Shinkansen - List of Shinkansen lines, List of Shinkansen train models, List of types of Shinkansen services
The Japanese New Tokaido Line, a standard gauge line from Tokyo to Osaka for high speed trains (commonly known as bullet trains). Completed in 1964, the network has been extended from Aomori in the North to Hakasa in the South. It uses a fully computerized seat reservation system, like airlines. It provides an excellent service, and has been commercially successful, unlike many of the old lines.
The Shinkansen (新幹線, Shinkansen) is a network of high-speed railway lines in Japan operated by Japan Railways. Since the initial Tōkaidō Shinkansen opened in 1964, the network has expanded to link most major cities on the islands of Honshū and Kyūshū with running speeds of up to 300 km/h (186 mph), in an earthquake and typhoon prone environment. In contrast to older lines, Shinkansen are standard gauge, and use tunnels and viaducts to go through and over obstacles, rather than around them. The name stuck due to the Shinkansen locomotive's close resemblance to a round-shaped bullet and its high speed.
The "Shinkansen" name was first formally used in 1940 for a proposed standard gauge passenger/freight line between Tokyo and Shimonoseki, using steam and electric locomotives with a top speed of 200 km/h (twice the speed of the fastest Japanese train at the time). However, by the mid-1950's, the Tōkaidō Main Line was operating at full passenger capacity, and the Ministry of Railways decided to revisit the Shinkansen project. Government approval came in 1958, and construction of the first segment of the Tōkaidō Shinkansen between Tokyo and Osaka started in 1959.
The Tōkaidō Shinkansen opened on October 1, 1964, just in time for the Tokyo Olympics.
The first Shinkansen trains ran at speeds of up to 210 km/h (130 mph), later increased to 220 km/h (135 mph);
Network expansion
This early success prompted an extension of the first line westward to Hiroshima and Fukuoka (the Sanyo Shinkansen), which was completed in 1975.
Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka was an ardent supporter of the Shinkansen, and his government proposed an extensive network of lines paralleling most existing trunk lines in Japan. Two new lines, the Tohoku Shinkansen and Joetsu Shinkansen, were built following this plan. However, many other planned lines were either delayed or scrapped entirely as the national railway went further into debt, largely due to the high costs of building the Shinkansen network.
Despite this situation, development of the Shinkansen continued. Shinkansen trains now run regularly at speeds of up to 300 km/h (186 mph), putting them among the fastest trains running in the world, along with the French TGV Eurostar Thalys, Italian TAV, Spanish AVE, German ICE, and South Korean KTX trains.
Since 1970, development has also been underway for the Chūō Shinkansen, a maglev train planned to eventually run from Tokyo to Osaka.
In 2003, JR Central reported that the Shinkansen's average arrival time was within 0.1 minutes or 6 seconds of the scheduled time. Japan celebrated 40 years of high speed rail in 2004, with the Tōkaidō Shinkansen line alone having carried 4.16 billion passengers.
Safety record
There have been no passenger fatalities due to derailments or collisions during operation of the Shinkansen. This has resulted in some stations installing barriers preventing passengers from accessing the tracks, although an incident on January 9, 1999 at Sakudaira Station on the Nagano Shinkansen showed that even these would not stop determined suicides: a man climbed over a safety barrier to be hit by a non-stop service.
The only derailment of a Shinkansen train in passenger service occurred during the Chūetsu Earthquake on October 23, 2004. 325 train on the Jōetsu Shinkansen derailed near Nagaoka Station in Nagaoka, Niigata. Despite this, there are two planned speed increases, one to 350 km/h (217 mph) for new trains on the Sanyō line, and one to 360 km/h (223 mph) using the FASTECH 360 trains currently in testing on the Tōhoku Shinkansen.
The Kyūshū Shinkansen from Kagoshima to Yatsushiro opened in March 2004. There are also long-term plans to extend the network, Hokkaidō Shinkansen from Aomori to Sapporo (through the Seikan Tunnel), Kyūshū Shinkansen to Nagasaki, and as well as complete a link from Kanazawa back to Osaka, although none of these are likely to be completed by 2020.
The Narita Shinkansen project to connect Tokyo to Narita International Airport, initiated in the 1970s but halted in 1983 after landowner protests, has been officially cancelled and removed from the Basic Plan governing Shinkansen construction. Although the NRR will use standard gauge track, it will not be built to Shinkansen specifications and it would not be feasible to convert it into a full Shinkansen line.
List of Shinkansen lines
Operating lines
The main Shinkansen lines are:
Tōkaidō Shinkansen (Tokyo – Shin-Osaka) Sanyō Shinkansen (Shin-Osaka – Hakata) Tōhoku Shinkansen (Tokyo – Hachinohe) Jōetsu Shinkansen (Ōmiya – Niigata) Hokuriku Shinkansen or Nagano Shinkansen (Takasaki – Nagano) Kyūshū Shinkansen (Shin-Yatsushiro – Kagoshima-Chūō)Two further lines, known as Mini-Shinkansen (ミニ新幹線), have also been constructed by upgrading existing sections of line:
Yamagata Shinkansen (Fukushima – Shinjō) Akita Shinkansen (Morioka – Akita)There are two standard gauge not technically classified as Shinkansen lines but with Shinkansen services:
Hakata Minami Line (Hakata – Hakata-Minami) Gala-Yuzawa Line – technically a branch of the Jōetsu Line – (Echigo-Yuzawa – Gala-Yuzawa)Future lines
Many Shinkansen lines were proposed during the boom of the early 1970s but have yet to be constructed. One of these lines, the Narita Shinkansen to Narita Airport, has been officially cancelled, but a few remain under development.
Tōhoku Shinkansen extension from Hachinohe Station to Shin-Aomori is under construction and will open by 2010. Hokuriku Shinkansen extension to Kanazawa is under construction and will open by 2014. Kyūshū Shinkansen extension to Hakata is under construction and will open by 2010.Shinkansen technology outside Japan
Railways using Shinkansen technology are not limited to those in Japan. For the Channel Tunnel Rail Link, Hitachi-built EMUs based on Shinkansen technology will be exported for use on high-speed commuter services in Britain.
List of Shinkansen train models
Trains can be up to sixteen cars long.
Passenger Trains 0 Series 100 Series 200 Series 300 Series 400 Series (Mini-Shinkansen) 500 Series 700 Series 700T Series (Taiwan Shinkansen) N700 Series (on Test) 800 Series E1 Series (Max) E2 Series E3 Series (Mini-Shinkansen) E4 Series (Max) Experimental Trains 1000 Type 951 Type 961 Type 962 Type 500-900 Series (WIN 350) 952/953 Type (STAR 21) 955 Type (300X) E954 Type (FASTECH 360 S) E955 Type (FASTECH 360 Z)(Mini-Shinkansen) Maintenance Trains 911 Type Diesel Locomotive 912 Type Diesel Locomotive DD18 Type Diesel Locomotive DD19 Type Diesel Locomotive 944 Type (Rescue Train) 921 Type 0 Numbers (Track Checking Car) 922 Type (Doctor Yellow Set T1, T2, T3) 923 Type (Doctor Yellow Set T4, T5) 925 Type (Doctor Yellow Set S1, S2) E926 Type (East i)(Mini-Shinkansen)List of types of Shinkansen services
Originally intended to carry passenger and freight trains by day and night, the Shinkansen lines carry only passenger trains. The few overnight trains that still run in Japan run on the old narrow gauge network which the Shinkansen parallels.
Further reading
Hood, Christopher P.
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