Japan's bullet trains replace smoking rooms with Zooming rooms
- Reference: 1630048509
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2021/08/27/central_japan_railway_company_s_work_vehicle/
- Source link:
The company already offers on-train WiFi, but recognizes that a certain viral pandemic has made video conferencing rather more popular. It feels its trains should not be Zoom-free zones that inconvenience business travellers.
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Avoid noisy kids and ride the S-Work Vehicle.
Click to enlarge
It has therefore cooked up the "S-Work vehicle" and equipped it with WiFi that offers double the speed of its conventional service, plus in-seat power. The Railway will even lend passengers a mouse, a privacy screen for their laptops, and a pillow on which to rest their computers.
Some trains will even feature Zoom booths in spaces formerly occupied by smoking rooms. Smoking was banned on Japanese trains in 2020, so the space is going begging.
The service will only be offered on a couple of routes, and in one type of Shinkansen: the N700S tilting train.
[2]Japan on track to start testing Alfa-X, fastest train in the world with top speed of 400kph
[3]Japan's aerospace agency hooks up with Boeing to make planes quieter when they land
[4]A new island has popped up off the coast of Japan thanks to an underwater volcano
That train can hit 300km/h on the Tokaido/Sanyo route, meaning passengers can Zoom at impressive terrestrial speed!
Central Japan Railway Company has popped a promotional site for the service [5]here , complete with some rather lovely manga-style illustrations of its benefits such as the one above. ®
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[1] https://regmedia.co.uk/2021/08/27/handout_shinkansen_s_work_vehicle.jpg
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2019/05/13/japan_alfa_x_bullet_train/
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2021/08/20/jaxa_boeing_acoustic_research/
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2021/08/17/japan_volcanic_island/
[5] https://recommend.jr-central.co.jp/shinkansenbusiness/
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YSi339aWjC2TH3joErc@vgAAAQY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[7] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: Lagging
Ditto in France. The TGV service is fantastic, fast and reliable, but no WiFI or at seat power in most of the rolling stock. The regional TER trains do mostly have at seat power now but not WifI (at least on the ones I've used), and I think the refurbished TGV and most recent TGVs may now have at seat power and WifI.
We forget that some countries have already started to decommission their first and second generation high speed trains, and are replacing them with third and fourth generations, while the old BR IC125/HST still soldier on and the UK doesn't really have any actual high speed rail at all (other than a HS1).
Re: Lagging
Which train were you on - the most expensive Nozomi (N700) class has had them for ages, although up to now it's been one plug shared between the two or three seats in the row.
Re: Lagging
Why bother with wifi? The Shinkansen are so fucking fast, you'll almost be at your destination by the time you've unpacked the laptop, found the right power adapter, plugged in your mouse, got past the captive portal, etc, etc.
The Japanese offering has always beaten ours. With or without wi-fi. Their trains are fast, comfortable, punctual, clean, have civil staff, etc, etc. I'd choose a Shunkansen over Scotrail every time.
Re: Lagging
Well, yeah, of course I'd much rather have the Shinkansen but the point was I was surprised it didn't have a couple of wee things I've got used to. Anything to make the journey through Airdrie and Bathgate quicker would get my vote.
So you get on the train, hold the meeting with your colleague via Zoom, turn round and come back?
Yes, this is the future. Now they have to figure out how not to hop on a train in the first place.
"zzz..."
TIL that Japanese folks snore in english.
Lagging
I was on a Shinkansen from Tokyo to Kyoto five years ago and couldn't believe it didn't have wifi or power sockets in the carriages. I guess it depends where on the repidly moving tech cycle major infrastructure lands, but it was a bit weird coming from Scotland with our commuter infrastructure so-equipped for years to find it a bit stuck in the dark ages. I suspect their offering now beats ours.