The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and is the largest of the seven Japan Railways Group companies. The company name is officially abbreviated as JR-EAST or JR East in English, and as in Japanese. The company's headquarters are in Yoyogi,

Shibuya Shibuya (渋谷区 ''Shibuya-ku'') is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. As a major commercial and finance center, it houses two of the busiest railway stations in the world, Shinjuku Station (southern half) and Shibuya Station. As of April 1 ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...

, and next to the Shinjuku Station. It is listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange (it formerly had secondary listings in the Nagoya and

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of ...

stock exchanges), is a constituent of the TOPIX Large70 index, and is also one of the three only Japan Railways Group constituents of the

Nikkei 225 The Nikkei 225, or , more commonly called the ''Nikkei'' or the ''Nikkei index'' (), is a stock market index for the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE). It has been calculated daily by the '' Nihon Keizai Shimbun'' (''The Nikkei'') newspaper since 19 ...

index, the other being JR Central and

JR West , also referred to as , is one of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) companies and operates in western Honshu. It has its headquarters in Kita-ku, Osaka. It is listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange, is a constituent of the TOPIX Large70 index, and i ...

History

JR East was incorporated on 1 April 1987 after being spun off from the government-run

Japanese National Railways The abbreviated JNR or , was the business entity that operated Japan's national railway network from 1949 to 1987. Network Railways As of June 1, 1949, the date of establishment of JNR, it operated of narrow gauge () railways in all 46 pre ...

(JNR). The spin-off was nominally "privatization", as the company was actually a wholly owned subsidiary of the government-owned

JNR Settlement Corporation The , or JNRSC, was a temporary holding company created to distribute the assets of the former Japanese National Railways (JNR) after its privatization in the mid-1980s. On October 22, 1998, the JNRSC was disbanded and placed under the Japan Rail ...

for several years, and was not completely sold to the public until 2002. Following the breakup, JR East ran the operations on former JNR lines in the Greater Tokyo Area, the Tōhoku region, and surrounding areas.

Lines

Railway lines of JR East primarily serve the Kanto and Tohoku regions, along with adjacent areas in Kōshin'etsu region ( Niigata, Nagano, Yamanashi) and Shizuoka prefectures.

Shinkansen

JR East operates all of the Shinkansen, high-speed rail lines, north of Tokyo, except the Hokkaido Shinkansen, which is operated by JR Hokkaido. * Tōhoku Shinkansen (Tokyo - Shin-Aomori) * Jōetsu Shinkansen (Tokyo - Niigata; Echigo-Yuzawa - Gala Yuzawa) * Hokuriku Shinkansen (Tokyo - Jōetsumyōkō) *

Yamagata Shinkansen The is a Mini-shinkansen route in Japan, operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It provides service between Tokyo and Shinjō in Yamagata Prefecture over the tracks of the Tohoku Shinkansen and the Ōu Main Line. The term Yam ...

(Tokyo - Shinjo) * Akita Shinkansen (Tokyo - Akita) The Tokyo–Osaka

Tōkaidō Shinkansen The is a Japanese high-speed rail line that is part of the nationwide Shinkansen network. Along with the Sanyo Shinkansen, it forms a continuous high-speed railway through the Taiheiyō Belt, also known as the Tokaido corridor. Opened in 19 ...

is owned and operated by the Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central), although it stops at several JR East stations.

Kanto regional lines

These lines have sections inside the Tokyo suburban area ( ja, 東京近郊区間, links=no) designated by JR East. This does not necessarily mean that the lines are fully inside the Greater Tokyo Area.

Koshinetsu regional lines

Tohoku regional lines

Train services

Below is the full list of limited express (including Shinkansen) and

express train An express train is a type of passenger train that makes a small number of stops between its origin and destination stations, usually major destinations, allowing faster service than local trains that stop at most or all of the stations alon ...

services operated on JR East lines as of 2022.

Shinkansen

*'' Asama'' *'' Hakutaka'' *'' Hayabusa'' *'' Hayate'' *'' Kagayaki'' *'' Komachi'' *''

Nasuno The is a train service operated on the Tōhoku Shinkansen by East Japan Railway Company (JR East) in Japan. It serves all stations between and , a medium-sized city approximately 225 km north of Tokyo.JR Timetable, December 2008 Origin ...

'' *'' Tanigawa/Max Tanigawa'' *'' Toki/Max Toki'' *'' Tsubasa'' *''

Yamabiko The is a high-speed Shinkansen train service operated on the Tōhoku Shinkansen between and by East Japan Railway Company (JR East) in Japan. Name The word ''yamabiko'' is usually translated as 'echo', particularly one which is heard in the ...

