During the Sino-Japanese War / the Pacific War (World War II), many facilities and vehicles were destroyed due to passenger’s moral devastation accompanying defeat shocks after the war, but due to lack of materials and labor, recovery is delayed I did not proceed as much. However, demand for passengers such as demolished trains and buying trains soared, while trains were cut from wartime due to lack of coal. As a result, in order to respond to passenger demand, we had to make excessive operations, and railway accidents continued one after another. However, even under such circumstances, the transportation concerning the Allied Army that has entered need to be done with the highest priority, and the Allied trains exclusively equipped with luxurious facilities that are not related to the Japanese at the time are operated all over the country It also became.

Exhaustion of facilities
Railway tracks and vehicles have to function unless maintenance is done periodically in a fixed period. “Maintenance”, “materials” and “funds” are necessary for maintenance, but after the middle of the war men were convened to the military, the number of labor was reduced and the materials were also short. In addition, most of the revenues of the National Railways were collected in the country under the name “extraordinary military expenses”, while the allocated materials were first allocated to the large increase in cargo locomotives and the like. As a result, necessary maintenance for owned vehicles and ground facilities was not satisfactory.

When we take weight factors such as war damage and repair incompleteness, the fact that there is no time after the end of the war is explained as follows, from the National Railways.

After the end of the war, the National Railways focused on emergency restoration of war damage and achieved this, but the restoration of assets to the prewar state did not progress due to the delay in the launch of the Japanese industry, and at the time the industry finally recovered the industry, As it has been financed today as a public corporation, it still has about 150 billion yen of assets requiring emergency replacement. Representative examples include about 15,000 wage freight cars, which account for the main cause of derailment (about 15% of the total) and 330,000 rupture-fatigued rails bearing the danger of breakage.

Driving accidents have increased drastically after the end of the war and temporarily reached eight times before the war, but recently decreased to about four times.
– Takiyama Norita (then Investigator of the JNR Governor ‘s Board of Governors) “Appealing the truth of the current situation and troubles of the national railway” “World” July 1954

As can be seen from the table, damage by private railway is concentrated exclusively on trains.

Although millions of people have been withdrawn from the former colonies and overseas occupied territories and also flowed into urban areas where private railway activities were active in a large amount, as a result of such damage, commuting · Transport power for commuting to school was extremely tight (this point was also the same as for national railway). Later, when the occupation ends at the end of the occupation from the outbreak of the Korean War, the disruption like the immediate aftermath is breathtaking, but after several years the high economic growth begins and the migration of population from rural areas to big cities is accelerating. For this reason, the passenger transportation in large cities will become increasingly tight again.

Age of recovery from reconstruction

Railway management by confusion after the war and occupation forces

On August 14, 1945, Japan decided to accept the Potsdam Declaration and notified the Allied Through the neutral country. After this date the Army and Army will be disarmed. The railway has finished the role of municipal transport, but the role of returning to the hometown a number of soldiers who were disarmed without spare time and those who evacuated the countryside avoiding air raids to the city began. In the big cities right after the end of the war, food and other supplies were extremely short and people went out to the suburbs using the railroad. However, trains operated by facilities, vehicles, and personnel who were overworked without being adequately maintained during wartime frequently caused accidents that could not be thought of at all times, and many passengers were sacrificed.

On August 22, 1945, the train with a Hyeosatsu line train regression accident, a train carrying numerous veteran troops stuck in the uphill slope in the tunnel due to insufficient output of the steam locomotive. An engineist backed the train for fear of suffocation by smoke, but from the stuffiness I got down from the passenger car and involved passengers who walked in the tunnel and ran away. 45 people dead.
On August 24, 1945 Hagaki Line train Front collision accident, passenger trains carrying numerous buyers frontal collision on the Tama River bridge, both falling into the river. More than 100 people dead.
September 6, 1945 Sasako Station on Chuo Main Line Sasamiko Station Underwater Understanding Accidents At Sasako Station, the train broke through the stoppers and overthrew and the dead were 60 people.
Others A major accident such as the accident that the boiler of the D52 type steam locomotive vehicle near the Tokaidai station near the Tokaido Line suddenly exploded and the Kintetsu Ikoma Tunnel No Brake Accident (49 people dead) occurred due to the breakage of the old brake hose did. Also, after the war the coal which is the fuel of the steam locomotive was extremely short, passengers increased, but until 1947 a large reduction of the train was executed frequently. As a result, passenger cars were crowded. In the photograph at that time, the passengers hanging from the deck of the passenger car and resting on the freight car are shown. Under such circumstances, the US military entered Japan and the occupation forces began to manage the whole railway.

