JAPAN's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MILT) announced on January 27 that Kyushu Railway Company (JR Kyushu) will be listed on the Tokyo stock exchange in the 2016 financial year, becoming the fourth of the former Japanese National Railways (JNR) companies to do so.

BANGLADESH's minister for road transport and bridges, Mr Obaidul Quadar, says a tender to pre-qualify bidders for a contract to supply 24 six-car metro trains will be published on January 31.

THE Japanese government has reached a deal to accelerate the construction of two Shinkansen lines, bringing forward completion by up to five years.

JR East outlined its future procurement strategy at the EU-Japan 2nd Railway Industrial Dialogue earlier this month, pledging to strengthen links with European suppliers.

JR Central hosted ceremonies at Shinagawa station in Tokyo and at Nagoya station on December 17 to mark the start of construction on the Yen 5.5 trillion ($US 46.45bn) Chuo maglev line between the two cities.

DYNAMIC testing of the first H5 train for the Hokkaido Shinkansen began on December 1, when the 10-car set made a number of runs between Nanae depot and the new Hokuto station in Hakodate, a distance of around 2km.

IN an unusual move for a Japanese railway, JR East issued an open tender on November 28 for a contract to supply a fleet of 18 DMU cars for the 107km non-electrified line from Hachinohe in Aomori prefecture to Kunji in neighbouring Iwate.

CONSTRUCTION of the first phase of JR Central's Chuo Shinkansen maglev project linking Tokyo and Nagoya has been approved by Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT).

This month JR Central will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Tokaido Shinkansen, the world's first purpose-built high-speed railway. David Briginshaw explains the significance of this event and charts the development of the Shinkansen.