Japan Freight Railway Company

Japan Freight Railway Company (日本貨物鉄道株式会社, Nippon Kamotsu Tetsudō Kabushiki-gaisha), or JR Freight (JR貨物, Jeiāru Kamotsu), is one of the seven constituent companies of Japan Railways Group (JR Group). It provides transportation of cargo nationwide throughout Japan. Its headquarters are in Shibuya, Tokyo near Shinjuku Station.[1]

Japan Freight Railway Company
Native name
日本貨物鉄道株式会社
Nippon Kamotsu Tetsudō kabushiki gaisha
Company typeState-owned KK
PredecessorJapanese National Railways (JNR)
FoundedApril 1, 1987; 37 years ago (1987-04-01)
(privatization of JNR)
Headquarters
5-33-8, Sendagaya, Shibuya, Tokyo
,
Japan
Servicesfreight services
other related services
OwnerJapan Railway Construction, Transport and Technology Agency (100%)
Number of employees
5,472 (as of April 1, 2021)[1]
Websitewww.jrfreight.co.jp/en Edit this at Wikidata
The unique 12-foot (3.7 m) intermodal container used by JR Freight

The Japan Railways Group was founded on 1 April 1987, when Japanese National Railways (JNR) was privatized. Japanese National Railways was divided into six regional passenger rail companies and a single freight railway company, Japan Freight Railway Company.

The company has only about 50 kilometers (31 mi) of track of its own, and therefore operates on track owned by the six JR passenger railways as well as other companies which provide rail transport in Japan.

Economics

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In 2017, only about 5% of all freight in Japan is carried by rail but nearly all of that, 99%, is carried by JR Freight.[2] Trucks carry about 50% and ships about 44%.[2] JR Freight has seen its share of the freight market gradually decrease since 1993.[citation needed] In the 2010s JR Freight has been carrying more freight because of the decrease in the number of available truck drivers due to age as well as government policy to reduce carbon dioxide.[2] JR Freight has run a deficit for many years.[3]

Lines

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Umeda Freight Terminal in Osaka in June 2011

While major part of the operation of JR Freight is on the tracks owned and maintained by other JR companies, JR Freight owns the railway lines (as Category-1 railway business) as follows:

Line Endpoints Locale
(Prefecture)
Distance
(km)
Hokuriku Main Line Tsuruga Station - Tsuruga-Minato Freight Terminal Fukui 2.7
Kagoshima Main Line Mojikō Station - Sotohama Freight Terminal Fukuoka 0.9
Chihaya Yard - Fukuoka Freight Terminal Fukuoka 2.2
Kansai Main Line Yokkaichi Station - Shiohama Station Mie 3.3
Hirano Station - Kudara Freight Terminal Osaka 1.4
Nippō Main Line Obase-Nishikōdai-mae Station - Kandakō Freight Terminal Fukuoka 4.6
Ōu Main Line Tsuchizaki Station - Akitakō Freight Terminal Akita 1.8
Senseki Line Rikuzen-Yamashita Station - Ishinomakikō Freight Terminal Miyagi 1.8
Shin'etsu Main Line Kami-Nuttari Junction - Nuttari Freight Terminal Niigata 1.8
Kami-Nuttari Junction - Higashi-Niigatakō Freight Terminal Niigata 3.8
Shinminato Line Nōmachi Station - Takaoka Freight Terminal Toyama 1.9
Tohoku Main Line Tabata Freight Terminal - Kita-Ōji Freight Terminal Tokyo 4.0
Tōkaidō Main Line Sannō Junction - Nagoya-Minato Freight Terminal Aichi 6.2
Suita Freight Terminal - Osaka Freight Terminal Osaka 8.7
Uetsu Main Line Sakata Station - Sakatakō Freight Terminal Yamagata 2.7

Rolling stock

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As of 1 March 2017, JR Freight owns and operates the following rolling stock,[4] with most of the newer motive stock being exclusively built by Toshiba Infrastructure Systems & Solutions:

Diesel locomotives

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Electric locomotives

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Electric multiple units

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Former rolling stock

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Japan Freight Railway Company. "Corporate Overview". Retrieved October 21, 2021.
  2. ^ a b c "Japan firms shifting to trains to move freight amid dearth of new truckers". The Japan Times Online. 17 January 2017. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  3. ^ WISETJINDAWAT, W.; et al. (2015). "Rare Mode Choice in Freight Transport: Modal Shift from Road to Rail". Journal of the Eastern Asia Society for Transportation Studies. 11: 774–787. doi:10.11175/easts.11.774.
  4. ^ JR貨物 機関車配置表 [JR Freight locomotive allocation list]. Tetsudo Daiya Joho Magazine (in Japanese). Vol. 46, no. 400. Japan: Kotsu Shimbun. August 2017. p. 42.
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