Priority was given to railway restoration as a policy of occupation forces and suppression of the production of new cars. Therefore, in order to cover the missing passenger steam locomotives, locomotives were manufactured which were mass produced during the war and remodeled locomotives for cargo which became more likely after the war (example D 51 type → C 61 type, D 52 type → C62 type).

Special Forces Train
The Third Railway Transportation Headquarters of the Eighth Army of the United States who came in August 1945 managed the overall railway in Japan. Headquarters put Railway Transportatin Office (RTO) at the railway stations and railway stations throughout the country and ordered the Japanese side. In the national railway, we gathered good passenger cars in good condition and specially refined them and assigned them exclusively for the military forces, and we ran these dedicated regular trains from Tokyo to all over the country. In the train section of Tokyo and Osaka, both the National Railways and Private Rail have used half cars (half of one) for the resident for both. The residential designated car draws a white strip below the window and distinguishes it from the Japanese rider. Management by RTO continued until the 1952 San Francisco peace treaty became effective.

See also Allied train only train.

Separation of large private railways and launch of the state-owned railway in Japan
Although the Zaibatsu dismantlement was done according to the instructions of GHQ after the war, even in the railway field, the private rail which merged into this trend during the wartime began to be divided from 1947. In the Tokyo area, Otsukyu Electric Railway Company, Odakyu Electric Railway Company, Keihin Electric Railway Company, Keio Imperial Railway Company was divided into four companies. In the Osaka area, the Nankai Electric Railway was separated from the Kinki Nippon Railway, and the Keihan Electric Railway was separated from Keihanshin Express Railway. On the other hand, the Nagoya Railway and the West Nippon Railway Company were formed by merging many private railways from before World War II to the middle of the war, but the form as it was passed down after the war.

Although the Ministry of Railways had direct jurisdiction over the National Railways, it passed through the Department of Transportation and Communications and the Ministry of Transportation and became the public corporation body “Japan National Railway” on which the Minister of Transport had supervision on April 1, 1949. As a result, the “National Public Service Law” rather than the “National Public Service Law” is applied to the officials of the National Railways “Basic Labor Law of Public Enterprise”. This incomplete system is “It is difficult to receive assistance from the national treasury because it is in the form of a company for the time being, but intervention by politicians can not be prevented”, and it became a root that causes a big deficit in the future. In the same year, the National Railways was required to reduce the number of staff members who were 598,157 at that time to 503,072 by the Administrative Organization Staff Capacity Law. On the 6th day after 3rd on July 3 when the first dismissal was announced, the headquarters of 95,000 people (so-called heading) had difficulty, then Shimoyama Governor of the time was Kita-Senju Station of Joban Line It led to a case (A Shimoyama Incident) found as a corpse between Ayase Station. Regarding the cause of death of Governor Shimoyama, there have been suicide theories and killing theories from that time, and the truth is still a mystery. On the 15th of July the Mitaka incident (6 dead) occurred on July 15th, and the Matsukawa incident (3 dead) occurred on August 16th. Both are train accidents, but the possibility of artificial crime is deemed high and these three cases together are called the JNR Three Great Mystery Case.

