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East Japan Railway Company
Native name
東日本旅客鉄道株式会社
Higashi-Nihon Ryokaku Tetsudō kabushiki gaisha
lit. East Japan Passenger Railway Share Company
Public (Kabushiki gaisha)
Traded as
  • TYO: 9020
  • Nikkei 225 component
  • TOPIX Large70 component
Industry Rail transport
Predecessor Japanese National Railways (JNR)
Founded 1 April 1987; 37 years ago (1987-04-01), privatization of JNR
Headquarters
2-2-2 Yoyogi, Shibuya, Tokyo
,
Japan
Area served
Kanto and Tōhoku regions
Niigata, Nagano, Yamanashi and Shizuoka prefectures
Key people
Tetsuro Tomita (Chairman of the Board)
Masaki Ogata (Vice Chairman of the Board)
Yuji Fukasawa (President, Representative Director)
Products Suica (a rechargeable contactless smart card)
Services Passenger railways
freight services
bus transportation
other related services
Revenue
  • Increase ¥2,405,538 million(FY 2023)
  • Increase ¥1,978,967 million(FY 2022)
  • Increase ¥2,756,165 million(FY 2015)
Operating income
  • Decrease ¥140,629 million(FY 2023)
  • Decrease ¥153,938 million(FY 2022)
  • Increase ¥487,821 million(FY 2016)
  • Increase ¥427,522 million(FY 2015)
  • Increase ¥245,310 million(FY 2016)
  • Decrease ¥180,398 million(FY 2015)
Total assets
  • Increase ¥7,789,762 million(FY 2016)
  • Increase ¥7,605,690 million(FY 2015)
Total equity
  • Increase ¥2,442,129 million(FY 2016)
  • Increase ¥2,285,658 million(FY 2015)
Owner JTSB investment trusts (8.21%)
Mizuho Bank (4.07%)
TMTBJ investment trusts (3.97%)
MUFG Bank (2.75%)
Repurchased shares (2.67%)
(as of 30 September 2018)
Number of employees
73,017 (as of 31 March 2013)
Divisions Railway operations
Life-style business
IT & Suica business
Subsidiaries 83 companies,
including Tokyo Monorail and J-TREC
     East Japan Railway Company
JR East Shinkansen lineup at Niigata Depot 200910.jpg
Line up of JR East Shinkansen trains, October 2009
Operation
National railway Japan Railways Group
Infrastructure company Japan Railway Construction, Transport and Technology Agency
Statistics
Ridership 6.169 billion per year
Passenger km 130.5 billion per year
System length
Total 7,512.6 km (4,668.1 mi)
Double track 3,668 km (2,279 mi) (49%)
Electrified 5,512.7 km (3,425.4 mi) (73.2%)
High-speed 1,052.9 km (654.2 mi) (14.0%)
Track gauge
Main 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
High-speed 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 12 in)
Electrification
Main 1,500 V DC overhead catenary 2,680.3 km (1,665.5 mi)
20 kV AC, 50 Hz 1,779.5 km (1,105.7 mi)
Conventional lines in Tohoku
Joban Line (Fujishiro-Iwanuma)
Mito Line
25 kV AC, 50/60 Hz overhead  1,052.9 km (654.2 mi)
Tohoku Shinkansen (50 Hz)
Joetsu Shinkansen (50 Hz)
Hokuriku Shinkansen (50/60 Hz)
Features
No. tunnels 1,263
Tunnel length 882 km (548 mi)
Longest tunnel The Seikan Tunnel 53,850 m (176,670 ft)
Hokkaido Shinkansen
No. bridges 14,865
Longest bridge No.1 Kitakami River Bridge 3,868 m (12,690 ft)
Tohoku Shinkansen
No. stations 1,681
Map
Shinkansen lines
Conventional lines
Greater Tokyo Area Network Map
Suica and PASMO Network Map

The East Japan Railway Company is a major passenger railway company in Japan, the largest of the seven Japan Railways Group companies. The company name is officially abbreviated as JR-EAST or JR East in English, and as JR Higashi-Nihon (JR東日本, Jeiāru Higashi-Nihon) in Japanese. The company's headquarters are in Yoyogi, Shibuya, Tokyo, next to Shinjuku Station. It is listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange (it formerly had secondary listings in the Nagoya and Osaka stock exchanges), is a constituent of the TOPIX Large70 index, and is one of three Japan Railways Group constituents of the Nikkei 225 index, the others being JR Central and JR West.

Yamanote-Line-E235
Commuter trains on the Yamanote Line in Tokyo
HB-E210-C1
HB-E210 series hybrid DMU on Senseki Line
JNR D51 498 20120811
Special steam train on the Jōetsu Line in Gunma Prefecture
JR East Keiyō depot 205 series family festival 20190921
JR 205 Series in Keiyo Depot
JR-East-Tokyo-STA Marunouchi-north-Gate
Smart card turnstile in Tokyo Station

History

JR East was incorporated on 1 April 1987 after being spun off from the government-run Japanese National Railways (JNR). The spin-off was nominally "privatization", as the company was actually a wholly owned subsidiary of the government-owned JNR Settlement Corporation for several years, and was not completely sold to the public until 2002.

