East Japan Railway Company
is the largest passenger railway company in the world and one of the seven JR companies. It is often known as .
History
JR East was incorporated on April 1, 1987 after being spun off from the government-run Japanese National Railways. However this was a nominal "privatization" as the company was actually a wholly owned subsidiary of the government-owned JNR Settlement Corporation for several years, and was not completely sold to the public until 2002.
Following the JNR breakup, JR East assumed responsibility for passenger operations on former JNR lines in the Greater Tokyo Area, the Tohoku region and surrounding areas.
Lines
Its railway lines serve Kanto and Tohoku regions primarily, along with adjacent parts of Niigata, Nagano, Yamanashi and Shizuoka prefectures.
Shinkansen
JR East operates all of the Shinkansen (high speed rail lines) north of Tokyo.
 Akita Shinkansen (Morioka - Akita)
Hokuriku Shinkansen (Tokyo - Nagano)
Joetsu Shinkansen (Tokyo - Niigata)
Tohoku Shinkansen (Tokyo - Sendai - Hachinohe)
Yamagata Shinkansen (Fukushima - Shinjo)
Note that the Tokyo-Osaka Tokaido Shinkansen is owned and operated by the Central Japan Railway Company, although it stops at several JR East stations.
Greater Tokyo Area
These lines have sections inside Tokyo Suburban Area (), officially set by JR East. It does not necessarily mean the lines are fully inside Greater Tokyo Area.
¦ Akabane Line (Ikebukuro - Akabane)
¦ Chuo Main Line (Tokyo - Shiojiri - Nagoya)
¦ Chuo Rapid Line (Tokyo - Takao - Otsuki)
¦ Chuo-Sobu Line (?·?) (Mitaka - Shinjuku - Chiba)
¦ Hachiko Line (Hachioji - Takasaki)
¦ Itsukaichi Line (Haijima - Musashi Itsukaichi)
¦ Joban Line (Ueno - Hitachi)
¦ Kawagoe Line (Omiya - Kawagoe - Komagawa)
¦ Keihin-Tohoku Line (Omiya - Tokyo - Yokohama)
¦ Keiyo Line (Tokyo - Soga)
¦ Mito Line (Oyama - Tomobe)
¦ Musashino Line (Fuchu Hommachi - Nishi Funabashi) (Tokyo outer loop)
¦ Nambu Line (Kawasaki - Tachikawa; Shitte - Hamakawasaki)
¦ Narita Line (Sakura - Choshi; Abiko - Narita; Narita - Narita Airport)
¦ Negishi Line (Yokohama - Ofuna)
¦ Ome Line (Tachikawa - Ome - Okutama)
¦ Ryomo Line (Oyama - Shin Maebashi)
¦ Sagami Line (Hashimoto - Chigasaki)
¦ Saikyo Line (Osaki - Omiya)
¦ Shonan-Shinjuku Line (Omiya - Shinjuku - Ofuna)
¦ Sobu Main Line (Tokyo - Choshi)
¦ Sotobo Line (Chiba - Mobara - Awa Kamogawa)
¦ Takasaki Line (Omiya - Takasaki)
¦ Togane Line (Naruto - Oami)
¦ Tohoku Main Line (Utsunomiya Line) (Ueno - Kuroiso)
¦ Tokaido Main Line (Tokyo - Yokohama - Atami)
¦ Tsurumi Line (Tsurumi - Ogimachi; Anzen - Okawa; Asano - Umishibaura)
¦ Uchibo Line (Soga - Kisarazu - Awa Kamogawa)
¦ Utsunomiya Line (Ueno - Utsunomiya)
¦ Yamanote Line (Osaki - Shinjuku - Tabata - Tokyo - Osaki. Tokyo inner loop)
¦ Yokohama Line (Higashi Kanagawa - Hachioji)
¦ Yokosuka Line (Tokyo - Kurihama)
Other lines in Kanto
Karasuyama Line (Karasuyama - Hoshakuji)
¦ Kashima Line (Katori - Kashima Soccer Stadium)
¦ Kururi Line (Kisarazu - Kazusa Kameyama)
Nikko Line (Utsunomiya - Nikko)
Tokai and Koshinetsu regional lines
¦ Agatsuma Line (Shibukawa - Omae)
¦ Chuo Main Line (Kofu - Shiojiri)
¦ Echigo Line (Niigata - Kashiwazaki)
¦ Hakushin Line (Niigata - Shibata)