Railroad reconstruction
Japan’s economic reconstruction began with special demand due to the Korean War broke out in 1950. The electrification of the Tokaido main line extended from Numazu station until then to Hamamatsu station in 1949, to Nagoya station in 1953, all the lines were electrified in 1956. Limited Express “Tsubame” · “Hatto” driven by luxurious vehicles such as observation cars and special second-class cars were driven on the Tokaido Main Line, and the sleeping cars resurrected in the night train.

Even on long distance railways, the honorable train revived. The reconstruction of the railroad has advanced, reaching a level exceeding the prewar. Technically, the structure of passenger cars was improved, modern trains were developed, diesel cars and diesel locomotives advanced. AC electrification was considered as a future electrification method and put to practical use.

Resurrection of Honorable Trains
In private railway, the Kinki Nippon Railway revived “Nagasaki Express” in 1947, but the first railroad revival of the National Railways was “Heiwa” which ran between Tokyo Osaka in 1949. “Heiwa” was renamed the “Tsubame” that was a venerable next year and formed a two-way system of Tokaido Line along with the sister train “do” (the express train till then was “Capacity system” and the seat was designated as a clerk after riding the seat However, “Tsubame” and “Hatto” managed the ledger of the seat, and when the ticket was purchased, the station staff contacted the ledger manager by telephone to designate the seat). The restoration and new setting of express trains and semi-express trains also continued in other districts. Private railroads heading for sightseeing spots such as Tobu and Odakyu also restored the limited express train.

Steel body of passenger car and light weight passenger car
The passenger car in the Meiji Era Taisho period was a structure with a wooden body mounted on a steel frame. That is, the strength necessary for the vehicle is handled by the underframe corresponding to the floor of the vehicle, and the walls and roof are similar to wooden houses. From the viewpoint of safety, this structure has the problem that the damage of passengers becomes large because the wooden car body breaks apart when it is overturned.

Passenger cars made of steel to walls and roofs were produced little by little from around 1927, but old wooden carriages remained in large quantities after the war. The accident occurred on 25 February 1947 on the Hagashi Line train derailed accident is said to be caused by the breakdown of the brake, but as a result of the broken wooden coaches falling from the banks falling apart, it resulted in a major accident of 184 deaths .
Under the direction of GHQ that emphasized the situation, the formation of steel bodies of wooden passenger cars was promoted and completed by 1957. The problem of increasing the weight of the steel body with only the underframe having strength is a problem. Therefore, since 1953 as a weight countermeasure since about 1953, for all passenger cars including trains and diesel cars, a “semi-monocoque” structure was adopted to make the walls and roof outer panels take strength and correspondingly lightweight The car body can now be manufactured. The 10-seat seat car manufactured in 1955 was also called a lightweight passenger car, with the truck being lighter in weight. The 20 series passenger car that appeared in 1958 is a car made for the sleeping limited express “Asaka” connecting Tokyo and Kyushu, adopts an air spring for the carriage for improving ride comfort, improves comfort by completing air conditioning and heating At the same time it fixes the window which becomes the entrance of the noise and improves quietness. The 20 series is a fixed organization that does not take into consideration division / consolidation of formation during operation, and connected electric power vehicles equipped with diesel generators as countermeasures to increase electricity used for air conditioning and dining cars. This vehicle was called “running hotel” from equipment beyond the standards of the sleeper car at that time, and it was popularized by being called blue train from the fact that the side of the car body was painted blue.

The passenger door of the previous passenger was able to open and close manually even while driving, but the 20 series was equipped with a mechanism to lock the getting on / off door while driving. This is said to be aimed at improving the safety of passenger cars in light of the incident that Michio Miyagi, a blind musician in 1956, fell from a passenger car running near Kariya station. The passenger doors of passenger cars produced after the 20 series were automated as well as trains (trains had automatic doors before the war).

The emergence of high-performance trains
The pre-war high-speed train was equipped with a huge horsepower motor in a suspended manner, and the speed was fast, but the noise and microvibration during power running were large and considered to be inappropriate for a long distance honorable train. The 80 series train called Shonan type which was completed in 1950 also has the same structure, but it is excellent in acceleration and high speed, equipped with a getting-off deck and has comfortable once, with improvement of brake, 16-car formation operation And contributed to the establishment of long distance driving by train.

