JR East unveils 360-kph bullet train, world's fastest
23 June 2005
Kyodo News

http://us.news3.yimg.com/us.i2.yimg.com/p/rids/20050624/i/r2025783767.jpg?x=380&y=241&sig=JGRXKLjtbl3_WNz0XyWQ8A--

http://us.news3.yimg.com/us.i2.yimg.com/p/ap/20050624/capt.tok80206240416.japan_new_bullet_train_tok802.jpg?x=380&y=206&sig=2LeCRSUVf1fRZKtBVLnxQQ--

East Japan Railway Company's next-generation bullet train, which is hoped to achieve the world's fastest speed of 360km per hour (224 mph) in commercial service on wheels, is unveiled in Rifu town, northern Japan, June 24, 2005. The company aims to put the new train into service in 2011, local media reports.

East Japan Railway Co. on Friday unveiled a new shinkansen bullet train in the town of Rifu, Miyagi Prefecture that will operate at a speed of 360 kilometers per hour, possibly the world's fastest.

The two ends of the jade-colored, eight-car test train named Fastech look different. The first car has a rounded end, while the eighth car has a narrow, sharper end.

The train is equipped with a braking mechanism that adjusts air resistance in the event of an earthquake or other emergencies using a half-moon device descending from the roof of the train.

Each car has only one pantograph to reduce noise, down from the two on bullet trains now in operation.

The test runs between the Miyagi capital of Sendai and Kitakami, Iwate Prefecture, will be conducted at a maximum speed of 405 kph.

JR East aims to put the new train into service in 2011, when the Tohoku Shinkansen Line will begin service between Hachinohe and Shin-Aomori stations in Aomori Prefecture.

JR East said it also plans to conduct environmental assessment and other studies to develop cars suitable for operating at 360 kph on a commercial basis.

so they need to build new tracks, or is an upgrade of the old high speed track enough?

What are those orange things?

makes the train look like Mickey Mouse. . .

What are those orange things?

makes the train look like Mickey Mouse. . .

Yup, those are called 'cats' ears' among the railway freaks. They are actually air resistance boards. When Shinakansen slacks up its speed to stop, those boards open from the roof automatically.

beautiful trains! more pics pleaseeeeeeeee :D

Shinkansen Fastec series (regular operation speed 360 km/h, max speed 405 km/h) has two faces.
Stream line type and Arrow line type

http://rail.uploader.dyndns.org/img-box/img200506120018103cebf.jpg

from the left,
Shinkansen E4 series (full double decker), Shinakansen 700 series, Shinkansen Fastec series Stream line type, Fastec series Arrow line type, Shinkansen E2 series, and Shinkansen 500 series.

This JR East Fastech train looks amazing especially with the pop up 'mini-sail' to assist in slowing down. I guess by 2015 JR will have trains running at near 400 kph or probably by the time the Shin-Amori to Hokkaido Island section gets the go ahead and is perhaps finished by 2020???

Beautiful trains...
:drool:
Domo arigato, Nippo!!
:wink2:

I think the "cat ears" it won't be enough to stop the train fast, the train is heavy and goes very fast. How can those stop the train with over 1.7 million pounds of force.
It's a prototype train, I believe...

wow the Shinkansen 500 train looks like a needle :runaway:

Yup, those are called 'cats' ears' among the railway freaks. They are actually air resistance boards. When Shinakansen slacks up its speed to stop, those boards open from the roof automatically.I never knew such things existed. But I think it looks cute. :)

I assume those "cat ears" are raised slowly when the train needs to slow down. Popping those things up quickly while the train is at high speeds would probably cause a sudden and hard jerk.

just a guess?

sequoias - im sure it would be quite a long process, and not designed to be a 30 second thing.

I think the "cat ears" it won't be enough to stop the train fast, the train is heavy and goes very fast. How can those stop the train with over 1.7 million pounds of force.
It's a prototype train, I believe...

Obviously the "cat ears" are not meant to stop the train by themselves but to help in reducing speed.

Tonight JR East has begun the Fastech's test run at a speed of 405 kph!!

Obviously the "cat ears" are not meant to stop the train by themselves but to help in reducing speed.

exactly.
There're 12 cat ears on a train, and those sectoral boards open rotarily to shorten braking distance.

Tonight JR East has begun the Fastech's test run at a speed of 405 kph!!


Are you sure about that ? I was expecting to reach this speed at a period beyond 5 months, raising the speed steadily.

the cat ears make the train look kinda dumpy, as does its rear end. i like the duck face of the shinkansen 700 though

the cat ears make the train look kinda dumpy, as does its rear end.

That's a bit like saying that escape chutes make an airliner look saggy, or that fully-deployed airbags make the inside of a car look a bit cramped! The only time you're going to see the cat ears is in an emergency (or, as in the picture, in testing)...

oh ok.. i didnt read carefully

The second one si cool, but the first one is ugly.

