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[[Image:Shinkansen-100-fukuyama.jpg|thumb|250px|right|Shinkansen 0 Series at Fukuyama Station, April 2002]]
[[Image:Shinkansen-100-fukuyama.jpg|thumb|250px|right|Shinkansen 0 Series at Fukuyama Station, April 2002]]
[[Image:Shinkansen-500-kyoto.jpg|thumb|250px|right|Shinkansen 500 Series at Kyoto Station, April 2002]]
[[Image:Shinkansen 500 Kyoto 2005-03-19.jpg|thumb|250px|right|Shinkansen 500 Series at Kyoto Station, March 2005]]
[[Image:Twinshin.JPG|thumb|250px|right|300 (Left) and 700 Series Shinkansen at Tokyo Station]]
[[Image:Twinshin.JPG|thumb|250px|right|300 (Left) and 700 Series Shinkansen at Tokyo Station]]


Revision as of 10:05, 15 September 2005

File:Shinkansen-100-fukuyama.jpg
Shinkansen 0 Series at Fukuyama Station, April 2002
Shinkansen 500 Series at Kyoto Station, March 2005
300 (Left) and 700 Series Shinkansen at Tokyo Station

The Shinkansen (Japanese: 新幹線) is a network of high-speed railway lines in Japan. The first line, the Tōkaidō Shinkansen, was opened in 1964. The network has since expanded to link most major cities on the islands of Honshu and Kyushu with running speeds of up to 300 km/h.

Naming

The popular English 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. The modern name Shinkansen literally means "New Trunk Line" and hence strictly speaking refers only to the tracks, while the trains themselves are offically referred to as "Super Express" (超特急 chō-tokkyū). In practice, however, the distinction is rarely made even in Japan.

When building the Shinkansen network, it was not often feasible to build the line to connect to an already existing station and therefore a new second station was built. Many Shinkansen stations (eg. Shin-Yokohama Station and Shin-Osaka Station) thus have the prefix shin- in their name, but this simply means "new" in Japanese and is not a direct reference to the Shinkansen.

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 ft 6 in gauge (1,067 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 06:00 every day to allow maintenance to take place. The few overnight trains that still run in Japan run on the old narrow gauge network which the Shinkansen parallels.

Trains can be up to sixteen cars long. With each car measuring 25 m (82 ft) in length, the longest trains are 400 m (1/4 mile) from front to back. Stations are similarly long to accommodate these trains.

In 2003, JR Central reported that the Shinkansen's average arrival time was within 0.1 minutes or 6 seconds of the scheduled time. This includes 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.

The first derailment of a Shinkansen train in passenger service occurred during the Chuetsu Earthquake on October 23, 2004. Eight of ten cars of the Toki No. 325 train on the Joetsu Shinkansen derailed near Nagaoka Station in Nagaoka, Niigata. However, there were no injuries nor deaths among the 154 passengers. [1]

Safety

There have been no passenger fatalities associated with operation of the Shinkansen. There have however been injuries and one fatality due to doors closing on passengers or their belongings, but attendants are on hand at each platform to ensure that these are resolved before operation begins. There have been suicides by passengers jumping both from and in front of moving trains. This has resulted in some stations installing barriers preventing passengers from accessing the tracks, although an incident on January 9, 1999 in Nagano station showed that even these would not stop determined suicides: A man climbed over a safety barrier to be hit by a nonstop service.

There is an earthquake detection system that can bring the train to a stop very quickly if an earthquake is detected. During the Chuetsu earthquake in October 2004 a Shinkansen very close to the epicenter was derailed by the earthquake, but with no passenger injuries. The next generation of trains (FASTECH 360) will have ear-like air resistance braking flaps to assist with stopping in the event of an earthquake being detected.

Future

Due to noise pollution concerns, increasing speed is becoming more difficult. Current research is primarily aimed at reducing operational noise, particularly the "tunnel boom" phenomenon caused when trains enter tunnels at high speed. Despite this, there are two planned speed increases, one to 350 km/h for new trains on the Sanyo line, and one to 360 km/h using the FASTECH 360 trains currently in testing on the Tohoku Shinkansen.

The Kyushu Shinkansen from Kagoshima to Yatsushiro opened in March 2004. Three more extensions are planned for opening by 2010: Hakata-Yatsushiro, Hachinohe-Aomori, and by 2014: Nagano-Kanazawa. There are also long-term plans to extend the network, Hokkaido Shinkansen from Aomori to Sapporo (through the Seikan Tunnel), Kyushu 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. Parts of its planned right-of-way will be utilized by the Narita Rapid Railway link when it opens in 2010. 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

Map of Shinkansen network

The main Shinkansen lines are:

Two further lines, known as Mini-Shinkansen (ミニ新幹線), have also been constructed by upgrading existing sections of line:

There are two standard gauge not technically classified as Shinkansen lines but with Shinkansen services:

The following lines are under development:

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 Shinjuku to Omiya (part of the Joetsu Shinkansen), and a route covering the entire Sea of Japan coast of Honshu. However, the Narita Shinkansen is the only line which has been officially removed from planning.

List of Shinkansen train models

  • 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

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Shinkansen.
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