Niitsu is a “railway junction town” in Niigata Prefecture and has also long been home to train manufacturing. TSJR visited the J-Trec factory on its annual open day as part of the town’s Railway Festa in October 2022.
Niitsu, a town that grew around the railway…
The town of Niitsu was once a busy railway junction from where the Banetsu West Line, and the Uetsu Main Line start and join the Shinetsu Main Line. In its heyday trains travelling to Niigata, Akita, Kanazawa and Tokyo, and in earlier times even trains travelling between Kansai and Hokkaido would pass through the town, many stopping to change crew and locomotives.
Today, although still a major junction it is a lot quieter with most long distance travel to the areas mentioned above being by shinkansen (or via shinkansen). Most of JR East’s Niigata Branch diesel car fleet is based at the Niitsu depot as is steam locomotive C57-180 (and vintage carriages) which hauls the SL Banetsu Monogatari train.
Niitsu-A major train manufacturing centre…
Niitsu also has a large train manufacturing plant, the J-Trec Niitsu Factory (formerly it was a JR East plant, but after JR East acquired Tokyu Sharyo it was transferred to the new company set up by JR East “Japan Transport Engineering Company” (J-Trec). This is a large plant and many of JR East’s electric multiple units as well as those for other rail companies, and even some export models have been and continue to be built at the factory.
At its open day, JR East’s E235 units and a Shinano Tetsudo SR1 units could be seen in the process of manufacture.
High tech train manufacturing…
Robots are a big part of railway manufacturing nowadays and on this and previous visits, visitors were able to see industrial robots in operation. Of course efficiency both in manufacturing and operation is very important nowadays and J-Trec (and its predecessors JR East and Tokyu Sharyo) have developed stainless steel train bodies, hybrid train technology and also important for the leisure market, they have remodeled older trains to serve as tourist trains including restaurant trains, and also been involved in the manufacture of the JR East Luxury Cruise Train “Train Suite Shiki Shima” (with Kawasaki Heavy Industries). You can learn more about J-Trec on their web site (Click here)
Home to SL Banetsu Monogatari Steam Hauled Train and SL C57-180…
Niitsu is the Home Depot and starting point for the SL Banetsu Monogatari steam hauled train and its locomotive C57-180. This train runs between Niitsu and Aizu Wakamatsu in Fukushima Prefecture and back. A distance of 111km in each direction along the Banetsu West line (*)
The Niitsu Railway Museum
Niitsu, being a town around of its railway history and the role the railway played in its development has a small railway museum. Details can be found on the museums official website (click here)
For those interested in industrial tourism and the operational side of railways, TS Japan can help you plan your trip. We have information on railway and other museums and also open days at facilities like the J-Trec Niitsu factory.
