An illustration of the planned JR-West's railway museum. (Image courtesy of JR West)
West Japan Railway Co. (JR West) will open the nation's biggest railway museum at Kyoto's Umekoji Park in the spring of 2016, the company announced on Dec. 19.
JR West will build the museum next to Umekoji Steam Locomotive Museum, opened in 1972 by the former state-operated Japan National Railway (JNR). The new museum will have three floors totaling 18,800 square meters of floor space filled with as many as 50 exhibits, from steam locomotives to Shinkansen bullet trains.
The museum in Kyoto's Shimogyo Ward is expected to cost about 7 billion yen to build, and JR West hopes it will attract 800,000 visitors annually once the doors open.
Museum visitors will get a close look at antique trains including the bonnet-nosed Type 489 limited express train that ran between Osaka and Kanazawa under the name Raicho, the Type 581 used for night service from Shin-Osaka to Hakata under the name Gekko and featuring seats that folded down into beds, and the Type 500 Shinkansen developed by JR West.
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum