Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central) operates the Tokaido Shinkansen, one of the world's most efficient and fastest high-speed rail systems connecting Japan's major metropolitan areas: Tokyo, Nagoya, and Osaka. The company focuses on ensuring key features such as safety, punctuality, high speed, high frequency, and high capacity.
This session will discuss how JR Central maintains these core features of the Tokaido Shinkansen by managing train operations in a vertically integrated system, where JR Central owns and operates all infrastructure and rolling stock. The session will also provide an overview of the Shinkansen Control System (Tokaido-Sanyo Shinkansen Computer-Aided Control System, COMTRAC) and research and development at JR Central.
Tetsuya Kudoh is an Assistant Manager at JR Central’s London office. Since joining the company in 2016, he has worked as train crew (Shinkansen conductor, conventional train driver), a controller, and has also gained experience in the development of the Shinkansen operation and control system. Tetsuya has contributed to various advancements in research and development for both Shinkansen and conventional trains. Previously, as an Assistant Manager in the Transportation and Marketing Department for conventional lines, he led the development of a transportation planning system. He is currently conducting research on human factors accident prevention in the UK.