Improvement of Transportation Services Quality

Safe and Reliable Transportation That Meets Customer Expectations

Based on the Vision for Service Quality Reforms 2027, the entire JR East Group is united in its efforts to improve service quality.
Railways are an important part of social infrastructure that supports the daily lives of customers and Japan’s economy, and they must provide safe, reliable transportation. However, we have also experienced transportation disruptions due to breakdowns in vehicles and equipment caused by the JR East Group, as well as increasingly severe natural disasters, and we are therefore working to prevent the spread of such disruptions and their impact on our customers.
To further improve our transportation services, we are promoting the following initiatives from the customer’s perspective.

Preventing Transportation Disruptions

We will promote cooperation within each department and within the Group, analyze the causes of transportation disruptions, and identify and implement priority countermeasures.

Initiatives to Address Transportation Disruptions Caused by the JR East Group (Internal Causes)

We will improve the reliability of equipment by strengthening systems, ground equipment and others, and identifying signs of failure using condition-based maintenance (CBM) monitoring technology.
We will also work to prevent transportation disruptions by repairing weak points in equipment where transportation disruptions have occurred in the past.

Dealing with Natural Disasters

As part of our measures to deal with natural disasters, we are implementing hardware maintenance such as strengthening civil engineering structures, reinforcing earthquake resistance, installing snow melting machines, and taking anti-flooding and anti-lightning damage measures.
In addition, we prioritize systematic tree felling prior to typhoon and snowfall seasons to prevent disruptions due to fallen trees.

  • Track facility monitoring
  • Overhead wire inspection work

Minimizing the Impact on Customers

We make our customers our top priority and seek to minimize the impact of any incident on them by working out the best way to resume operations as quickly as possible.

Initiatives to Minimize the Impact on Customers after Transportation Disruptions Occur

We strive to minimize the impact on customers by implementing turn-back operations at stations along operable line segments, and by switching to separate lines in sections where train lines run parallel to each other.

Initiatives for Prompt Resumption of Operations and Customer Aid

Through drills that simulate various transportation disruptions, the Group is working together to improve its response capabilities, such as early resumption of operations and rescue of customers from trains that are stopped between stations. It also conducts drills for helping passengers off trains, assuming the presence of customers who require special care, such as customers with physical disabilities or the elderly.

Drill to guide passengers in alighting from a train in an evacuation

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Providing Information in the Event of Transportation Disruptions

We will see things from the customer’s perspective and provide prompt and specific information that will help them decide on their next action.

Announcement of Train Service Resumption Times

We work to announce the expected resumption of operations within approximately 30 minutes of the occurrence of a transportation disruption.

Information Enhancement

We promptly communicate information on train delays and cancellations to our customers through announcements at stations and on trains. We also provide information on service information and train operation plans among others through various channels such as our website, the JR East app, social media (Official Operation Information, X, Weibo), and others.

Notice of Special Arrangements and Initiatives Concerning Train Operations

We have created the JR East Naruhodo Q&A Guide and related videos about things we want our customers to know, such as what to do in the event of a natural disaster or emergency and questions about train operation, and published them on our website.

JR East Naruhodo Q&A Guide

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