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    <title>Transport Research International Documentation (TRID)</title>
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    <copyright>Copyright © 2026. National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.</copyright>
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    <managingEditor>tris-trb@nas.edu (Bill McLeod)</managingEditor>
    <webMaster>tris-trb@nas.edu (Bill McLeod)</webMaster>
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      <title>Transport Research International Documentation (TRID)</title>
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      <title>A passenger service revolution? Transport design and passenger experience on Tokyo’s urban railway network, c. 1945–2010</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/2578286</link>
      <description><![CDATA[This article discusses the history of efforts to shape passenger experience aboard urban railways through transport design. Taking Japan National Railways (JNR) trains as a case study, it examines the development of design interventions and organisational polices seeking to increase passenger comfort on Tokyo’s urban railway network in the second half of the 20th century. Industry and popular accounts have often tied the improvement of transport quality and passenger experience aboard JNR trains to its privatisation in 1987. In contrast, this article shows that passenger-oriented transport design has been an integral component in a continuous project to make urban railway travel more pleasant that long preceded this 1987 change in governance structures but has been held back by organisational and structural challenges. In doing so, it highlights that transport design involves the conscious shaping of both the “hardware” (i.e. physical transport infrastructure) and “software” (i.e. passenger-staff interactions) of service, as well as the backstage modification of organisational structures and processes that facilitate this framework. Built on a qualitative analysis of Japanese industry publications, newspapers, and secondary sources, the article thus contributes to literature on passenger experience, mobilities design, and transport history.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Fri, 26 Sep 2025 13:39:58 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/2578286</guid>
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    <item>
      <title>A Model of Evaluating State-owned Railway Companies’ Reforms by Using Euclidean Distance and Data Envelopment Analysis</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/2237033</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The reform of state-owned railway companies is an important part of railway reforms in many countries. However, those companies’ reforms are often evaluated based on experts’ personal opinions or simple statistics. This article proposes a concept of Reform Index to evaluate the state-owned railway companies’ reforms. The method is to create an R6 Euclidean space and measure the distance from points representing ordinary reforms to the point representing a perfect reform. The calculation of Reform Index is based on Euclidean distance and data envelopment analysis. According to the value of Reform Index, the degree of reform can be divided into five levels: very successful, successful, not obvious, failed, and completely failed. The article also uses the case of the Japanese National Railways (JNR) as an empirical study. Through the calculation of Reform Index, it not only clarifies that the degree of JNR’s reform can be considered successful, but also finds the constraints to further success and proposes suggestions for improving them.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Fri, 06 Oct 2023 08:40:50 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/2237033</guid>
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      <title>Efficiency assessment of Japanese National Railways before and after privatization and divestiture using data envelopment analysis</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/1905365</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Japanese National Railways (JNR) was privatized in 1987 and divided into six passenger companies and one freight company. Before the structural reform, JNR was a national monopoly that owned railroad assets and provided transportation services throughout the country under government regulation. The goal of the structural reform was to eliminate management inefficiency and improve operational performance while attaining high quality of railroad transportation services at reasonable prices. To ascertain if this goal has been achieved, the authors examine the performance of JNR and Japan's six passenger railway companies before and after privatization and divestiture. Using data envelopment analysis on a data set from 1965 to 2017, they calculated four types of efficiency measures related to cost, operations, revenue-earning and profit-earning, by combining four phases of the companies' business activities as input and output: cost, operational resource, operational output, and total revenue. To the best of their knowledge, this study is the first holistic performance analysis of Japan's six railroad companies, using efficiency measures to assess the effects of the deregulation. The results reveal improvement in cost efficiency remains a vital issue for all six companies, and increasing trend of efficiency measures on operations is observed after the privatization. Mainland companies with an advantageous business environment do not necessarily have higher efficiency, holding more room for improvement. Further, the authors found that higher cost efficiency for some companies may be derived from a shrinking equilibrium in management based on a potential decline in demand, but such a passive operation could hinder managerial efforts to escape dependence on subsidy.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 28 Feb 2022 09:53:01 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/1905365</guid>
