JR East launches official Train Simulator on Steam

The East Japan Railway Company , better known as JR East , is the largest railway line in Japan, with lines running from and around Tokyo to the edge of Hokkaido . As such, being a conductor on one of these prestigious trains requires great skill and knowledge and positions are awarded to only the best candidates .

For the rest of us who don’t have that knowledge or aren’t even in Japan, JR East lets you experience the job of a driver in its simulation game. JR East Train Simulator page is now set up on Steam.

The game is based on real JR simulators used in driver training and uses accurate recreations of the Hachiko Line between Takasaki and Kuragano Stations, as well as the Keihin Tohoku Line from Omiya to Urawa Stations. In the first you will control a KiHa 100 series train heading north and in the second you will drive an E233 series train heading south.

Once the full game is released, there will be much more variety in the material of train types and routes, as well as the ability to mix and match trains and lines. There’s also an adjustable difficulty which seems to largely depend on how strictly you want to be scored for stopping the train at exactly the right position on the platform.

Since these are based on real simulators, you can expect the train physics to be on point. You may have also noticed that the images are actual footage of the actual train lines and the sound effects are also actual recordings of the JR East train lines. A very real experience!

Even after the full game is released, JR East still plans to add more lines as DLC as time goes on. Considering how extensive their service is, those updates could take quite a while. They also plan to expand gameplay options, such as external controller support.