Around that time, the development of a new train in the United States was progressing. It is equipped with a small-sized high-speed motor in a cardan style, and a brake for synchronous operation of a power generation brake that uses a motor as a generator as an air brake. The first train that introduced this system in Japan in full scale was a 300 type train of the subway underground which was completed in 1954, wrapped a white belt with a silver signature curve on a red car body and arranged three double doors It was an innovative design car body. As an honorable train, the Odakyu SE car (3000 type train) which appeared in 1957 became an epoch-making train with excellent both speed and ride comfort by adopting a light weight car body of hollow axis parallel cardan type and articulated structure . This train was tested between Kanan Station and Numazu station in September immediately after completion, and it recorded 145 km / h, which is the narrowest peak speed at the time. The 151 series train which appeared the following year was used for the first train express “Kodama” of JNR, but adopted an air spring for the carriage, shut out the noise vibration by the multi-layer window and floating floor structure, comfortable through complete train full air conditioning We offered a trip. This train recorded the maximum speed of 163 km / h in the high-speed operation test between Fujieda Station and Shimada Station in July 1959. This record broadened the possibility of high-speed operation by train and was data that leads to future Shinkansen driving.

Appearance of diesel cars and diesel locomotives
At that time the passenger cars in the unelectrified section were towed by the steam locomotive, but complaints against unpleasant smoke from the passengers became stronger. Particularly within the long tunnel of the gradient section, in some circumstances engine chief suffocation died.

So at the National Railways, we decided to abolish the steam locomotive by 1975 and set up a policy (power modernization plan) to switch to other power and call it “smokeless.” At that time main trunk lines were scheduled to be electrified sequentially, but since electrification of sub-trunk or lower routes is not cost effective, introduction of diesel cars and diesel locomotives was considered as a means of smokelessing. A gas car for the local line had been manufactured a few gasoline cars for single-machine operation before the war, but it was no longer used due to the deteriorating oil situation during the war. It began to be used again after the war, but the reduction gear was a system that the driver manually switched gears. This method is inconvenient because it is necessary to switch the gears by placing a driver in each car and signaling with a whistle or the like when driving with two or more connected. As a system that can drive multiple power plants with a single operator (general control), compare electric type running with motor power by rotating a generator with diesel engine and liquid formula decelerating with torque converter (liquid transmission) It was studied and it was decided to adopt a liquid type diesel car which is excellent in terms of cost and maintainability. The first issue of practical application was the Kiha 45000 form for the local line (later Kiha 17 form), which was manufactured from 1953, and continued in 1956 the Kiha 55 series was made as a temporary use of the Nikko Line. The liquid formula was established as a driving system of the Japanese diesel car afterwards.

The diesel locomotive was not practically used since it imported a small locomotive made in Germany before the war and tested it. After the DD50 type (1953), strong prototypical element as a countermeasure against smokeless trunk line, DF50 form began to be produced in 1957. Both models use electric diesel engines to turn the generator and drive the motor with that electricity. Because there is no experience of the large horsepower engine for railway in the domestic engine, the engine mounted with Japanese manufacturers with technical cooperation in Germany. These locomotives were not power-up compared to the steam locomotive, but they were somewhat incompetent. From 1962, DD51 type (powerful) with two domestic engines and adopting a liquid transmission was mass-produced, and smoking cessation advanced.

AC electrification
Because railway motors need to cope with large changes in rotation speed and load, DC motors are suitable. Therefore, the electricity used in the railroad was DC voltage 600 V – 1,500 V was adopted.

