Bus operations of the Japan Railways Group companies
JR Bus collectively refers to the bus operations of Japan Railways Group (JR Group) companies in Japan. JR Bus is operated by eight regional companies, each owned by a JR railway company. JR Bus companies provide regional, long distance, and chartered bus services.
The Ministry of Railways of Japan started its first bus operation in Aichi Prefecture in 1930 and gradually expanded bus routes. The Japanese National Railways (JNR), public corporation established in 1949, succeeded the bus operations, then called Kokutetsu Bus or JNR Bus. In 1987, JNR was divided into regional railway companies together with its bus operations. JR companies later separated their bus operations to subsidiaries in 1988 (JR East, JR Central, JR West), 2000 (JR Hokkaido), 2001 (JR Kyushu) and 2004 (JR Shikoku).
Examples of vehicles
Regional route vehicles
JR Hokkaidō bus 521-4956
JR Bus Tohoku 531-9452
JR Bus Kanto L534-97506
JR Tokai Bus 328-8902
Nishinihon JR Bus 537-1909
Chugoku JR Bus 534-5969
JR Shikoku Bus 531-2911
JR Kyushu Bus 521-21602
Expressway route vehicles
JR Bus Tohoku, JR Bus Kanto, JR Tokai Bus and Chugoku JR Bus share a common livery based on the JNR Bus livery.