JR Timetable Revision (2021) ②: Advancing Last Trains on Profitable Commuter Lines

Following up on my previous article, I would like to share some thoughts regarding the JR timetable revision held on March 13, 2021 (Reiwa 3). In the last piece, I covered the positive news of a one-minute reduction in service times for the Tohoku, Hokkaido, Joetsu, and Hokuriku Shinkansen lines. However, another major development this time was the advancement of the last train departure times in the Tokyo metropolitan area and Keihanshin region.

In the “cash cow” areas—the “Tokyo Metropolitan Area” and “Keihanshin”—which are key operational zones for JR East and JR West, trains run from early morning until late night. Services operate from around 4 AM until past midnight. It is standard practice for the last train to depart after midnight, and it is normal for services to arrive at their termini in the early hours. Since JR East’s non-core lines outside the Tokyo area are all loss-making routes, and similarly, JR West’s non-core lines outside Keihanshin are also loss-making, the structure relies on profits generated by these profitable hubs to cover losses elsewhere. Consequently, there is no effort spared when it comes to improving service quality.

Getting back to the topic, if we list the main routes where the last train departure times were advanced, we see:

【Tokyo Metropolitan Area (JR East)】

Keihin-Tohoku Line: Tokyo to Omiya 0:00 (30 minutes advanced)

Chuo Line Rapid: Shinjuku to Takaosawa 0:00 (30 minutes advanced)

【Keihanshin Area (JR West)】

JR Kyoto Line: Osaka to Kyoto 0:00 (25 minutes advanced)

JR Kobe Line: Osaka to Nishi-Akashi 0:04 (24 minutes advanced)

Etc., advancements were implemented across almost all lines. While this doesn’t change the fact that services run across midnight… Actually, JR companies had been wanting to advance these last train times for some time. After the privatization of Japanese National Railways in 1987 (Showa 62), the various JR companies froze new graduate hiring to compress surplus staff. JR West has maintained this freeze for about 15 years. This is clearly visible in the current staffing structure of the JR companies: there is a generational gap, a ‘valley’ where people are missing between the veteran generation and the younger workers. This is cited as the cause of insufficient technical knowledge transfer and chronic labor shortages, leading to an extremely difficult situation on site because enough personnel cannot be secured for maintenance and inspection work between the last train departure and the first train arrival.

However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic since last year, railway ridership has plummeted. In fiscal year 2020 (Reiwa 2), JR East saw a decrease of -47%, and JR West saw a decrease of -52%. Passenger numbers were nearly halved. Given this situation, wasn’t it perhaps not the best timing to reduce costs by improving maintenance efficiency and advancing last train times? Apparently, this will result in cost savings amounting to billions of yen annually.

In the 2021 timetable revision, changes—such as adjustments to operating frequency, operational sections, operating days, and schedule advancements or delays—were implemented not only by JR East and JR West but across all JR companies. It seems unlikely that we will return to pre-COVID levels anytime soon. How will things pivot from here? I hope to discuss that as well. It makes me feel a little gloomy, but we must overcome COVID…

See you next time!