, or , is one of the seven constituent companies of

Japan Railways Group The Japan Railways Group, commonly known as the or simply JR, is a network of railway companies in Japan formed after the Corporate spin-off, division and privatization of the government-owned Japanese National Railways (JNR) on April 1, 1987. ...

(JR Group). It provides transportation of cargo nationwide throughout

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. Its headquarters are in

Shibuya, Tokyo is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. A major commercial center, Shibuya houses one of the busiest railway stations in the world, Shibuya Station. As of January 1, 2024, Shibuya Ward has an estimated population of 230,609 in 142,443 households ...

near

Shinjuku Station is a major railway station in Tokyo, Japan, that serves as the main connecting hub for rail traffic between central/eastern Tokyo (the Special wards of Tokyo, special wards) and Western Tokyo on the inter-city rail, commuter rail, and rapid tr ...

. The Japan Railways Group was founded on 1 April 1987, when

Japanese National Railways The , abbreviated JNR or , was the business entity that operated Japan's national railway network from 1949 to 1987. Network Railways As of June 1, 1949, the date of establishment of JNR, it operated of narrow gauge () railways in all 46 pre ...

(JNR) was privatized. Japanese National Railways was divided into six regional

passenger rail A passenger train is a train used to transport people along a railroad line, as opposed to a freight train that carries goods. These trains may consist of unpowered passenger railroad cars (also known as coaches or carriages) push-pull train, ...

companies and a single

freight railway Rail freight transport is the use of railways and trains to transport cargo as opposed to human passengers. A freight train, cargo train, or goods train is a group of freight cars (US) or goods wagons (International Union of Railways) hauled ...

company, Japan Freight Railway Company. The company has only about 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 Rail transport in Japan is a major means of passenger public transport, transport, especially for mass and high-speed rail, high-speed travel between major cities of Japan, cities and for commuter rail, commuter transport in urban areas. I ...

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 Category-1 railway business) as follows:

Rolling stock

, JR Freight owns and operates the following

rolling stock The term rolling stock in the rail transport industry refers to railway vehicles, including both powered and unpowered vehicles: for example, locomotives, Railroad car#Freight cars, freight and Passenger railroad car, passenger cars (or coaches) ...

, with most of the newer motive stock being exclusively built by Toshiba Infrastructure Systems & Solutions:

Diesel locomotives

* JNR Class DE10 B-C diesel-hydraulic locomotives * JNR Class DE11 B-C diesel-hydraulic locomotives * JR Freight Class DB500 B diesel-hydraulic locomotive * JR Freight Class DD200 Bo-Bo diesel-electric locomotives * JR Freight Class DF200 Bo-Bo-Bo diesel-electric locomotives * JR Freight Class HD300 Bo-Bo, hybrid diesel-battery locomotives File:DE10 1727.jpg, A Class DE10-1500 diesel-hydraulic locomotive in December 2009 File:JRF-DE11-2001.jpg, A Class DE11-2000 diesel-hydraulic locomotive in January 2011 File:DD200-5.jpg, A Class DD200 diesel-electric locomotive in April 2020 File:Freight DF200 105.JPG, A Class DF200-100 diesel-electric locomotive in October 2011 File:JRF-HD300-901-00.jpg, A Class HD300 hybrid diesel-battery locomotive in May 2013

Electric locomotives

JNR Class EF64 The is a 6-axle ( Bo-Bo-Bo wheel arrangement) DC electric locomotive type operated on passenger and freight services in Japan since 1964. Variants * EF64-0: Numbers EF64 1 – 79 (built from 1964 to 1976) * EF64-1000: Numbers EF64 1001 – 105 ...

Bo-Bo-Bo DC electric locomotives * JNR Class EF65 Bo-Bo-Bo DC electric locomotives * JNR Class EF66 Bo-Bo-Bo DC electric locomotives * JNR Class EF67 Bo-Bo-Bo DC electric locomotives * JNR Class ED76 Bo-2-Bo AC electric locomotives * JNR Class EF81 Bo-Bo-Bo AC/DC electric locomotives * JR Freight Class EF210 Bo-Bo-Bo DC electric locomotives * JR Freight Class EH200 Bo-Bo+Bo-Bo DC electric locomotives * JR Freight Class EF510 Bo-Bo-Bo AC/DC electric locomotives * JR Freight Class EH500 Bo-Bo+Bo-Bo AC/DC electric locomotives * JR Freight Class EH800 Bo-Bo+Bo-Bo AC electric locomotives File:JNR EF64 1022 20050722.jpg, A Class EF64-1000 DC electric locomotive in July 2005 File:EF65-2065.jpg, A Class EF65-2000 DC electric locomotive in February 2021 File:JRF EF66 123.jpg, A Class EF66-100 DC electric locomotive in January 2006 File:JNR EF67-104.jpg, A Class EF67-100 DC electric locomotive in August 2009 File:JNR ED76 1016 20070322.jpg, A Class ED76-1000 AC electric locomotive in March 2007 File:JNR electric locomotive EF81 454 20080223.jpg, A Class EF81-450 AC electric locomotive in February 2008 File:JRF EF210-134.jpg, A Class EF210-100 DC electric locomotive in June 2009 File:Model EH200 of JR Freight.jpg, A Class EH200 DC electric locomotive in June 2007 File:JRF EF510-1.JPG, A Class EF510 AC/DC electric locomotive in August 2009 File:EH500-33.jpg, A Class EH500 AC/DC electric locomotive in December 2020 File:EH800-2 3065 Moheji 20160717 (cropped).jpg, A Class EH800 AC electric locomotive in July 2016

Electric multiple units

* M250 series freight

EMU The emu (; ''Dromaius novaehollandiae'') is a species of flightless bird endemism, endemic to Australia, where it is the Tallest extant birds, tallest native bird. It is the only extant taxon, extant member of the genus ''Dromaius'' and the ...

File:Model M250 of JR Freight.jpg, An M250 series freight EMU in June 2007

Former rolling stock

* JNR Class ED62 Bo-1-Bo DC electric locomotives * JNR Class ED75 Bo-Bo AC electric locomotives * JNR Class ED79 Bo-Bo AC electric locomotives * JR Freight Class EF200 Bo-Bo-Bo DC electric locomotives *

JNR Class DD51 The is a B-2-B wheel arrangement diesel-hydraulic locomotive type operated in Japan since 1962. 649 locomotives were built between 1962 and 1978 by Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Kawasaki Sharyo, Hitachi, and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Mitsubishi ...

B-2-B diesel-hydraulic locomotives File:ED62 17 Omiya Works 20070526.JPG, A Class ED62 electric locomotive in May 2007 File:JNR ED75 1017 20070325.jpg, A Class ED75-1000 electric locomotive in March 2007 File:ED79 55 51 20130621.jpg, A pair of Class ED79 electric locomotives in June 2013 File:1992-8-23-ef200-4.JPG, A Class EF200 DC electric locomotive in August 1992 File:JRF DD51 1803 20070812.jpg, A Class DD51 diesel-hydraulic locomotive in August 2007

References

External links

* {{authority control Railway companies established in 1987 Logistics companies of Japan Government-owned companies of Japan Rail freight companies 1987 establishments in Japan Japan Railway companies Government-owned railway companies