Young Rail Professionals.
In May 2019, the Young Rail Professionals (YRP) and the Institutions of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE), Engineering and Technology (IET) and Railway Signal Engineers (IRSE) teamed up to create the Young Rail Tours (YRT) initiative.
It was formed following successful collaborative tours to the Netherlands and Munich by YRP and the IMechE, with the intention of delivering affordable, accessible and inspirational railway-themed study tours for the benefit of young rail industry professionals.
It started with a domestic tour to Scotland in September 2019, but YRT’s second official tour was a more ambitious affair.
Travelling to Japan in March 2020 should have posed no problems, with 23 delegates looking forward to tours of facilities as guests of JR-East, JR- Central, the Rail Technology Research and Innovation centre (RTRI) and Hitachi Rail. However, due to restrictions put in place by the Japanese Government as part of its Coronavirus prevention measures, those visits were unable to take place.
Instead, the group undertook a tour of Oji in Tokyo, along with a trip to the new Takanawa Gateway station, the Kyoto Sagano Scenic Romantic Train, and Usui Pass Railway Heritage Park.
The revised itinerary allowed the group to make good use of the Japanese rail network, with JR-Passes provided by Trainline. The group explored Tokyo, Hiroshima, Himeji, Osaka, and Kyoto.
The tour of Oji, provided by Otomo Travel, consisted of a rail-spe
cific walking tour in Tokyo’s Kita ward. Starting with a ride on the Asukayama Park Monorail, the tour takes in the views of rail infrastructure from Asukayama Park, along with the preserved Toei 6000 series tramcar and a preserved class D51 853 which sit around a children’s play area. There is also a ride on the Arakawa Line (the sole survivor of Tokyo’s once extensive streetcar system), before gaining the chance to look from an observation bridge at the JR-depot at Oku.
Takanawa Gateway station opened for revenue service on March 14 and is served by the Yamanote and KeihinTohoku lines.
Built as part of JR-East’s Shinagawa Redevelopment project, it is an example of integration of technology into the travel experience. The station includes a trial of AI-based passenger guidance robots and digital signage to provide guidance on the station, local facilities, transfer information and events to be held at the station. It also includes the first permanent TOUCH TO GO store, an unmanned store where (through unmanned AI-based payment technology) customers can make walk-through purchases just by picking up products.
In northern Kyoto you can find the Sagano Scenic railway and the Sagano romantic train, originally used as a small freight train to carry cargo on tracks laid in areas where cars and standard trains couldn’t operate. This is now a heritage line, with a 55-minute round trip alongside the Hozugawa river.
Finally, the group visited the Usui Pass Railway Heritage Park, an open-air museum in Annaka operated by JR-East on the site of the former Yokokawa motive power depot.
With the ability to network with likeminded young professionals from across the railway industry, while experiencing the history and culture of Japan and its railway network, YRTs first inter-continental tour can be deemed a great success!
Visit the Young Rail Professionals at: https://www.youngrailpro.com/.