list of references but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations . please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations . february 2016 learn how and when to remove this template message this article needs additional citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . february 2016 learn how and when to remove this template message the logo common throughout the jr group jr group s main offices and branch offices hokkaido east central west shikoku kyushu jr freight jrtt jr system are omitted the japan railways group more commonly known as jr group jr jei ru gur pu consists of seven for profit companies that took over most of the assets and operations of the government owned japanese national railways on april 1 1987 . most of the liability of the jnr was assumed by the jnr settlement corporation . the jr group lies at the heart of japan s railway network operating a large proportion of intercity rail service including the shinkansen high speed rail lines and commuter rail service . despite jr east jr central and jr west now having full private ownership japanese people often talk about private railways as if none of jr group nor third sector former jr lines is part of them since they are successors of national railways i.e. jnr . maps almost always denoted jr and private railways differently as does jr itself . 1 contents 1 companies 2 network 3 ownership 4 background 5 unions 6 see also 7 references 8 external links companies edit the group consists of seven operating companies and two other companies that do not provide rail service . the operating companies are organized into six passenger operators and a nationwide freight operator . unlike some other groups of companies the jr group is made up of independent companies and it does not have group headquarters or a holding company to set the overall business policy . the six passenger railways of the jr group are separated by region . nearly all their services are within the prescribed geographic area . however some long distance operations extend beyond the boundaries . the shirasagi train service between nagoya and toyama for instance uses jr west rolling stock but the segment of track between nagoya and maibara is owned by jr central whose crew manage the train on that section . japan freight railway company operates all freight service on the network previously owned by jnr . in addition the group includes two non operating companies . these are the railway technical research institute and railway information systems co. ltd. to cover various non railway business areas each regional operator in the jr group has its own group of subsidiary companies with names like jr east group and jr shikoku group . business company logo symbol color stock region s of operation note passenger hokkaido railway company jr hokkaido light green not listed hokkaido operates kaiky line in tohoku east japan railway company jr east green tyo 9020 t hoku kant k shin etsu central japan railway company jr central orange tyo 9022 t kai operates t kaid shinkansen in kant and kansai west japan railway company jr west blue tyo 9021 hokuriku kansai ch goku operates sany shinkansen in kyushu shikoku railway company jr shikoku light blue not listed shikoku kyushu railway company jr ky sh red not listed kyushu freight japan freight railway company jr freight container blue not listed nationwide research organization railway technical research institute rtri light purple not listed it services railway information systems jr system dark red not listed network edit jr group service regions jr maintains a nationwide railway network as well as common ticketing rules that it inherited from jnr . passengers may travel across several jr companies without changing trains and without purchasing separate tickets . however trains running across the boundaries of jr companies have been reduced . jr maintains the same ticketing rules based on the jnr rules and has an integrated reservation system known as mars . some types of tickets passes such as japan rail pass and seishun 18 ticket are issued as valid for all jr lines and accepted by all passenger jr companies . ownership edit in 1987 the government of japan took steps to divide and privatize jnr . while division of operations began in april of that year privatization was not immediate initially the government retained ownership of the companies . privatization of some of the companies began in the early 1990s . by 2006 all of the shares of jr east jr central and jr west had been offered to the market and they are now publicly traded . on the other hand all of the shares of jr hokkaido jr shikoku jr kyushu and jr freight are still owned by japan railway construction transport and technology agency an independent administrative institution of the state . background edit the demise of the government owned system came after charges of serious management inefficiencies profit losses and fraud . by the early 1980s passenger and freight business had declined and fare increases had failed to keep up with higher labor costs . what remained of the debt ridden japanese national railways after its 1987 breakup was named the japanese national railways settlement corporation . its purpose was to dispose of assets and debts not absorbed by the successor companies and to execute other activities relating to the breakup such as outplacement of former personnel . the new companies introduced competition cut their staffing and made reform efforts . initial public reaction to these moves was good the combined passenger travel on the japan railways group passenger companies in 1987 was 204.7 billion passenger kilometers up 3.2 % from 1986 while the passenger sector previously had been stagnant since 1975 . the growth in passenger transport of private railways in 1987 was 2.6 % which meant that the japan railways group s rate of increase was above that of the private sector railroads for the first time since 1974 . demand for rail transport improved although it still accounted for only 28 % of passenger transportation and only 5 % of cargo transportation in 1990 . rail passenger transportation was superior to automobiles in terms of energy efficiency and of speed in long distance transportation . the six companies had 18 800 km 11 700 mi of routes mostly 1 067 mm 3 ft 6 in gauge in use in the late 1980s . about 25 % of the routes were in double track and multitrack sections and the rest were single track . in 1988 about 51 % of the six companies 1 000 locomotives were diesel and the rest were electric . japan freight railway company owns its locomotives 295 diesel and 569 electric locomotives in 1988 rolling stock and stations but hires track from the six passenger companies . it runs fewer trains on less track than japanese national railways freight service did before its demise but at increased revenues and higher productivity . the shinkansen property corporation shinkansen hoy kik leased shinkansen railway facilities including 2 100 km 1 300 mi of 1 435 mm 4 ft 8 1 2 in gauge high speed track to the passenger companies on honsh . in 1991 the spc was reorganized into the railway development fund tetsud seibi kikin and the three operators bought their lines on 60 year loans . 2 some of the shinkansen electric powered trains operate at speeds up to 300 km h. another nearly 3 400 km 2 100 mi of routes are operated by major private railways and by what are known in japan as third sector railroads new companies financed with private and local government funds which absorbed some of japanese national railways rural lines . there were twenty seven private and third sector companies in 1989 . unions edit various unions represent workers at the different jr group companies such as the national railway workers union all japan construction transport and general workers union doro chiba and the japan confederation of railway workers unions . see also edit companies portal rail transport in japan list of railway companies in japan japan railways locomotive numbering and classification softbank telecom former japan telecom an affiliated company of jnr established in 1984 references edit http www.jreast.co.jp renrakuteiki index.html using suica railway pass connect from jr to private rail metro ja jr as of 2007 07 16t11 18 58 this article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the library of congress country studies . japan external links edit wikimedia commons has media related to jr group . wikivoyage has a travel guide for rail travel in japan . hisakyu s railway guide jr s rule on passenger tickets v t e jr group past japanese government railways japanese national railways jnr settlement corporation passenger railway companies jr hokkaido jr east jr central jr west jr shikoku jr kyushu jr bus companies jr hokkaido bus jr bus tohoku jr tokai bus west jr bus jr shikoku bus ja jr kyushu bus ja jr bus kanto ja chugoku jr bus ja jr bustech ja smart cards kitaca suica toica icoca icoca shikoku icoca sugoca others jr freight rtri jr systems ja description companies jrtt see also shinkansen railway museum modern transportation museum scmaglev and railway park softbank telecom retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title japan railways group & oldid 721689517 categories japan railway companies1067 mm gauge railways in japanstandard gauge railways in japanconglomerate companies of japanjapanese brandshidden categories articles lacking in text citations from february 2016all articles lacking in text citationsarticles needing additional references from february 2016all articles needing additional referencesarticles containing japanese language textarticles that mention track gauge 1067 mmarticles that mention track gauge 1435 mmwikipedia articles incorporating text from the library of 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