Line from Shinagawa south to Horinouchi or thereabouts. Make sure to take the Kaisoku Tokkyu (Rapid limited express)- 120km/h running on standard gauge double track through densely populated neighborhoods, some sections running in parallel...

Well, in Japan many (but not all) stations have a departure melody which is sounded before the door closes. The guard made a mistaken assumption that there were no passengers that still hadn't boarded. I don't know the layout of this particular station, but it was a long 12 car train, so...

The water is typically collected from nearby rivers, stored up, and once snow is detected, the reservoir water is heated to a temperature of 10 degrees celsius. It is then sprayed on the tracks/points at this temperature for 50 minutes, after which the runoff is filtered/recycled and sprayed...

The Amagasaki accident was not a SPAD, but rather overspeed on a curve. The ATS system installed was not the latest version, which would have stopped the train before going over the designated speed limit. I have rarely heard of SPADs occuring in Japan, probably due to the aforementioned...

As WideRanger says, there are daily dozens of extra trains run during holiday periods, which over a long summer or winter holiday can amount to close to a thousand plus additional services. Based on a web search from multiple Japanese sources, these are the timings for the (extra) services in...

The e235 trainset returned to revenue last month, March 7. The software glitches were fixed back in December, and a number of tests were run, including loading the train to 200 percent capacity (approx. 18t per carriage). No problems were encountered, and thus it was cleared for operation...

Seriously doubt it. There are other railways with plenty of female guards/conductors as well as drivers who perform their duties professionally. Not hiring women due to one incident (which may just as well have been done by a man) would be foolish- the fact is many railways are in great need...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Classes_251_and_261

Japan is a candidate: 1. High platforms 2. Frequent, interval timetable intercity services (this was begun in the 1970's in response to competition from motorways) 3. Very dense networks, especially in metropolitan areas 4. use of EMU/DMUs for 95%+ of services, rather than locohauled stock...

Everyone has given advice about the practical tourist travel bits, but let me chime in from the pure rail enthusiast perspective. Perhaps one of the best introductions to modern Japanese railway operations is to take a JR West shin kaisoku (special rapid service) train between Himeji and Maibara...

According to an article from 21 July in the business daily Nihon Keizai Shinbun, the next trainset is scheduled to arrive in Teesside on Sept. 9. Hitachi has signed a contract with Japanese shipper Kawasaki Kisen to transport the remaining preliminary trainsets, which will be loaded directly at...

In Japan, the commuter trains (and recently a few express types) have at least one designated carriage that has a low setting for aircon, and are labelled as such somewhere near the doors. These are especially popular among women. An example of meeting the needs of customers.

There was an instance where a passenger reported (and recorded on a cell phone camera) of a driver dozing off while driving on the mainline- it made the evening news here. Also a guard who was caught reading a comic book while on train duty. But in general no passenger-induced incidents occur...