The second one si cool, but the first one is ugly.

agree. It looks like current 500 series, most beautiful train on earth.

Some latest news says ,with those cat ears Fastech's breaking distance is half a mile shorter than normal high speed trains. So effective equipment!

BTW, related article

from BBC NEWS
A bullet train... only with ears

Japan is beginning trials of the newest and sleekest version of its Shinkansen "Bullet Train" which boasts ear-like air brakes for emergency halts.
The latest model will travel at up to 360km/h (233mph) but is capable of reaching even higher speeds.

Its ears - half-moon shaped fins along the roof - are designed for rapid braking in the event of earthquakes.

The train, expected to be in service by 2011, is a highly-developed version of the original Bullet, launched in 1964.

Safety first

Since then, the Shinkansen has acquired an enviable record of safety and punctuality.

The new Fastech 360S model has a top speed of 405km/h (250mph).

But the East Japan Railway company, the country's largest rail operator, says creating the world's fastest train was not their only aim.

"The test runs are to see how the technology designed to ensure safety, reduce noise and swaying [works]. Running faster is not the only goal," a spokesman said.

Trial runs are expected between the northern Japanese cities of Sendai and Kamikita cities from Saturday.

The world's fastest trains currently in commercial operation include the Sanyo Shinkansen run by West Japan Railway, the TGV in France and the Eurostar which links London, Brussels and Paris.

Japan goes for comfort, ecology in new bullet train

TOKYO, May 25, 2007 (AFP) - Japan is adding environmental awareness and a bit more comfort in the latest version of its celebrated bullet train which comes into service in July.

The new N700 model will be gradually rolled out through 2010 on the line between Tokyo and western Japan, the world's busiest passenger track.

The N700, which cost 260 billion yen (2.1 billion dollars) to develop and build, travels no faster than current bullet trains, reaching a top speed of 300 kilometers per hour (185 miles per hour).

Instead of trying to beat France's TGV in speed, the N700's joint designers -- private companies Central Japan Railway and West Japan Railway -- have invested in improving comfort levels and the environmental performance.

The N700 -- which will stop in Kyoto, namesake of the pioneering environmenal treaty -- will use 19 percent less electricity than earlier models, the designers said as they showed the train to the press this week.

"The substantial reduction in power consumpion and CO2 emissions," a statement said, "contributes significantly to the effort to counter global warming."

The N700 features a first-class section approaching the comfort level of business class on an airplane, with large chairs that can recline back 120 degrees, adjustable foot-rests and 15-centimeter (six-inch) wide arm-rests.

Knowing the importance of technology for Japanese customers, the train companies installed an electric plug at every seat -- two in first-class -- along with a jack to plug in headphones to listen to a music selection.

While the new bullet trains will lack current models' smoking sections, some of the cars will have sealed, ventilated rooms for passengers to light up in.

Japan inaugurated the bullet trains in 1964, the year of the Tokyo Olympics which symbolised the nation's rebirth from the ashes of World War II into a major economic power.

The bullet train debuted 17 years before France started its TGV, which currently holds the record for the fastest rail service. The latest TGV launched in March goes at an average 320 kph between Paris and the eastern city of Strasbourg.

http://img523.imageshack.us/img523/9159/n1vy0.jpg

http://n700.jp/

I don't really like the "nose" of new N700, I prefer the design of the 500. :(

South Africawill be buying trains from Japan from next year until the year 2009. I tried to search on the net to see what kind of trains they will be buying but I couldn't find anything. If anyone of you hav got an information aboit that please post it in South African forum. Thanks.

By the those will be passenger trains.

I am not sure if my question fits here but I am looking for a video which shows one Shinkansen train - Nozomi or Hikari - overtaking a Kodama train while the latter waits at a station. I want to see how long the Kodama train has to wait until it can depart again.

Of course, there are plenty of videos on youTube showing such an overtaking manoevre, but I couldn't find one which shows it, including the arrival of the Kodama, the overtaking by the Nozomi or Hikari and the departure of the Kodama, in full length.

Does anybody happen to know where I could find such a video?

Diesel engine and storage battery Hybrid train [koumi]
Fuel economy 10% reduction
NOx60% reduction
http://img75.imageshack.us/img75/8841/pn2007073101000318ig9.jpg

One more
Kawasaki accepted an order of 260 vehicles from an NY subway. I became 1,939 of them in this at the bureau and became the top.

One more
toy train debut[OMODEN]
http://img104.imageshack.us/img104/4858/66739919fv7.jpg

http://img67.imageshack.us/img67/5419/o2hj2.jpg

i recorded a video of an Nozomi wich ride cross the Shinkansen Station "Shin-Himeji". I´ll try to upload in YouTube, the i gonna post in here. Here are some pics of Nozomis and Hiraki "RailStar".
I also prefer the Design of the N500, it looks more like a Jet as a train. But i think they dont care about the design, they only want a highspeed bullettrain. Designed for speed.

Pics are all taken by myself.

Nozomi cross Shimbashi
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2181/1654258821_8ac05a331d_b.jpg

JR500 ... <3 this train
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2214/1655117854_d2487234b1_b.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2249/1654226099_3671571a8f_b.jpg

JR700
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2081/1654215649_f19282ef5e_b.jpg

Hikari RailStar
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2188/1654204089_183e4c22e4_b.jpg

Shinkansen to link Osaka, Kagoshima in 4 hours
14 October 2007
Daily Yomiuri

http://www.globalphotos.org/england/20060518/IMG_8373.jpg

OSAKA--An envisaged Shinkansen train service will directly link Shin-Osaka and Kagoshima Chuo stations in about four hours--one hour faster than the service using existing lines--with no transfers, sources said Saturday.

According to the sources, Kyushu Railway Co. and West Japan Railway Co. have agreed to start a Shinkansen service joining the Kyushu Shinkansen line, which will begin full operations in spring 2011, and the Sanyo Shinkansen line. The agreement is expected to be officially announced next week.

JR Kyushu and JR West plan to develop new trains that are compatible with both Shinkansen lines' operation systems, based on the N700 Series used for Nozomi services.

The firms will continue to discuss the timetables of the new service.

The Kyushu Shinkansen's 137.6-kilometer section between Shin-Yatsushiro Station in Kumamoto Prefecture and Kagoshima Chuo Station in Kagoshima Prefecture was opened in March 2004. The remaining section between Hakata Station in Fukuoka Prefecture and Shin-Yatsushiro Station is now under construction.

Flying between Osaka and Kagoshima or Kumamoto airports takes about 70 minutes. JR Kyushu, JR West and Central Japan Railway Co. reached a basic agreement in November to join the Kyushu and Sanyo Shinkansen lines to offer a faster service. Both airports are located an hour away from downtown by bus. The railway operators, therefore, expect the new direct service using Shinkansen lines, with which passengers will not have to transfer at Hakata Station, will have an advantage over airline services.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V30hIg5K7I8

ok, done ... here´s the vid ... =) ... sry, dont know how to create a youtube window for click, so click the link

Here you go M.Schwerdtner.

Very good clip!

V30hIg5K7I8

Cockpit View (500 Series) Part 1
CiD7QKJKc8Y

Part 2 to 8
http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=6IJtlkCVkSg
http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=xomsvdlH-4M
http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJdTjdOFl2E
http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=kBbcLwHZlpA
http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=zYXCcvj4ogI
http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=oG3QcNDS4GA
http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=9JiyrWniyzQ

Maintenance(No sub)
ZUcfsqlzLRs

the shinkansen is one the grandest high speed railways systems in the world and of course it is still expanding and opening new routes and new places to invest on

the 500 looks a lot better than the 700.

FOCUS: New Shinkansen carriages employ high-speed, lightweight technology
Kyodo News

TOKYO, Nov. 21 -- The new superexpress bullet trains running on the Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen lines employ state-of-the-art Japanese high speed and lightweight technology.

Introduced in July on the 1,174.9-kilometer line between Tokyo and Hakata, Fukuoka Prefecture, in Kyushu, the new coaches called the ''N700 series'' are replete with cutting-edge materials and parts that make them lighter, allow them to run faster and give a more comfortable ride to passengers than other carriages in operation.

The latest bullet trains are capable of traveling the distance of 552 kilometers between Tokyo and Shin-Osaka stations in two hours and 25 minutes at top speed, trimming five minutes from the time required by other Shinkansen trains. The travel time between the stations was three hours and 10 minutes when the superexpress train service was inaugurated in 1964, the year Japan hosted the first summer Olympic Games in Asia.

The five-minute reduction is made possible by the newest and most advanced technology -- a train tilting system that allows the body of the coaches to slant and negotiate curves at high speed. The system provides not only an improvement in speed but a more comfortable ride for passengers.

Air springs, each measuring about 66 centimeters in diameter and weighing about 44 kilograms, comprise the key part of the system and are manufactured by Sumitomo Electric Industries Ltd. of Osaka and other firms. When the N700 series coaches approach a curve on the track, air directed by the system raises the height of the springs on the outer side by several centimeters, slanting the angle of the body one degree from the horizontal level.

The weight of the springs in the N700 series is about 10 percent lighter than those used in coaches of the 700 series, which have been the mainstay of the Shinkansen line. The N700 series, with ''N'' standing for new or next, has been jointly developed by Central Japan Railway Co. and West Japan Railway Co.

