Mobility

Hitachi is looking beyond its high-speed rail stomping grounds of Japan and Europe, as it seeks to join a project connecting Dallas and Houston in the U.S. state of Texas and get involved in work for an airport link around Bangkok.

Toyota Motor's expansion of its capital partnership with Subaru aims to help Japan's largest automaker develop a balanced worldwide network for emerging technologies such as self-driving vehicles, as upstarts vie with established players to set global standards.

Toyota Motor announced on Friday that the company will turn Subaru into an equity-method affiliate, expanding the 14-year-old partnership between the Japanese automakers to invest more effectively in new technologies.

The government has pledged an additional $10 billion (¥1.1 trillion) in public and private financing to liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects worldwide, in order to help spur demand for the cleaner fossil fuel, trade minister Isshu Sugawara said on Thursday.

Competitors come together in effort to boost mobility innovation.

Taiwan will add a new section to the south end of the high-speed railway traversing the island's western coast, its premier said Tuesday, a move likely to create opportunities for builders and newly served areas.The project is of particular interest to Japanese companies, who have provided shinkansen bullet-train technology, as well as all the rolling stock, for Taiwan's high-speed railway.

Toshiba has developed a service that uses artificial intelligence to draw up train schedules that minimize delays -- a boon for operators dealing with the busy, complex networks in such countries as the U.K.

East Japan Railway Co., or JR East, has announced a plan to test new electric-powered trains using hydrogen fuel cells from fiscal 2021.

Central Japan Railway, also known as JR Tokai, on Thursday granted journalists their first test ride of the company's newest shinkansen bullet train, which clocked in at speeds topping 360 km per hour, breaking the all-time record for the rail operator.