Following the breakup, JR East ran the operations on former JNR lines in the Greater Tokyo Area, the Tōhoku region, and surrounding areas.

JR Rail en
JR Group service regions

Lines

Railway lines of JR East primarily serve the Kanto and Tohoku regions, along with adjacent areas in Kōshin'etsu region (Niigata, Nagano, Yamanashi) and Shizuoka prefectures.

Shinkansen

JR East operates all of the Shinkansen high-speed rail lines north of Tokyo, with the exception of the Hokkaido Shinkansen which is operated by JR Hokkaido.
  • Tōhoku Shinkansen (Tokyo - Shin-Aomori)
  • Jōetsu Shinkansen (Tokyo - Niigata; Echigo-Yuzawa - Gala Yuzawa)
  • Hokuriku Shinkansen (jointly operated with JR West) (Tokyo - Jōetsumyōkō)
  • Yamagata Shinkansen (Tokyo - Shinjo)
  • Akita Shinkansen (Tokyo - Akita)

The Tokyo–Osaka Tōkaidō Shinkansen is owned and operated by the Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central), although it stops at several JR East stations.

Kanto region

These lines have sections inside the Tokyo suburban area (Japanese: 東京近郊区間) designated by JR East. This does not necessarily mean that the lines are fully inside the Greater Tokyo Area.

  • Agatsuma Line (Shibukawa - Omae)
  • CO Chūō Main Line (Tokyo - Shiojiri)
  • JC Chūō Rapid Line (Tokyo - Otsuki)
  • JB Chūō-Sōbu Line (Mitaka - Chiba)
  • Hachiko Line (Hachioji - Kuragano)
  • JT Ito Line (Atami - Ajiro - Ito)
  • JC Itsukaichi Line (Haijima - Musashi-Itsukaichi)
  • JJ JL Jōban Line (Ueno - Iwaki)
  • Jōetsu Line (Takasaki - Minakami)
  • Karasuyama Line (Hoshakuji - Ogane - Karasuyama)
  • Kashima Line (Katori - Kashima Soccer Stadium)
  • Kawagoe Line (Omiya - Komagawa)
  • JK Keihin–Tōhoku Line (Omiya - Yokohama)
  • JE Keiyo Line (Tokyo - Soga; Ichikawa-Shiohama - Nishi-Funabashi; Minami-Funabashi - Nishi-Funabashi)
  • Kururi Line (Kisarazu - Kazusa-Kameyama)
  • Mito Line (Oyama - Tomobe)
  • JM Musashino Line (Fuchu-Hommachi - Nishi-Funabashi) (Tokyo outer loop)
  • JN Nambu Line (Kawasaki - Tachikawa; Shitte - Hamakawasaki)
  • Narita Line (Sakura - Choshi; Abiko - Narita; Narita - Narita Airport)
  • JK Negishi Line (Yokohama - Ofuna)
  • Nikko Line (Utsunomiya - Nikko)
  • JC Ome Line (Tachikawa - Okutama)
  • Ryomo Line (Oyama - Shin-Maebashi)
  • JG Sagami Line (Hashimoto - Chigasaki)
  • JA Saikyo Line (Osaki - Omiya)
  • JS Shōnan–Shinjuku Line (Shin-Maebashi - Odawara; Utsunomiya - Zushi)
  • Sobu Main Line (Chiba - Choshi)
  • Sotobo Line (Chiba - Awa-Kamogawa)
  • JU Takasaki Line (Omiya - Takasaki)
  • Togane Line (Naruto - Oami)
  • JU Tohoku Main Line (Utsunomiya Line) (Ueno - Kuroiso)
  • JT Tokaido Main Line (Tokyo - Atami)
  • JI Tsurumi Line (Tsurumi - Ogimachi; Anzen - Okawa; Asano - Umi-Shibaura)
  • Uchibo Line (Soga - Awa-Kamogawa)
  • Ueno–Tokyo Line (Maebashi - Numazu; Utsunomiya-Numazu; Atami-Ito; Takahagi - Shinagawa; Narita - Abiko)
  • JY Yamanote Line (Loop line)
  • JH Yokohama Line (Higashi-Kanagawa - Hachioji)
  • JO Yokosuka Line (Tokyo - Kurihama)

Koshinetsu region

  • Chūō Main Line (Nirasaki - Shiojiri; Okaya - Midoriko Siojiri)
  • Echigo Line (Niigata - Kashiwazaki)
  • Hakushin Line (Niigata - Shibata)
  • Iiyama Line (Toyono - Echigo-Kawaguchi)
  • Joetsu Line (Minakami - Miyauchi; Echigo-Yuzawa - Gala-Yuzawa)
  • Koumi Line (Kobuchizawa - Komoro)
  • Oito Line (Matsumoto - Minami-Otari)
  • Shinetsu Main Line (Takasaki - Yokokawa; Shinonoi - Niigata)
  • Shinonoi Line (Shinonoi - Shiojiri)
  • Yahiko Line (Higashi-Sanjo - Yahiko)

