| Japan Freight Railway Company | |
| Native Name: | 日本貨物鉄道株式会社 |
| Native Name Lang: | ja |
| Romanized Name: | Nippon Kamotsu Tetsudō kabushiki gaisha |
| Type: | State-owned KK |
| Predecessor: | Japanese National Railways (JNR) |
| Services: | freight services other related services |
| Owner: | Japan Railway Construction, Transport and Technology Agency (100%) |
| Num Employees: | 5,472 [1] |
| Foundation: | (privatization of JNR) |
| Location City: | 5-33-8, Sendagaya, Shibuya, Tokyo |
| Location Country: | Japan |
, or, is one of the seven constituent companies of Japan Railways Group (JR Group). It provides transportation of cargo nationwide throughout Japan. Its headquarters are in Shibuya, Tokyo near Shinjuku Station.[1]
The Japan Railways Group was founded on 1 April 1987, when Japanese National Railways (JNR) was privatized. Japanese National Railways was divided into six regional passenger rail companies and a single freight railway company, Japan Freight Railway Company.
The company has only about 50km (30miles) of track of its own, and therefore operates on track owned by the six JR passenger railways as well as other companies which provide rail transport in Japan.
In 2017, only about 5% of all freight in Japan is carried by rail but nearly all of that, 99%, is carried by JR Freight.[2] Trucks carry about 50% and ships about 44%. JR Freight has seen its share of the freight market gradually decrease since 1993. In the 2010s JR Freight has been carrying more freight because of the decrease in the number of available truck drivers due to age as well as government policy to reduce carbon dioxide. JR Freight has run a deficit for many years.[3]
While major part of the operation of JR Freight is on the tracks owned and maintained by other JR companies, JR Freight owns the railway lines (as Category-1 railway business) as follows:
| Line | Endpoints | Locale (Prefecture) | Distance (km) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hokuriku Main Line | Tsuruga Station - Tsuruga-Minato Freight Terminal | Fukui | 2.7 | |
| Kagoshima Main Line | Mojikō Station - Sotohama Freight Terminal | Fukuoka | 0.9 | |
| Chihaya Yard - Fukuoka Freight Terminal | Fukuoka | 2.2 | ||
| Kansai Main Line | Yokkaichi Station - Shiohama Station | Mie | 3.3 | |
| Hirano Station - Kudara Freight Terminal | Osaka | 1.4 | ||
| Nippō Main Line | Obase-Nishikōdai-mae Station - Kandakō Freight Terminal | Fukuoka | 4.6 | |
| Ōu Main Line | Tsuchizaki Station - Akitakō Freight Terminal | Akita | 1.8 | |
| Senseki Line | Rikuzen-Yamashita Station - Ishinomakikō Freight Terminal | Miyagi | 1.8 | |
| Shin'etsu Main Line | Kami-Nuttari Junction - Nuttari Freight Terminal | Niigata | 1.8 | |
| Kami-Nuttari Junction - Higashi-Niigatakō Freight Terminal | Niigata | 3.8 | ||
| Shinminato Line | Nōmachi Station - Takaoka Freight Terminal | Toyama | 1.9 | |
| Tohoku Main Line | Tabata Freight Terminal - Kita-Ōji Freight Terminal | Tokyo | 4.0 | |
| Tōkaidō Main Line | Sannō Junction - Nagoya-Minato Freight Terminal | Aichi | 6.2 | |
| Suita Freight Terminal - Osaka Freight Terminal | Osaka | 8.7 | ||
| Uetsu Main Line | Sakata Station - Sakatakō Freight Terminal | Yamagata | 2.7 |
, JR Freight owns and operates the following rolling stock,[4] with most of the newer motive stock being exclusively built by Toshiba Infrastructure Systems & Solutions: