Old Japanese Trains Find New Life in Other Countries
A pretty cool report from NTV’s “Bankisha” about where Japan sends its retired trains:
The first part of the report shows how old trains are sometimes purchased by other train lines within Japan. One example are former Odakyu Romance Car trains being used in Nagano.
However, when cars get too old to be of much use in Japan, they are usually either scrapped or sent abroad. Destination countries include Malaysia, Burma, Indonesia, the Philippines, Russia, China, Thailand, Vietnam, and Argentina. Buyers find that Japanese trains are high quality machines that are safe and rarely break down.
Visits to a few of the countries reveal that many of the trains have been left in their original condition. Some are easily recognizable by their colors, and Japanese writing is easily visible in their interiors. Safety messages are left in their original Japanese.
This train in the Philippines has kept its original Japanese paint job, which seems to have deteriorated quite a bit. Its Filipino owners even let the “Shimonoseki” destination signs in place.
This train to Tokyo was filmed in Indonesia. It used to run on JR’s Musashino line.
As the above shot of a Japanese train being used in Indonesia demonstrates, the new owners of the train don’t seem to be too concerned about serious safety regulations. If the train is full, people just cling to the top or outside of the train cars.
A Japanese reporter who rode on one of the super-crowded Indonesian trains found it scary just to watch people clinging to the outside of the train and jumping off when they reached their stops. It was also very hot inside the train, and he ended up getting really sweaty.
- Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
- Dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
