Japan Freight Railway Company


Japan Freight Railway Company, or JR Freight, is one of the constituent companies of Japan Railways Group. It provides transportation of cargo nationwide. Its headquarters are in Shibuya, Tokyo near Shinjuku Station.
The Japan Railways Group was founded on April 1, 1987, when Japanese National Railways was privatized. Japanese National Railways was divided into six regional passenger rail companies and a single freight railway company, Japan Freight Railway Company.
The company has only about fifty kilometers of track of its own, and therefore operates on track owned by the six JR passenger railways as well as other companies which provide rail transport in Japan.

Economics

In 2017, only about 5% of all freight in Japan is carried by rail but nearly all of that, 99%, is carried by JR Freight. Trucks carry about 50% and ships about 44%. JR Freight has seen its share of the freight market gradually decrease since 1993. In the 2010s JR Freight has been carrying more freight because of the decrease in the number of available truck drivers due to age as well as government policy to reduce carbon dioxide. JR Freight has run a deficit for many years.

Lines

While major part of the operation of JR Freight is on the tracks owned and maintained by other JR companies, JR Freight owns the railway lines as follows:
LineEndpointsLocale
Distance
Hokuriku Main LineTsuruga Station - Tsuruga-Minato Freight TerminalFukui2.7
Kagoshima Main LineMojikō Station - Sotohama Freight TerminalFukuoka0.9
Kagoshima Main LineChihaya Yard - Fukuoka Freight TerminalFukuoka2.2
Kansai Main LineYokkaichi Station - Shiohama StationMie3.3
Kansai Main LineHirano Station - Kudara Freight TerminalOsaka1.4
Nippō Main LineObase-Nishikōdai-mae Station - Kandakō Freight TerminalFukuoka4.6
Ōu Main LineTsuchizaki Station - Akitakō Freight TerminalAkita1.8
Senseki LineRikuzen-Yamashita Station - Ishinomakikō Freight TerminalMiyagi1.8
Shin'etsu Main LineKami-Nuttari Junction - Nuttari Freight TerminalNiigata1.8
Shin'etsu Main LineKami-Nuttari Junction - Higashi-Niigatakō Freight TerminalNiigata3.8
Shinminato LineNōmachi Station - Takaoka Freight TerminalToyama1.9
Tohoku Main LineTabata Freight Terminal - Kita-Ōji Freight TerminalTokyo4.0
Tōkaidō Main LineSannō Junction - Nagoya-Minato Freight TerminalAichi6.2
Tōkaidō Main LineSuita Junction - Osaka Freight TerminalOsaka8.7
Uetsu Main LineSakata Station - Sakatakō Freight TerminalYamagata2.7

Rolling stock

, JR Freight owns and operates the following rolling stock, with most of the newer motive stock being exclusively built by Toshiba Infrastructure Systems & Solutions:

Diesel locomotives