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 ($US 46.45bn) Chuo maglev line between the two cities.
MITSUBISHI Electric says its Station Energy Saving Inverter (S-EIV) has saved approximately 600kWh of electricity per day, equivalent to the power consumption of 60 households since it was installed at Tokyo Metro's Myoden station in June.
JR EAST and its subsidiary Tokyo Monorail have announced two projects to improve rail and monorail connections to Tokyo Haneda Airport as part of the Japanese government's policy to boost the number of tourists visiting Japan.
JR EAST has released artist's impressions of its forthcoming E235 EMU, which will enter service from next year on the Yamanote Line, one of the busiest commuter lines in Tokyo, which carries around 3.8 million passengers a day.
THALES has been chosen by JR East to design Japan's first communications-based train control system (CBTC), following a competition between Thales and Alstom.
JR East plans to introduce its Advanced Train Administration and Communications System (Atacs) on the busy Saikyo Line in Tokyo from autumn 2017.
CONSTRUCTION of a new 5.2km metro line to serve the waterfront area of Tokyo's Koto Ward is a step closer after The Koto Ward Office revealed a plan that would make the project eligible for central government subsidies.
SINGAPORE Mass Rapid Transit Corporation (SMRT) has awarded a contract worth more than Yen 8bn ($US 80.5m) to Toshiba, Japan, to re-equip a fleet of 66 six-car metro trains with permanent-magnet synchronous traction motors.
COMMERCIAL services began on March 16 on the 1.5km link between Daikanyama and Shibuya in Tokyo, completing the connection between Fukutoshin metro line and suburban lines to the south-west of the city.