Tohoku region

  • Aterazawa Line (Kita-Yamagata - Aterazawa)
  • Ban'etsu East Line (Iwaki - Koriyama)
  • Ban'etsu West Line (Koriyama - Niitsu)
  • Gonō Line (Higashi-Noshiro - Kawabe)
  • Hachinohe Line (Hachinohe - Kuji)
  • Hanawa Line (Odate - Koma)
  • Ishinomaki Line (Kogota - Onagawa)
  • Jōban Line (Iwaki - Iwanuma)
  • Kamaishi Line (Hanamaki - Kamaishi)
  • Kesennuma Line (Maeyachi - Kesennuma)
  • Kitakami Line (Kitakami - Yokote)
  • Ofunato Line (Ichinoseki - Sakari)
  • Oga Line (Oiwake - Oga)
  • Ominato Line (Noheji - Ominato)
  • Ōu Main Line (Fukushima - Aomori) (Yamagata Line, Fukushima - Shinjō)
  • Rikuu East Line (Kogota - Shinjo)
  • Rikuu West Line (Shinjo - Amarume)
  • Senseki Line (Aobadori - Ishinomaki)
  • Senseki-Tōhoku Line
  • Senzan Line (Sendai - Uzen-Chitose)
  • Suigun Line (Mito - Asaka-Nagamori; Kamisugaya - Hitachi-Ota)
  • Tadami Line (Aizu-Wakamatsu - Koide)
  • Tazawako Line (Morioka - Ōmagari)
  • Tohoku Main Line (Kuroiso - Morioka; Iwakiri - Rifu)
  • Tsugaru Line (Aomori - Mimmaya)
  • Uetsu Main Line (Niitsu - Akita)
  • Yamada Line (Morioka - Miyako)
  • Yonesaka Line (Yonezawa - Sakamachi)

Services

Below is the full list of limited express and express train services operated on JR East lines as of 2022.

Shinkansen

  • Asama
  • Hakutaka
  • Hayabusa
  • Hayate
  • Kagayaki
  • Komachi
  • Nasuno
  • Tanigawa
  • Toki
  • Tsubasa
  • Yamabiko

Limited express (daytime)

  • Kusatzu
  • Akagi
  • Azusa
  • Fuji Excursion
  • Hitachi and Tokiwa
  • Inaho
  • Kaiji/View Kaiji
  • Kusatsu
  • Narita Express
  • Nikkō and Kinugawa
  • Saphir Odoriko/Odoriko
  • Sazanami
  • Shirayuki
  • Shiosai
  • Shōnan
  • Tsugaru
  • Wakashio

Limited express (overnight)

  • Sunrise Izumo/Sunrise Seto (not operated by JR East, operated by JR Central and JR-West over the Tokaido Main Line, part of which JR East owns between Tokyo and Atami)

Stations

During fiscal 2017, the busiest stations in the JR East network by average daily passenger count were:

  1. Shinjuku Station (778,618)
  2. Ikebukuro Station (566,516)
  3. Tokyo Station (452,549)
  4. Yokohama Station (420,192)
  5. Shinagawa Station (378,566)
  6. Shibuya Station (370,669)
  7. Shimbashi Station (277,404)
  8. Omiya Station (255,147)
  9. Akihabara Station (250,251)
  10. Kita-Senju Station (217,838)

Subsidiaries

JR-East-HQ-Building-00
JR East headquarters (JR東日本本社ビル), located near Shinjuku Station in Tokyo
  • Higashi-Nihon Kiosk - provides newspapers, drinks and other items in station kiosks and operates the Newdays convenience store chain
  • JR Bus Kanto / JR Bus Tohoku - intercity bus operators
  • Nippon Restaurant Enterprise - provides bentō box lunches on trains and in train stations
  • Tokyo Monorail - (70% ownership stake)
  • East Japan Marketing & Communications

Sponsorship

JR East co-sponsors the JEF United Chiba J-League football club , which was formed by a merger between the JR East and Furukawa Electric company teams.

Carbon emission plan

JR East aims to reduce its carbon emissions by half, as measured over the period 1990–2030. This would be achieved by increasing the efficiency of trains and company-owned thermal power stations and by developing hybrid trains.

Alleged revolutionary front

The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department has stated that JR East's official union is a front for a revolutionary political organization called the Japan Revolutionary Communist League (Revolutionary Marxist Faction). An investigation of this is ongoing.

Culture foundation

The East Japan Railway Culture Foundation is a non-profit organization established by JR East for the purpose of developing a "richer railway culture". The Railway Museum in Saitama is operated by the foundation.

Bids outside Japan

JR East holds a 15% shareholding in West Midlands Trains with Abellio and Mitsui that commenced operating the West Midlands franchise in England in December 2017. The same consortium has also been listed to bid for the South Eastern franchise.

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: East Japan Railway Company para niños

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East Japan Railway Company Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.