Limited express (daytime)

*'' Akagi/Swallow Akagi'' *'' Azusa'' *'' Fuji Excursion'' *'' Hitachi'' and '' Tokiwa'' *'' Inaho'' *'' Kaiji/View Kaiji/Hamakaiji'' *'' Kusatsu'' *''

Narita Express , abbreviated as N'EX, is a limited express train service operated in Japan since 1991 by East Japan Railway Company (JR East), serving Narita International Airport from various Greater Tokyo Area stations. Services run approximately half-hour ...

'' *'' Nikkō and Kinugawa'' *'' Saphir Odoriko/Odoriko'' *'' Sazanami'' * ''Shirayuki'' *''

Shiosai The is a limited express train service in Japan operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It runs from and to on the Bōsō Peninsula in Chiba Prefecture. Station stops ''Shiosai'' services operate over the Sōbu Main Line, s ...

'' * ''Shōnan'' *'' Tsugaru'' *''

Wakashio The is a limited express train service in Japan operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It runs from to and on the Bōsō Peninsula in Chiba Prefecture. Station stops ''Wakashio'' services operate over the Keiyo Line and ...

Limited express (overnight)

*'' Sunrise Izumo''/'' Sunrise Seto'' (not operated by JR East, operated by JR Central and JR-West over the Tokaido Main Line, part of which JR East owns between Tokyo and Atami)

Stations

During fiscal 2017, the busiest stations in the JR East network by average daily passenger count were: # Shinjuku Station (778,618) #

Ikebukuro Station Ikebukuro Station ( ja, 池袋駅, ) is a major railway station located in the Ikebukuro district of Toshima, Tokyo, Japan, shared by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East), Tokyo subway operator Tokyo Metro, and the two private railway operato ...

(566,516) # Tokyo Station (452,549) # Yokohama Station (420,192) # Shinagawa Station (378,566) # Shibuya Station (370,669) # Shimbashi Station (277,404) # Omiya Station (255,147) #

Akihabara Station is a railway station in Tokyo's Chiyoda ward. It is at the center of the Akihabara shopping district specializing in electronic goods. Lines Akihabara Station is served by the following lines. JR East: * Tōhoku Main Line ** Keihin-Tohoku L ...

(250,251) # Kita-Senju Station (217,838)

Subsidiaries

*Higashi-Nihon Kiosk - provides newspapers, drinks and other items in station kiosks and operates the Newdays convenience store chain *JR Bus Kanto / JR Bus Tohoku - intercity bus operators *Nippon Restaurant Enterprise - provides '' bentō'' box lunches on trains and in train stations * Tokyo Monorail - (70% ownership stake) *East Japan Marketing & Communications

Sponsorship

JR East co-sponsors the JEF United Chiba

J-League The , known as the for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the system. Founded in 1992, it is one of the most successful leagues in Asian club football. Contested by 18 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the J ...

football club , which was formed by a merger between the JR East and Furukawa Electric company teams.

Environmental issues

JR East aims to reduce its carbon emissions by half, as measured over the period 1990–2030. This would be achieved by increasing the efficiency of trains and company-owned thermal power stations and by developing hybrid trains.

Union issues

The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department has stated that JR East's official union is a front for a revolutionary political organization called the Japan Revolutionary Communist League (Revolutionary Marxist Faction). An investigation of this is ongoing.

East Japan Railway Culture Foundation

The East Japan Railway Culture Foundation is a non-profit organization established by JR East for the purpose of developing a "richer railway culture". The Railway Museum in Saitama is operated by the foundation.

Bids outside Japan

JR East holds a 15% shareholding in West Midlands Trains with

Abellio Abellio (also Abelio and Abelionni) was a god worshiped in the Garonne Valley in Gallia Aquitania (now southwest France), known primarily by a number of inscriptions which were discovered in Comminges, in the Pyrenees. He may have been a god o ...

and Mitsui that commenced operating the West Midlands franchise in England in December 2017. The same consortium has also been listed to bid for the South Eastern franchise.South Eastern franchise bidders announced
'' Railway Gazette International'' 22 June 2017

References

External links

East Japan Railway Company Web Site (in English)
* Wiki collection of bibliographic works on East Japan Railway Company {{Authority control Transport companies based in Tokyo Companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Railway companies established in 1987 1500 V DC railway electrification 25 kV AC railway electrification Japanese companies established in 1987