KEITH FENDER investigates the Japanese approach to performance
The Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation is based in London and seeks to support closer links between Britain and Japan. The organisation held a seminar last year bringing together Japanese rail transport experts to compare the two countries’ approaches to operating rail services. The recent entry of Japanese company JR East into the UK market as a member of the Abellio-led consortium operating the West Midlands Trains franchise gave the event added relevance.
Taku Fujiyama, now a senior lecturer in the railway research group at University College London (UCL), but previously a senior civil engineer with JR East, and Jun Hirano, Deputy Director of JR East’s London office, gave presentations that highlighted both similarities and differences in approach. The papers helped to dispel the myth popularly held in the UK that every train in Japan runs on time, whilst the opposite is true here. The reality is more complex!
COMPARING CAPITAL CITIES
Mr Fujiyama from UCL compared London and Tokyo. London and its immediate commuter region has a population of around 14 million, while Tokyo is more than twice as big with 34 million people. Rail, including Lon…
