Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, some Japanese TGVs, Shinkansen, have a car dedicated to teleworkers.
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Japan is the pioneer country of high speed trains. Its Shinkansen dates from 1964. and it keeps improving by adapting to the new needs of society. The latest development to date, teleworking spaces aboard these Japanese TGVs known the world over not only for their surprising aerodynamic aesthetics but also their comfort and punctuality.
We are aboard a Shinkansen, so the Japanese TGV, bound for the city of Sendai, in the northeast. Shinkansens are every 5-10 minutes for most major destinations so it’s almost a high speed subway. For the past few weeks, car number 8 of each northbound train has been dedicated to teleworking with an improved network connection and various other features. “In Japan, as a rule, passengers are asked not to make phone calls on trains, so dedicated cars have been provided for people who call or participate in an online meeting, explains Hajime Nakamura, the person in charge of this service in the company JR Est. Abroad, it is the opposite, we have the right to telephone on the train and the novelty is rather to install silent cars. The trigger is the Covid crisis and the fact that teleworking has suddenly become a massive practice. “
There is no additional charge, everyone can come and sit in the teleworking car whenever they want. The service has just started, it is still in the running-in phase but new features appear over the weeks. “Customers do not want us to hear them or that others cannot see their screen. This need is currently being met by providing covers to mute the sound or hide the screen on the sides”, continues Hajime Nakamura.
Screen glasses, headphones with noise reduction, among other things, are also made available to passengers. In the next generations of Shinkansen cars this time will actually be built for the needs of teleworking like individual cabins that are already frequently found in stations or business buildings. “We can work in stations in teleworking stations and then continue on the train and we want to extend this continuity of services”, concludes the person in charge of this service in the company JR Est. The comfort at the cheapest seat in a Shinkansen is already almost worth that of a first class plane.