Shinkansen investment before and after JNR reform

The high-speed railway system, namely Shinkansen, was initially introduced by the Japanese National Railways (JNR) in 1964. As JNR was reformed in 1987, the schemes for construction and operation of Shinkansen were also modified accordingly. This paper primarily discussed Shinkansen’s effects on the operating companies and tried to evaluate the financial effects of Shinkansen operation depending on its traffic density. The study also showed that Shinkansen transport is competitive against other transport modes and is increasing its transport revenue by a much higher rate than conventional lines operated by those railways. Along with the passenger increase in the inter-city services such as the Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen Lines, the number of Shinkansen commuters has been also increasing especially around Tokyo metropolitan area. As a result, the share of revenue brought from Shinkansen operation has been increasing in those railway companies in Japan.