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      <title>Preliminary Design of Passive Tilting System for Amcoach: Volume 1. Description of Tilting Truck Currently Used by JNR</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/1487623</link>
      <description><![CDATA[A description of the tilting truck currently used by Japanese National Railways (JNR) is presented. JNR 381-series electric railcars with passive tilting device were manufactured to aim at speed-up in curves, and have been operated in Chuo-sai line between Nagoya and Nagano, and Kisei-line between Tennoji and Shingu. This report presents the background of tilting truck manufacture, an outline of 381-series electric railcar, a construction of tilting truck and an operational experience and future plan of tilting truck.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 15 Nov 2017 13:41:10 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/1487623</guid>
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    <item>
      <title>Preliminary Design of Passive Tilting System for Amcoach: Volume 2. Preliminary Design for Amcoach Tilt Modification</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/1487624</link>
      <description><![CDATA[A preliminary design of the tilting truck for Amcoach is presented to achieve speed-up in curves without increasing lateral acceleration of carbody, to maintain good ride quality and shorten operation time. The passive tilting system is adopted on the basis of successful experiences of Japanese National Railways (JNR) 381-series tilting trains. This report presents a description of truck and truck components, modification of carbody, truck performance, ride quality, stress analysis, performance simulation of vehicle running through curves and operation time reduction by the modified tilting Amcoach train between New York and Washington.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 15 Nov 2017 13:41:09 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/1487624</guid>
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    <item>
      <title>Privatization of the Japan Highway Public Corporation: Focusing on Organizational Structure Change</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/864671</link>
      <description><![CDATA[In October 2005, the Japan Highway Public Corporation was privatized and separated into three expressway companies. Three other public corporations were privatized as well: the Metropolitan Expressway Public Corporation, the Hanshin Expressway Public Corporation and the Honshu-Shikoku Bridge Authority. The main purpose of this study is to overview the privatization policy taken by the government and to assess the preliminary organizational reforms. We will focus especially on policy issues such as horizontal separation, vertical (management-holding) separation and regulatory changes, comparing the before-privatization and after-privatization periods of the Japan Highway Public Corporation. Evaluations will be based on empirical investigation and theory, as well as on lessons learned from the privatization of the Japan National Railway.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 20 Aug 2008 09:06:14 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/864671</guid>
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    <item>
      <title>The Effects of Privatization on Productivity and Capital Adjustment</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/809651</link>
      <description><![CDATA[A JR is one of several freight and passenger railway companies created in 1987 after Japan National Railway (JNR) was privatized and separated. The authors use econometric techniques to examine total factor productivity (TFP) increases and to analyze how performance has changed among the JRs. The authors also examine whether, before privatization, capital input overcapitalization existed. Privatization raised annual TFP growth by 1.62%, bringing total annual TFP growth to 2.97% after privatization. Privatization has largely corrected the former JNR's over-capitalization.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 19 Jun 2007 08:27:41 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/809651</guid>
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    <item>
      <title>20 years after JNR privatization</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/808648</link>
      <description><![CDATA[]]></description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 07 May 2007 15:45:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/808648</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Japanese Railways</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/779614</link>
      <description><![CDATA[]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 04 Apr 2006 18:09:11 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/779614</guid>
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    <item>
      <title>VERTICAL INTEGRATION PROVES TO BE A WINNER</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/742643</link>
      <description><![CDATA[In a bid to rid the Japanese National Railways (JNR) of massive deficits, overmanning, and administrative inefficiency, the company was split geographically on April 1, 1987 into six passenger railways and a nationwide freight operator.  This article examines the long-tern effects the break-up and privatization has had on the Tokaido and other Shinkansen lines. The Tokaido was taken over by JR Central, and has made great strides in terms of safety, punctuality, investment, and productivity.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Fri, 22 Oct 2004 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/742643</guid>
