International Railroad Discussion > Japan Railways on cable

I stumbled on a weekly show on the NHKTV channel featuring the railroads of Japan. NHK has programming in English about Japan. 

The shows on the railways are very well done and are informative and interesting, and so far appear to deal mainly with passenger trains. A recent show, for example, highlighted the subways of Tokyo, which handle some 7 million passengers a day! Trains are scheduled at 2 minute intervals, and the scheduling is in 5 second increments. For example, a train arriving at 8:02:15 might depart at 8:02:40, with a 25 second dwell time. The drivers report to work and are given a breathalyzer test and must carry a spare set of glasses. (No contact lenses allowed because of concernt that they are potential problems.) The train followed in the video segment was off schedule by less than 5 seconds over its route. 

Another channel that may contain material of interest to railfans is the RFD channel, which has a show called "Trains and Locomotives." I have only watched a couple of episodes, but it looks like a promising program. So far the episodes deal only with railroads in the USA. 

Comments on these channels and suggestions for other viewing would be welcome.

I have cross posted this to the Passenger Trains forum,

If you miss a scheduled broadcast, check out NHK World Japan on the web.

Rail related programs, and others, will remain viewable for a number of months.

I hosted several friends (about half a dozen) on a improvised tour of the Tokyo subway system about 20 years ago. They wanted to experience the Tokyo commute rush, so they asked me to lead, since I already knew the system reasonably well.

If you walk too slow at the main transfer stations serving the commute-heavy lines (Tozai, Chiyoda, Marunouchi, and Hibiya Lines are what we rode), you'll miss the transfer by seconds, and must wait 2-3 minutes for the next train. So I told my friends to walk faster and keep pace with the Tokyo commuters. 

This is a big deal to the commuters. They want to hit the transfers without missing any trains. So there's demand for 5 second precision for the service, and that precision makes synchronized transfers with countless combinations of multiple lines at multiple stations possible.

colehour Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I stumbled on a weekly show on the NHKTV channel
> featuring the railroads of Japan. NHK has
> programming in English about Japan. 
>
> The shows on the railways are very well done and
> are informative and interesting, and so far appear
> to deal mainly with passenger trains. A recent
> show, for example, highlighted the subways of
> Tokyo, which handle some 7 million passengers a
> day! Trains are scheduled at 2 minute intervals,
> and the scheduling is in 5 second increments. For
> example, a train arriving at 8:02:15 might depart
> at 8:02:40, with a 25 second dwell time. The
> drivers report to work and are given a
> breathalyzer test and must carry a spare set of
> glasses. (No contact lenses allowed because of
> concernt that they are potential problems.) The
> train followed in the video segment was off
> schedule by less than 5 seconds over its route. 
>
> Another channel that may contain material of
> interest to railfans is the RFD channel, which has
> a show called "Trains and Locomotives." I have
> only watched a couple of episodes, but it looks
> like a promising program. So far the episodes deal
> only with railroads in the USA. 
>
> Comments on these channels and suggestions for
> other viewing would be welcome.
>
> I have cross posted this to the Passenger Trains
> forum,

Most likely you caught an episode of "Japan Railway Journal", which has been producing monthly episdoes since 2015. I'm a big fan. It's quite amazing the niumber of topics and the detail that they have covered in the five years that they have produced the show (though the coverage is, not surprisingly, often rather fawning and steers clear from controversy). Several episodes are available on NHK's website/apps, and there is also a YouTube channel maintained by a fan that contains every episode and can be found pretty easily by searching.

NHK also has another series, "Train Cruise", which follows a foreigner travelling around Japan on various rail routes. Also an entertaining watch!

pennengineer Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> colehour Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I stumbled on a weekly show on the NHKTV
> channel
> > featuring the railroads of Japan. NHK has
> > programming in English about Japan. 
> >
> > The shows on the railways are very well done
> and
> > are informative and interesting, and so far
> appear
> > to deal mainly with passenger trains. A recent
> > show, for example, highlighted the subways of
> > Tokyo, which handle some 7 million passengers a
> > day! Trains are scheduled at 2 minute
> intervals,
> > and the scheduling is in 5 second increments.
> For
> > example, a train arriving at 8:02:15 might
> depart
> > at 8:02:40, with a 25 second dwell time. The
> > drivers report to work and are given a
> > breathalyzer test and must carry a spare set of
> > glasses. (No contact lenses allowed because of
> > concernt that they are potential problems.) The
> > train followed in the video segment was off
> > schedule by less than 5 seconds over its
> route. 
> >
> > Another channel that may contain material of
> > interest to railfans is the RFD channel, which
> has
> > a show called "Trains and Locomotives." I have
> > only watched a couple of episodes, but it looks
> > like a promising program. So far the episodes
> deal
> > only with railroads in the USA. 
> >
> > Comments on these channels and suggestions for
> > other viewing would be welcome.
> >
> > I have cross posted this to the Passenger
> Trains
> > forum,
>
> Most likely you caught an episode of "Japan
> Railway Journal", which has been producing monthly
> episdoes since 2015. I'm a big fan. It's quite
> amazing the niumber of topics and the detail that
> they have covered in the five years that they have
> produced the show (though the coverage is, not
> surprisingly, often rather fawning and steers
> clear from controversy). Several episodes are
> available on NHK's website/apps, and there is also
> a YouTube channel maintained by a fan that
> contains every episode and can be found pretty
> easily by searching.
>
> NHK also has another series, "Train Cruise", which
> follows a foreigner travelling around Japan on
> various rail routes. Also an entertaining watch!

Japan Railway Journal is shown on PBS stations at least once each week.