¦ Iiyama Line (Toyono - Echigo Kawaguchi)
Ito Line (Atami - Ito) (treated as Tokyo Suburban Area lines)
¦ Joetsu Line (Takasaki - Miyauchi; Echigo Yuzawa - Gala Yuzawa)
Koumi Line (Kobuchisawa - Komoro)
¦ Oito Line (Matsumoto - Minamiotari)
¦ Shin'etsu Main Line (Takasaki - Yokokawa; Shinonoi - Nagano - Niigata)
¦ Shinonoi Line (Shinonoi - Shiojiri)
¦ Yahiko Line (Higashi Sanjo - Yahiko)
Tohoku regional lines
Aterazawa Line (Kita Yamagata - Aterazawa)
¦ East Ban'etsu Line (Iwaki - Koriyama)
¦ East Rikuu Line (Kogota - Shinjo)
Gono Line (Higashi Noshiro - Kawabe)
Hachinohe Line (Hachinohe - Kuji)
¦ Hanawa Line (Odate - Koma)
¦ Ishinomaki Line (Kogota - Onagawa)
¦ Iwaizumi Line (Moichi - Iwaizumi)
¦ Joban Line (Hitachi - Iwanuma)
¦ Kamaishi Line (Hanamaki - Kamaishi)
¦ Kesennuma Line (Maeyachi - Kesennuma)
¦ Kitakami Line (Kitakami - Yokote)
¦ Ofunato Line (Ichinoseki - Sakari)
Oga Line (Oiwake - Oga)
Ominato Line (Noheji - Ominato)
Ou Main Line (Fukushima - Yamagata - Akita - Aomori)
¦ Senseki Line (Aobadori - Ishinomaki)
¦ Senzan Line (Sendai - Uzen Chitose)
¦ Suigun Line (Mito - Asaka Nagamori; Kamisugaya - Hitachi Ota)
¦ Tadami Line (Aizu Wakamatsu - Koide)
¦ Tazawako Line (Morioka - Omagari)
¦ Tohoku Main Line (Kuroiso - Morioka; Hachinohe - Aomori; Iwakiri - Rifu)
Tsugaru Line (Aomori - Mimmaya) (a part of Tsugaru-Kaikyo Line)
Tsugaru-Kaikyo Line (Aomori - Nakaoguni)
¦ Uetsu Main Line (Niitsu - Akita)
¦ West Ban'etsu Line (Koriyama - Niitsu)
¦ West Rikuu Line (Shinjo- Amarume)
¦ Yamada Line (Morioka - Kamaishi)
¦ Yonesaka Line (Yonezawa - Sakamachi)
Trains
Following is the full list of limited express (including Shinkansen) and express trains operated on the JR East lines as of 2008.
Shinkansen limited express
Hayate
Komachi
Yamabiko
Nasuno/Max Nasuno
Tsubasa
Asama
Toki/Max Toki
Tanigawa/Max Tanigawa
Limited express (daytime)
Tsugaru
Hakucho/Super Hakucho
Kamoshika
Inaho
Nikko
Kinugawa/Spacia Kinugawa
Ohayo Tochigi/Hometown Tochigi
Kusatsu
Minakami
Akagi/Weekend Akagi
Super Hitachi/Fresh Hitachi
Super Azusa/Azusa
Kaiji
Wide View Shinano/Shinano
Narita Express
Wakashio
Sazanami
Ayame
Shiosai
Super View Odoriko/Odoriko
Hakutaka
Limited express (overnight)
Hokutosei
Cassiopeia
Hokuriku
Akebono
Twilight Express
Nihonkai
Sunrise Izumo/Sunrise Seto
Hayabusa
Fuji
Express (overnight)
Kitaguni
Noto
Hamanasu
Subsidiaries
Higashi-Nihon Kiosk - provides newspapers, drinks and other items in station kiosks and operates the NEWDAYS convenience store chain
JR Bus Kanto / JR Bus Tohoku - intercity bus operators
Nippon Restaurant Enterprise - provides bento (box lunches) on trains and in train stations
Tokyo Monorail - waterfront monorail line in Tokyo (70% owned)
Sponsorship
JR East co-sponsors the JEF United Ichihara Chiba J-League soccer club, which was formed by a merger between JR East and Furukawa Electric company teams.
East Japan Railway Culture Foundation
The East Japan Railway Culture Foundation is a non-profit organization established by JR East for the purpose of developing a "richer railway culture".
External links
East Japan Railway Company Web Site (in English)
JR East official apology for "Inaho No.14" accident on December 25, 2005
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