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    <item>
      <title>JAPAN'S FIRST SHINKANSEN TRAIN WITH ACTIVE TILTING</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/742588</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The article examines the pre-production example of Japan's first Shinkansen high speed train with active tilting that is due for delivery in March 2005 with commercial operation in 2007 following two years of test runs.  This 300 km/h N700 train from Series 700 has been under co-development by JR Central and JR West since June 2002.  The train's exterior and interior designs were recently completed under the theme of "more speed, more comfort, more beauty", with upgrading of performance, ride comfort, and energy conservation.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 04 Oct 2004 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/742588</guid>
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    <item>
      <title>SOLID STATE INTERLOCKING SAFEGUARDS JAPANESE COMMUTERS</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/276831</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Following the successful installation of multi-microprocessor based signalling at a suburban junction between Tokyo and Yokohama in March, JNR has decided to introduce the equipment at several other stations.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Sat, 28 Aug 2004 04:46:16 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/276831</guid>
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    <item>
      <title>COMMUTING AROUND TOKYO BAY</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/276123</link>
      <description><![CDATA[A good example of what the Japanese National Railways (JNR) is doing for suburban commuters can be found in its combined Yokosuka/Sobu express service which almost encircles Tokyo Bay. The two lines, the Yokosuka Line and the Sobu Line were finally linked in 1980, after a long history of separate operations. Linking only became possible as a result of the doubling of double tracks, the construction of a long underground section and the conversion of underutilized freight tracks to passenger service. Both lines are electrified. As a result of the linking, a commuter between Kurihama and Ohara has 166.8-km (103.6-mi) of express service available. In addition, new stations have been built at Shin-Kawasaki, Higashi-Totsuka and Nishi-Oi. The extension of the JNR's Keiyo Line parallelling Tokyo Bay and scheduled to cover 105-km (65-mi) is expected to reduce crowding on the express line. The first 18.4-km (11.4-mi) between Chiba-Minato and Nishi-Funabashi went into service last March and ridership is expected to further increase with the projected March 1988 opening of the Nishi-Uraysau Station which will front on Tokyo Disneyland.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Sat, 28 Aug 2004 04:44:33 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/276123</guid>
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    <item>
      <title>LABOUR SAVING TRACK STRUCTURE OF JNR</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/276104</link>
      <description><![CDATA[In recent years, destructive force to track increases with the increment of the number of trains and the rise of train speed, and thus more labour work and much expenditure are needed to maintain the track in normal condition.  The volume of maintenance work relating to roadbed ballast constitutes the largest portion in the entire track maintenance work and its share is approximately 40%. Accordingly, making track structure ballastless is most effective in the development of labour saving track.  Based on the above concept, the Japanese National Railway (JNR) has adopted directly fastened track structure with buried wooden or concrete block in concrete roadbed and has applied double elastic fastening device to rail fastening for the first time in the Fukasaka Tunnel (13,870 m in length, 1962) taking advantage of the opportunity of double track and electrification project of the Hokuriku Main Line.  This execution marked the initiation of labour saving track structure.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Sat, 28 Aug 2004 04:44:30 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/276104</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>TWENTY YEARS OF PROGRESS IN ALUMINIUM ALLOY ROLLING STOCK IN JAPAN</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/276101</link>
      <description><![CDATA[More than 20 years have been passed since the debut in Japan of the first all aluminium alloy rolling stock in 1962. During this period, such superior features of the aluminium alloy rolling stock as lighter weight and higher corrosion resistance were broadly recognised in the Japanese railways. As a result, about 3,000 cars made of aluminium alloy are presently operated by the national railways and many private railways in various districts of Japan including the Tohoku and Joetsu Shinkansens.  In this article, the technological development of designing and manufacturing of aluminium alloy rolling stock during these 20 years is reviewed as well as the history of progress of the aluminium alloy for rolling stock use.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Sat, 28 Aug 2004 04:44:30 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/276101</guid>
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