The seven JR companies, including JR East and JR Central, have begun an initiative to standardize materials and parts for railway electrical equipment for the first time.
Since privatization in 1987, the seven JR companies have each developed their own parts, but amidst a growing labor shortage in the manufacturing industry, they aim to reduce the burden on manufacturers and ensure a stable supply by standardizing parts and narrowing down the types of parts. They have already decided to share seven types of parts, such as consolidating the parts that separate the current flowing through the rails from 64 types to 34 types, and will introduce them sequentially when equipment is updated in the future.
In the event of a disaster, the JR companies will be able to share the standardized parts with each other, which is expected to reduce the amount of spare parts each company has and streamline inventory management. The plan is to first proceed with the standardization of parts among the seven JR companies, and if it proves effective, they would like to spread the standardization to private railways throughout the country.