However, since the electricity supplied from a general power plant is tens of thousands – hundreds of thousands of volts of AC, the railroad company has installed a substation every certain section, lowers the voltage, converts it to direct current and uses it . As the nature of electricity, AC is very easy to change the voltage, higher electric power can be sent as the voltage is higher, electric power loss at the time of power transmission can be less as high voltage . That is, if high voltage alternating current is passed through the overhead wire and used down on the car to the working voltage, it becomes possible to reduce the number of required substations. AC electrification was considered in Germany during the Second World War, and its technology was handed over to France after the war and put to practical use. Even Japanese National Railways adopted a policy of adopting AC electrification as a future electrification method, and since 1955 we conducted an experiment using a prototype electric locomotive at the experimental line between Sendai line Northern Sendai station and Sakunami station. This experiment succeeded, the electrification of the Hokuriku main line which began in 1957 was adopted as an exchange 60 Hz 20,000 V, and the electric locomotive model ED 70 shape was produced. This locomotive was a system that lowers the voltage inside the car, converts it to direct current with a rectifier, and drives the direct current motor. After that, the national railroads electrified Hokkaido, Tohoku, Hokuriku and Kyushu districts by the exchange, and Shinkansen also adopted AC electrification.

Golden Age after World War II
Since 1955, Japan has entered a period of high economic growth. Economic activity became active following the year, income of the people increased. Business guests and tourists have increased, and a lot of goods have moved domestically. The railway continued to strengthen the transportation power to carry increasing passenger and cargo, new models were introduced one after another to the national railway and private railway.

The Tokaido Line ‘s train limited express “Kodama” was fasted at 110 km / h and tied Tokyo – Osaka in six and a half hours. Because “Kodama” gained popularity due to speed and comfort, “Tsubame” and “Hatto” (Tokyo – Osaka 7 hours and half) of the passenger car formation also became electric trains in 1960 and joined the “Kodama”. In 1958, the first limited express train “Hatsukaru” began running on a steam locomotive towing passenger car, but in 1960 it was switched to the first diesel express kiha 81 series. In the next year, the diesel express appeared as a limited express “Swan”, an improved type Kiha 82 series. The 82 series acted as an express train in non-electrified section, and in various places other than Shikoku. In private railway, the Kinki Nippon Railway has expanded the two-story limited express train “Vista Car”, Odakyu and the Nagoya Railroad set up a driver’s seat on the roof, and “Romance car” and “Panorama car” which provides forward vision to passengers respectively I threw it.

Freight trains have become stronger demand for higher speeds, EF 60 type and its improved type EF 65 type can operate at speeds over 100 km / h, and limited express freight trains such as “Takara issue” and “Tobi Noo” In addition to towing, it was also used for a towing machine of a sleeping limited express.

With the development of the economy, the demand for “wider living” has been strengthened, and railroad companies and local governments have tied up and large-scale residential lots are built in the suburbs of big cities (so-called “New Town”), Was constructed. As a feature of this period, “management of a professional baseball team by a railroad company” is raised. Following the well-established Hanshin Tigers and the Hankyu Braves in the prewar days, JNR Swallows, Kintetsu Buffaloes, Nankai Hawks, Nishitetsu Lions appeared, played a role in integrating with local residents, securing passengers and encouraging employees’ morale .

In the National Railways, the number of honors trains connecting the designated seats has increased, the conventional ledger and the seating system by telephone have reached the limit, and in 1960 a computer-based seating system Mars 1 was introduced in the Tokyo area. At first, it was correspondence of only the first Kodama and the second Kodama of the descent. The designated ticket at the opening of the Tokaido Shinkansen was a ledger system and there was considerable confusion, but in the following year (1965) the Shinkansen became Mars support. In 1965 Nippon Steel separated windows that deal with designated tickets and set it as a window of green. In 1970, all seat assignment work was computerized, and the ledger work disappeared.

