If you’re into trains (and I accept none of my readers have shown any such predilection – but hey that’s never put me off salivating on the subject before) then Japan is for you. We’ve got red ones and green ones, yellow ones and blue ones. We call them ‘Thunderbird’ and ‘Mountain Echo’, ‘Light’ and ‘Hope’. We even have one called the ‘Romance Car’ on which they “bring you the ultimate in comfort by making reservations necessary for each seat” (OK that’s a bit of a stretch even for a trigger-happy copywriter). And if none of that tickles your fancy or wiggles your toes for you, they even run on time. What more could you ask for? I’m on the road folks and there ain’t any better road in Japan than the railroad. Let’s hear it for Japan Railways – how a train service should be run.
Posted by Joe at January 26, 2004 11:13 PMAgreed, if you excuse the finances ...
Oh, and the crowding, which is an indication of how good they are, really. But you're not talking about commuter trains as such in your post.
Posted by: DJ at January 28, 2004 09:06 AMYou are, of course, correct that I was talking mainly about the bullet trains and limited expresses. I'm totally happy to forgive the dire financial situation of the trains, because I see it as an environmental subsidy. In Japan's case everybody (and I mean 'everybody') gets on the trains at some stage in their lives and therefore the benefit is absolutely spread around. Build more tracks and less roads.
Posted by: Joe at January 29, 2004 11:28 AMPersonally I think Japanese railways are really cheap. I don't know how it is in England (like a what does a London->Manchester ticket run for?) but a ticket from Amsterdam to Paris using the Thalys (high speed train) is probably about the same price as from Kyoto to Tokyo, except it takes twice as long, and than Im not even talking about some of the deals you can get here (like the railpass and the youth 18 ticket...). Maybe Im just ranting away too much here, but I consider Japanese railways to be quite cheap, comparing them to European ones.
Posted by: steven at February 2, 2004 07:12 PMSteven, I wasn't referring to the cost of the tickets but to the parlous state of the rail companies (for which real estate is the best-performing asset) and to the enormous public debt incurred before they were privatised.
But I agree with Joe that all this is justified, and public subsidies should be forthcoming at any sign of a rail system going under. (After all, the ticket prices are still regulated.)
Posted by: DJ at February 2, 2004 11:26 PMIf you consider value for money, it could be said that Japanese trains are the cheapest in the world.
I put Japanese gentlemen on the Thalys to Antwerp last year and their train broke down between stations and they were stuck there for two hours! A Brit would have thought nothing of it. The Japanese couldn't stop laughing.
Posted by: Joe at February 2, 2004 11:27 PM