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Japanese prime minister is here to sell trains

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Posted by CMStPnP on Monday, April 27, 2015 2:29 AM

Thats really what the top guy should do when visiting a foreign country.   We might need to wait for a change in the Oval Office to see it again in this country and executed intelligently.    However, the top guy should be selling and negotiating fair and even trade deals that boost jobs back home.

I believe one problem Japan is going to have in this country is it has no production or assembly facilities in the United States unlike some of it's competitors who arrived sooner.

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Posted by D.Carleton on Monday, April 27, 2015 8:53 AM

Researching for an article a few years ago I was fascinated by the full page adds from the Japanese rail manufactuers attempting to sell their "bullet trains" here in the USA. Those ads were almost 50 years ago. We can all see how well that worked.

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Posted by Buslist on Monday, April 27, 2015 11:02 AM

CMStPnP

 

I believe one problem Japan is going to have in this country is it has no production or assembly facilities in the United States unlike some of it's competitors who arrived sooner.

 

Really? The article notes Kawasaki's plant in Lincoln NE but there is also Sumatomo's in Rochelle IL

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Posted by wanswheel on Tuesday, April 28, 2015 10:52 AM

Wizlish

I clicked your link and got a cordial invitation to subscribe. I clicked my link again and the nice Google doorman issued me another free pass.

It will be interesting to hear what Mr. Abe has to say in California. Probably something like "Kawasaki let's the good times roll."

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/04/25/business/japanese-consortium-to-propose-kawasaki-heavy-bullet-trains-for-high-speed-line-in-california/#.VT-gtGdFCM9

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Posted by Wizlish on Tuesday, April 28, 2015 8:38 PM

wanswheel
I clicked your link and got a cordial invitation to subscribe. I clicked my link again and the nice Google doorman issued me another free pass.

This is strange.  I click my link and go straight to the WSJ article.  I click your link and I get a Google list of a bunch of articles (with the Abe article first) and then have to click again.  I am emphatically not a WSJ subscriber ... so why does the link work for me but not for you?

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Posted by wanswheel on Friday, May 1, 2015 3:27 AM
The prime minister’s luggage includes a simulator similar to this one, photographed in Singapore.  Thursday he showed it to Gov. Jerry Brown at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco.
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Posted by BaltACD on Friday, May 1, 2015 5:47 AM

Must not be in his carry on.

wanswheel
The prime minister’s luggage includes a simulator similar to this one, photographed in Singapore.  Thursday he showed it to Gov. Jerry Brown at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco.
 

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

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Posted by Deggesty on Friday, May 1, 2015 10:17 AM

Oh, Balt!LaughLaughLaugh I had NOT taken a drink of coffee just before reading your post.

Certainly not in what some Japanese used many years ago--my mother, who was born in Japan (the daughter of missionaries) ,told me that, often, the Japanese would use large squares of cloth to pack what they needed while traveling.

Johnny

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Posted by wanswheel on Friday, May 1, 2015 1:48 PM
"There are some people in California who think of high speed rail as a mysterious, very expensive, exotic technology," Brown told Abe during their meeting at a San Francisco hotel. "I hope people see high speed rail is a reality. If you were able to get a train in a hotel, I think I can get a train built from San Francisco to Los Angeles."

http://blogs.wsj.com/japanrealtime/2015/05/01/shinzo-abe-touts-high-speed-rail-in-california/
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Posted by mmp70160 on Wednesday, May 6, 2015 11:28 AM

The TEXAS CENTRAL plans on using Japanese trains, and by not using any Federal funds, they can avoid the Buy American requiremnts, get their trains directly from Japan, and cut their train costs by about one-third.

 

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Posted by Buslist on Friday, May 8, 2015 1:01 AM

mmp70160

The TEXAS CENTRAL plans on using Japanese trains, and by not using any Federal funds, they can avoid the Buy American requiremnts, get their trains directly from Japan, and cut their train costs by about one-third.

 

 

 

What's the basis of your cost reduction comment?

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Posted by NorthWest on Friday, May 8, 2015 6:04 PM

Buying trains built at an established factory that constructs trains for the Japanese market is cheaper than setting up a new factory to construct the trainsets in the United States. Most of these plants have shut down after building the cars (one example is the Wisconsin Talgo plant).

Amtrak has acquired a Buy America waiver for the next generation of high speed trainsets. http://www.fra.dot.gov/eLib/details/L16035

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Posted by Buslist on Friday, May 8, 2015 8:20 PM

NorthWest

Buying trains built at an established factory that constructs trains for the Japanese market is cheaper than setting up a new factory to construct the trainsets in the United States. Most of these plants have shut down after building the cars (one example is the Wisconsin Talgo plant).

Amtrak has acquired a Buy America waiver for the next generation of high speed trainsets. http://www.fra.dot.gov/eLib/details/L16035

 

For your information both Kawasaki and Sumatomo have active car building plants in the US, in Lincoln NE and Rochelle Il respectively. And then there is the cost of the ocean transport.

 

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Posted by NorthWest on Friday, May 8, 2015 11:45 PM

Yes, I am aware of those plants. The Rochelle, IL, plant is actually Nippon Sharyo USA, althougth Sumitomo has contributed to some of the cars built there (including the new DMUs for Toronto). Kinki Sharyo has a light rail and streetcar plant. All of these plants would need to be substantially retooled for high speed trainsets, which may cost more than importing them from more established assembly lines. Note that the THSR 700Ts were built in Japan. Hitachi lacks a US plant, and they could win a bid. The main problem is the substantial risk that any manufacturer runs, as repeat orders in the US are rare. 

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