Further strengthening of transportation
With the rapid economic growth the transport capacity of the main trunk line has become insufficient. JNR promoted multi-track electrification of major trunk lines, but drastic remedial measures were required for Tokaido Main Line. In cooperation with Hideo Ishi, who was appointed to the chief engineer, Shinji Tsuneo, the president of the national railway, decided to build a high-speed train Shinkansen adopting international standards, and made efforts to complete the construction. High economic growth encouraged population inflows into large cities, and the number of commuters in Tokyo and Osaka districts increased further. In order to resolve the congestion of the commuter train, Nippon Steel set up “five commuter commuters commuting” to make five lines double, and started construction. In addition, the private railway companies in Kanto and the National Railways launched a “mutual direct drive” in which the commuter train directly enters the subway. On the other hand, in the Kansai area, there was little interaction and the terminal station was expanded extensively to accommodate the increase in traffic volume.

Completion of Shinkansen
In the 1960s, the amount of transport on the Tokaido Main Line reached its limit. More than 60 honors trains run daily from the Tokyo station toward the west, and a lot of cargo trains and local trains filled the gaps. As a means of solving this situation, a “Shinkansen” plan was newly established to build a separate line based on international standards and run high-speed trains. Although this plan was approved by the National Assembly in March 1959, despite the high goal of “the regular train exceeding the speed of 200 km / h” in which the world railroad is inexperienced, a short period of time to complete in 1964 after five years It was plan of. For this reason, a part of the actual route is completed ahead of schedule, the prototype vehicle is actually run, the vehicle and the facility confirmation test is carried out, and based on the result, the idea of ​​the vehicle and the facility for the production is consolidated Method was taken. This test line was constructed as a model line in the western part of Kanagawa prefecture and was also open to the public. At that time, the phrase “super express of dreams” was attached to a new railroad running at a speed of 200 km / hour, but as a result of the guidance of Mr. Shinji Hideikawa and Hideo Oshima engineer and efforts of the JNR officials, in 1964 Year) the Tokaido Shinkansen opened. Initially it took 4 hours between Tokyo and Osaka, but shortened to 3 hours and 10 minutes after waiting for the roadbed to stabilize the next year. With the opening of the Shinkansen, the demand for the daytime long distance train of the conventional line (Tokaido Main Line) has disappeared, and the freight train and the local train are running lines (Huang and the island are responsible for the rush of construction costs before the opening of the Shinkansen I resigned, I was not invited to the opening ceremony).

Strengthen commuter transportation
With the economic development population inflows into big cities continued, commuters increased. In 1960 there was a commuter train in the Tokyo area with a boarding rate exceeding 300% (Sobu Line 312% etc). In order to resolve this congestion, JNR has created the “five commuter commuter strategy”. That is, we plan to double the five lines of “Tokyo Tokaido Main Line”, “Central Station”, “Soushu Line”, “Tohoku Main Line” and “Joban Line” which are heavily congested. In the urban areas where land prices are rising, construction work has been completed using huge construction costs for each line. Private railways in the Tokyo area and the National Railways, in partnership with the Subway Metro and the Tokyo Metro Subway, formulated a “mutual direct ride method” in which the commuter train from the suburbs enters the subway line as it is, improving the convenience of the passengers and congestion at the terminal station Mitigation measures were taken. It was the first time Keisei Electric Railways entered the Tokyo Metro Subway in 1960 and the Tobu Railway subway Hibiya Line ride in 1962 and so on continued.

In Osaka, except for Hankyu Railway’s Sakaisuji line, no progress has been made in Osaka, Umeda station of Hankyu Railway (completed in 1973, 10 faces), Namba station of Nankai Electric Railway (1980 Completed, 8-wire 9-sided) and other large terminals were made. Hankyu Umeda station became a storm of the station which fully adopted automatic ticket gates. Keihan Electric Railway and Kinki Nippon Railway also extended the route to the city center, aiming for flights to and from the subway.

The prewar subway was only Tokyo and Osaka, but starting with Nagoya in 1957, Sapporo (1971), Yokohama (1972), Kobe (1977), Kyoto, Fukuoka (none in 1981), Sendai (1987) and other metropolitan cities also opened the subway. The Tokyo Monorail opened in 1964 between Hamamatsucho Station and Haneda Airport as a new urban transportation facility corresponding to routes with less traffic than the subway.