Shippers and forwarders! You may be able to use the cargo Shinkansen, don’t you think? The speed of the Shinkansen is attractive: 4.5 hours (about 17 hours for container freight trains) once the Sapporo-Tokyo route opens. The Shinkansen will be a powerful tool for transporting goods that require “small-volume, high-unit-price, high-speed transportation” because it will have few service interruptions or delays throughout the year. It could also serve as a means of competing with “air cargo” (fraternal freight), which has become the sole choice for high-speed transport, especially between Hokkaido and Tokyo. Let us look for products that could become cargo Shinkansen shippers and, by extension, fat customers. Fresh food (vegetables, fresh fish, etc.) Fresh food can take full advantage of the Shinkansen’s “high speed,” “stable operation,” and “low turbulence” characteristics. In the Shinkansen transportation demonstration experiments to date, perishable foods that must be kept fresh and have a high unit price have been mainly handled, such as cherries (Yamagata to Tokyo Station), sweet shrimp (Sado to Niigata to Tokyo), and squid and mebaru (Hakodate and Kanazawa to Tokyo to Aeon stores in the Tokyo metropolitan area). The Shinkansen takes only 3 to 4 hours one way within the JR East area or to destinations (Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto, Tsuruga, etc.). Seafood can be sent fresh in refrigerated cases and packed in ice, without being frozen. If power can be supplied inside the Shinkansen train, it would be possible to control the temperature, as in air cargo planes, by dividing the train into up to 34 units and keeping the temperature between 4°C and 29°C (in the case of a Nippon Cargo Airlines Boeing 747-8F). Unlike ships and airplanes, cargoes are transported on the ground, so the location and temperature of cargoes can be monitored by GPS, which is also a plus for shippers. The winter season, when local gourmet fairs are held at department stores, is also a commercial opportunity. The main items lined up for such fairs (e.g., “Direct shipment from the place of production, arrival at 12:00 p.m.; exquisite ekiben available only for 100 people”)! The department stores are usually located in front of central stations, and the sales of such items are usually very good. Department stores are located in front of stations in central Tokyo, and the Shinkansen freight trains are ideal for this kind of demand. Medical Supplies The current Hakobune also contribute to the medical field. According to medical professionals we spoke with, the Shinkansen is being used in some areas because of a surge of patients due to disasters, emergency arrangements for investigational drugs and blood transfusions, and alternative arrangements for faulty testing equipment. Also, urgent specimens are sent to a hospital in Tokyo, and test results are provided within a few hours. Although air cargo also meets this demand, since most hospitals are located in urban areas rather than near airports, it is often more convenient to transport specimens by Shinkansen. Automobile parts and semiconductor manufacturing equipment In the Hokuriku region, Fukui and southern Ishikawa prefectures have a high concentration of manufacturing companies, and such equipment is frequently shipped from Komatsu Airport by air cargo. Although air transportation is expensive, it is often used to avoid factory shutdowns due to a shortage of a single component. The Hokuriku Shinkansen Line is also expected to capture this demand, as the Echizen Takefu Station is located close to the factory area. However, this demand may not be able to be taken away from air cargo. This is because most of these parts are exported overseas and are consolidated at Haneda and Narita airports in most cases. In addition, the shape (form) of automobile parts is unstable, and the process of bringing them up to the platform, loading them onto the Shinkansen, and unloading them again at …… will be a difficult one. Other equipment and parts may not use the Shinkansen for the same reason, and it will be a challenge for JR East to promote their business.
The Shinkansen Freight Shinkansen has not been realized for a long time. The idea of “freight forwarding on the Shinkansen” has been considered many times but never realized, such as the concept of “train-on-train” by JR Hokkaido (freight cars of conventional railways are mounted inside the Shinkansen cars). As mentioned earlier, the freight Shinkansen concept that has come to light is actually no different from cargo transport. However, if this project becomes a catalyst for the establishment of a supply chain as a means of “high-speed, low-volume transportation,” it may lead to the birth of a freight Shinkansen in the true sense of the word in the future. To what extent will it be recognized as a means of transportation and create demand? We cannot take our eyes off the cargo Shinkansen concept and the current status of Hakodate Shinkansen.
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