East Japan Railway Company (JR East)

Overview

East Japan Railway Company (JR East) was founded in the 1987 JNR privatization and covers Tohoku, Kanto, Shinetsu and Niigata from its Shibuya head office. Its roughly 7,200 km network is the largest among the JR passenger companies.

History

• April 1, 1987: Founded with the JNR privatization.
• 1991: Tohoku Shinkansen reached Tokyo Station.
• 1997: Hokuriku Shinkansen (Takasaki-Nagano) opened.
• 2015: Ueno-Tokyo Line opened; Hokuriku Shinkansen extended to Kanazawa.
• 2024: Hokuriku Shinkansen extended to Tsuruga.

Business

The capital region commuter network (including the Yamanote Line) has one of the world's highest traffic densities. The Suica IC card was introduced in 2001; station retail and real estate are major businesses.

Shinkansen

JR East operates the Tohoku, Joetsu, Yamagata and Akita Shinkansen, and covers Takasaki to Joetsu-Myoko on the Hokuriku Shinkansen.