Experience of High Speed Rail Technology in Japan during Study Leave
Apart from pursuing master’s degree course, I could also learn the modern high speed rail technology in Japan, which
was one of the objectives of this master’s course program, initiated by the combined effort of Indian Railways and the
University of Tokyo. One of the main advantage of a long stay in Japan was that, there was ample time to absorb the
subtle aspect of work culture, organisational behaviour and systematic approach prevalent in all aspects of life in
Japan. Along with these, stay in Japan facilitated acquiring proficiency over Japanese language. Usually there is a break
of around 1 ½ months to 2 months between two semesters in Japan and this time can be utilised mainly for learning
modern Japanese rail technology. High speed rail is not the name of one technology but it is a conglomeration of
various modern technologies, which work coherently to achieve one end objective i.e. fastest and safest train
operation. It was possible for me to learn modern rail technology prevalent in Japan through various internships,
trainings and seminars which I did in Japanese Railways, Railway Technical Research Institute and different other
industries and institutions of Japan. A brief description of these are given in following paragraphs.
Internship at Japanese Railways (East) company:
Two weeks intensive internship to get conversant with high speed rail technology in Japan. It consists of presentations
by various executives, field visits, Shinkansen ride etc. Following are the salient features of internship:
 Meeting with executive director of JR (East)  Presentations on Shinkansen planning and financing, Design of Railway
concrete structure, History and evolution of high speed train, Construction and quality control of concrete structures,
Design of steel structure, Maintenance of concrete and steel structures Field visits: Shinkansen rail grinding work
near Omiya station, Shinkansen General Rolling Stock Maintenance Center in Sendai, Reconstruction work at Tsunami
damaged Joban line, Station modification works at Niigata, Inspection of viaduct and bridge near Kameari station,
Ueno underground station and tunnel maintenance.
Internship at railway Technical Research Institute (RTRI):
One month long internship at RTRI gave deeper understanding of the latest researches going on in the field of Railway
Technology in Japan. RTRI is centralised agency which provides research and development facility to all the Japan Rail
companies. Salient features of this internship are:
 Visit to the research facilities and familiarization of researches going on in RTRI  Visit to Institute of Technology,
Tokyu Corporation and attending experiment  Introduction of concrete sleepers by Railway Dynamic Division  SEM
analysis in Material Technology Division  Working with ASTEA MACS software  Visit to concrete sleeper plant.
Urban Rail Seminar:
This seminar was organised by the University of Tokyo in co-operation with various Railway companies in Japan to
familiarize technologies and system prevalent in Urban Rail Transport. The seminar consisted of lectures by
distinguished heads of various rail companies, field visits and educational tours. Salient features of the seminar are:
 Presentations: Comparison of rail & road transport, Need of urban transit in Asian counties, Features of Tokyo metro,
maintenance and disaster prevention, AVS vehicle to vehicle communication, Business model of Tokyu corporationmoving from rail transport to city development  Field visits: Tokyo Metro night inspection and maintenance, Tokyo
station business, JR (East) Operation Control Centre, City development-Tama Plaza, Shibuya area development.
Shinkansen Seminar:
This seminar was very useful and helped to learn the concept behind Japanese high speed rail “Shinkansen”, how it
promoted economic growth in Japan as well as we could learn the technologies and systems that support it. Salient
features of the seminar are:
 Presentations: The creation & evolution of high speed rail system, Vehicle dynamics for high speed rail, High speed
track maintenance technology, Train operation in Shinkansen, Earthquakes & Shinkansen structure, HSR as social &
competitive infrastructure.  Technical visits: JR Central General Education Centre at Mishima, Hamamatsu Workshop
(Shinkansen rolling stock maintenance), Rail Museum at Nagoya.
International Conference of High Speed Rail:
The 9th world congress on high speed was, once in-a-life time opportunity for all high speed professionals worldwide
to review the past half century and to envision for the next half. There were many exhibitions and technical sessions
related to HSR.
Technical Tours and site visits:
Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation at Tokyo, Tokyo General Rolling Stock Centre at Hiromachi, Japanese
Airlines Maintenance Unit at Heneda, East Nippon Expressway Company Limited, Tokyo-Gaikan Expressway project in
Tajiri area at Chiba, JR East Research Laboratory at Nisshin (Tokyo).