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My final full day in Japan was around the Tokyo and Yokohama areas, visiting the Tokyu museum and having a look from the outside at the J-TREC (formerly Tokyu) factory where the 2600, 2800 and 85xx fleets were built. Click on the photo below to view them all Regards, Kieran

Day 9 in Japan was mainly getting from Kyoto back to Tokyo and out to Haneda airport via the Tokyo Monorail. Click on the photo below to view them all Regards, Kieran

The Presidential Mk2 5408 was 5406, they swapped identities for reasons I've never quite understood!

The Western Rail Corridor has not currently progressed past Approval Gate 1, which is preliminary business case (and is Transport Appraisal Framework Module 4 for anyone really interested). 2030 looking rather optimistic for that!

Day 8 in Japan, which was in the Kyoto area including the Kyoto Railway Museum. Click on the photo below to view them all Regards, Kieran

Day 7 of my Japanese adventure, this mainly being a travel day from Nagasaki to Kyoto, with a couple of Nagasaki trams thrown into the mix. Click on the photo below to view them all Regards, Kieran

Everything ended up where it should be. Only took an interest the other day due to unusual stabling locations

Day 6 in Japan was a day in Nagasaki. The Nagasaki Electric Tramway operates a fascinating collection of trams, dating from between 1950 and 2024. Click on the photo below to view them all Regards, Kieran

Continuing the Japanese adventure, mainly a transfer day from Hiroshima to Nagasaki, followed by some evening tram spotting in Nagasaki. Click on the photo below to view them all Regards, Kieran

Day 4 in Japan was initially at the Hiroshima hypocentre memorial (being 6 August), then heading for a round trip on some classic Japanese railcars, before a bit of tram spotting (including a 1940 built Osaka tram) in the Hiroshima city centre area. Click on the photo below to view them all Regards, Kieran

Quite common. All the major manufacturers have at some point filed such things in various countries. Alstom did so against Siemens for winning the Eurostar contract, Siemens and Alstom have done the same for the SNCB contract that was awarded to CAF for the AM30 fleet order. All these style of contracts have a standstill period between award and announcement specifically for this in case the contract was given not according to the rules (and it has happened that the contract award was deemed illegal and had to be rerun). Most of the time it's a final throw of the dice to try and win the contract

Day 3 of my Japanese trip, mainly being a transfer day between Tokyo and Hiroshima with some time at Tenjingawa one station out of Hiroshima. Click on the photo below to view them all Regards, Kieran

2 DDs and 1 ICR unless a DD fails

Day 2 in Japan was intended to get some classic photos in front of Mount Fuji near Yoshiwara, but weather prevented that. Instead, a nice wander around part of the Tōkaidō Main Line with some freight movements and more unusual private operator vehicles. Click on the photo to view them all Regards, Kieran

August 2025 saw me substantially expand my horizons by visiting Japan, primarily to be in both Hiroshima and Nagasaki for the 80th anniversaries of the atomic bombings. Plenty of rail travel though, through the use of the JR Rail Pass. Day 1 was primarily Tokyo based, with a visit to the Omiya Railway Museum and a few other non-railway places. Click on the photo below to view them all Regards, Kieran