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Can anyone explain unlike other countries how has the Shinkansen not crumbled like the trains in California or New York. Did they bet on the right technology ea

Can anyone explain unlike other countries how has the Shinkansen not crumbled like the trains in California or New York. Did they bet on the right technology early on and/or are they just better at upgrades ?

masklinn 8y ago
> Can anyone explain unlike other countries how has the Shinkansen not crumbled like the trains in California or New York. Crumbled in what sense? Ridership?
- mav3rick 8y ago
  BART Muni Caltrain all have a lot of delays and breakdowns. Some of them are also not safe to travel in (but this is besides the technical points.)
  - Tsubasachan 8y ago
    European countries have an interest in cutting down on the number of cars on the road. The Paris climate accord means that we all have to drastically cut CO2 emissions. Also European cities are suffering from air pollution. This means that governments invest very heavily in trains and other mass transit. Trying desperately to keep cities livable and functional.
  - masklinn 8y ago
    So… you're wondering if japan performs basic maintenance & rolling stock replacement?
toweringgoat 8y ago
Maintenance. Some countries invest a lot in active maintenance (Japan, Switzerland), some invest a bit (Germany, UK), some just don't or throw away their money (USA).
innocenat 8y ago
Service performance. Train ride in Japan is comfortable, fast, and on-time. (Highway in Japan has quite low speed limit that standard intercity train is faster on many routes) Japanese train is quite expensive, but people feels that it's worth the money. Couple that with the fact that Japanese Taiheiyo belt is among the biggest, most densely populated area in the world, you can see where this is coming. At least 10 trains (14 on peak hour) of ~1300-seat, 400-meter-long Shinkansen trains depart Tokyo station for Nagoya/Osaka every hour from 6.00~24.00. It's even more frequent than subway service in many cities. The fun thing about rail service is that maintenance cost does not go up very much with more train. So Shinkansen (especially the Tokaido Shinkansen) bring in a LOT of money, enough for the operating company (JR Central) to invest in building the new maglev Chuo Shinkansen all by itself. Of course, local train lines outside major cities in in Japan are also struggling.
lbriner 8y ago
Owning a car is hard in Japan. There is generally no parking on any roads so you need a garage at home and parking off-street at work. Also, culturally, it is not seen as weird or cheap for a CEO to cycle to work, even in large enterprise companies. In the West, we are a little more status-driven by our vehicles I think ;-)

masklinn 8y ago

> Can anyone explain unlike other countries how has the Shinkansen not crumbled like the trains in California or New York. Crumbled in what sense? Ridership?

mav3rick 8y ago
BART Muni Caltrain all have a lot of delays and breakdowns. Some of them are also not safe to travel in (but this is besides the technical points.)
- Tsubasachan 8y ago
  European countries have an interest in cutting down on the number of cars on the road. The Paris climate accord means that we all have to drastically cut CO2 emissions. Also European cities are suffering from air pollution. This means that governments invest very heavily in trains and other mass transit. Trying desperately to keep cities livable and functional.
- masklinn 8y ago
  So… you're wondering if japan performs basic maintenance & rolling stock replacement?

toweringgoat 8y ago

Maintenance. Some countries invest a lot in active maintenance (Japan, Switzerland), some invest a bit (Germany, UK), some just don't or throw away their money (USA).

innocenat 8y ago

Service performance. Train ride in Japan is comfortable, fast, and on-time. (Highway in Japan has quite low speed limit that standard intercity train is faster on many routes) Japanese train is quite expensive, but people feels that it's worth the money. Couple that with the fact that Japanese Taiheiyo belt is among the biggest, most densely populated area in the world, you can see where this is coming. At least 10 trains (14 on peak hour) of ~1300-seat, 400-meter-long Shinkansen trains depart Tokyo station for Nagoya/Osaka every hour from 6.00~24.00. It's even more frequent than subway service in many cities. The fun thing about rail service is that maintenance cost does not go up very much with more train. So Shinkansen (especially the Tokaido Shinkansen) bring in a LOT of money, enough for the operating company (JR Central) to invest in building the new maglev Chuo Shinkansen all by itself. Of course, local train lines outside major cities in in Japan are also struggling.

lbriner 8y ago

Owning a car is hard in Japan. There is generally no parking on any roads so you need a garage at home and parking off-street at work. Also, culturally, it is not seen as weird or cheap for a CEO to cycle to work, even in large enterprise companies. In the West, we are a little more status-driven by our vehicles I think ;-)