Shinkansen
The Shinkansen (新幹線) is a network of high speed rail lines in Japan, upon which the famous "Bullet Trains" run.
The Shinkansen are run by the various companies of Japan Railway, formerly Japanese National Railways but now a private consortium.
Naming
The name "Bullet Train" is a Western translation of the Japanese term dangan ressha (弾丸列車), which was the name given to the project while it was initially being developed in the 1940s. Nowadays, the trains are known in Japan as Shinkansen trains. The name Shinkansen literally means "New Trunk Line", and thus should technically refer to the lines and not the trains, which are officially referred to as "Super Expresses". The prefix 'shin' means 'new' in Japanese and is used to distinguish the railway station serving Shinkansen trains in towns where it is in a different location to the regular station, as in Shin-Osaka station. (The same prefix also marks new stations on any other line, and is thus not an guarantee that a station is on a Shinkansen line.)
History
Japan was the first country to build dedicated railway lines for high speed travel. Due to the largely mountainous nature of the country, the pre-existing network consisted of 3'6" gauge (1067 mm) narrow gauge lines, which generally took indirect routes and could not be adapted to higher speeds. In consequence, Japan had a greater need for new high speed lines than countries where the existing standard gauge or broad gauge rail system had more upgrade potential. In contrast to the older lines, Shinkansen lines are standard gauge, and use tunnels and viaducts to go through and over obstacles, rather than around them.
Construction of the first segment of the Tokaido Shinkansen between Tokyo and Osaka started in 1959. The line opened on October 1, 1964, just in time for the Tokyo Olympics. The line was an immediate success, reaching the 100 million passenger mark in less than three years on July 13, 1967 and one billion passengers in 1976.
The first Shinkansen trains ran at speeds of up to 200 km/h (125 mph), later increased to 220 km/h (135 mph). Some of these trains, with their classic bullet-nosed appearance, are still in use for stopping services between Hakata and Osaka. A driving car from one of the original trains is now in the British National Railway Museum in York.
Many further models of train followed the first type, generally each with its own distinctive appearance. Shinkansen trains now run regularly at speeds of up to 300 km/h (185 mph), putting them among the fastest trains running in the world, along with the French TGV and German ICE trains.
Originally intended to carry passenger and freight trains by day and night,
the Shinkansen lines carry only passenger trains. The system shuts down
between midnight and 6:00 every day to allow maintenance to take place, including the running of Doctor Yellow test trains. The few overnight trains that still run in Japan run on the old narrow gauge network which the Shinkansen parallels.
In 2003, JR Tokai reported that the Shinkansen's average arrival time was within 0.1 minute or 6 seconds of the scheduled time. This include all natural and human accidents and errors and is calculated from all of about 160,000 trips Shinkansen made. The previous record was from 1997 and was 0.3 minutes or 18 seconds.
Future
In recent years, due to noise pollution, increasing speed is getting harder. Thus, the current research is rather aimed to reduce the noise, particularly when trains exit a tunnel.
The Kyushu Shinkansen from Kagoshima to Yatsushiro opened in March 2004. Three more extensions are planned for opening by 2013: Hakata-Yatsushiro, Nagano-Kanazawa, and Hachinohe-Aomori. There are also long-term plans to extend the network to Sapporo (through the Seikan Tunnel) and Nagasaki, as well as complete a link from Kanazawa back to Osaka, although none of these are likely to be completed by 2020.
List of Shinkansen lines
The main Shinkansen lines are:
Two further lines, known as Yamagata Shinkansen (Fukushima-Shinjo)
Most Shinkansen lines that were proposed during the boom of the early 1970s have been postponed indefinitely. These include a link to Shikoku by the Honshu-Shikoku bridge system, a link from Tokyo to New Tokyo International Airport, and a route covering the entire Sea of Japan coast of Honshu.
List of Shinkansen train models
List of types of Shinkansen services