Some N700 coaches are already operating on Nozomi train services -- the fastest category -- but JR Central and JR West plan to expand operations to 96 services by the end of fiscal 2011 to replace the Nozomis.

The new carriages are about eight tons lighter than those of the 700 series, saving energy, and a special polycarbonate developed by Teijin Chemicals Ltd. of Tokyo has been adopted for windows instead of the double glazing installed in ordinary class coaches.

The windows, 50 cm wide and 52 cm high, are smaller than the windows in the 700 series. In terms of unit area, the weight of an N700 car is about 30 percent lighter than a carriage of the 700 series. Officials said that air resistance has been reduced as the new windows can be installed without a protruding edge.

Polycarbonates are strong and unbreakable but vulnerable to scratches.

Teijin Chemicals enhanced durability by applying a special coating to the surface of the windows. It also developed a new technique to minimize distortion when viewing out that employs an injection molding machine to make windows from resin poured into a metal mold.

Polyester cushions made by Teijin Fibers Ltd. of Osaka are used in the passenger seats. Urethane was previously used but polyester is said to be more resilient and durable, and generates only small amounts of harmful gases in the event of fire.

Teijin Fibers is expected to deliver polyester material for more than 60,000 passenger seats to JR Central and JR West.

Manufacturers supplying parts and materials to the railway companies have complained that they are unable to make a profit due to costs. They are hoping to tap into new markets in other areas such as automobiles and airplanes in the future.

The government has decided to promote domestic Shinkansen technology for Brazil's 500-kilometer high-speed railway project, it was learned Sunday.

After the results of a feasibility study currently being conducted by the Brazilian government are announced, the government will officially ask Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to select the Shinkansen system during a visit to Japan that he is scheduled to make in 2008.

If the Japanese system is chosen for the project, it will follow the sale of Shinkansen trains to Taiwan and Shinkansen-related technology to China.

Marking the centenary of the arrival of the first Japanese immigrants in Brazil, 2008 is Japan-Brazil exchange year. The government is hoping to mark this occasion by making the Shinkansen the new symbol of the friendly and cooperative ties between the two nations.

The proposed project features a line from Rio de Janeiro to Campinas, running through the country's largest city, Sao Paulo, featuring a total of six stations. The high-speed line will have a maximum speed of 250 to 300 kph.

The Brazilian government has conducted a study to determine whether the plan is feasible. The details of the project are expected to be released in early 2008.

According to sources, the total construction cost is estimated at about 2 trillion yen. If the Shinkansen is chosen, the contract is expected to be worth several hundred billion yen to domestic firms through the sale of train cars and related technology.

Subsequent phases of the project are expected to extend the line to about 1,500 kilometers, stretching between Belo Horizonte to the north of Rio de Janeiro and Curitiba to the south of Sao Paulo.

South Korea, Germany and France are among the other nations to have shown interest in bidding for the project. The government, and particularly the Foreign Ministry, therefore plan to step up diplomatic moves to promote the superexpress to the Brazilian government.

The government also is hoping to invite senior Brazilian government officials, including presidential aides, to visit Japan and have them try the Shinkansen as part of efforts to promote the sale.

The government has already briefed the Brazilian government on the performance of the Shinkansen in Taiwan, where a 345-kilometer line entered full operation in March 2007.

According to the ministry, the Brazilian government is planning to decide on the prime contractor for the project through a bidding process in 2009.

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/features/culture/20071231TDY01306.htm

http://img120.imageshack.us/img120/7651/s1aa5.jpg

http://img120.imageshack.us/img120/585/s2rr4.jpg

http://img120.imageshack.us/img120/1259/s3dq2.jpg

http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/5109/s4vg3.jpg

http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/1603/s5pg5.jpg

Japan and Brazil have always made for good partnerships.

Japanese techno cool and Brazilian sensualness.

Whatever they go for I just hope for a fast process with all this. The SP-Rio connections right now are really dreadful and a high speed train line is desperately needed, asap.

I made a time-distance graph of traffic on the Tokaido-Sanyo Shinkansen
www.pobox.com/users/mly/JR/200710-Tokaido-Sanyo-Shinkansen-graph.pdf (http://www.pobox.com/users/mly/JR/200710-Tokaido-Sanyo-Shinkansen-graph.pdf)
using the information in the public timetables http://jr-central.co.jp/eng.nsf/english/timetable
(The timetable I used was October-November 2007, since superseded.)


Note that these lines are nearly uniformly two tracks only, with very limited sections of passing loops at intermediate stations -- basically little more than the length of the 400m platforms --, which makes the frequency and reliability of the many hundreds of daily train overtakes even more astonishing.

The traffic density and the operational precision necessary to sustain the service are simply amazing.

Scheduled headways are 3 minutes.
There's other traffic which is not shown.
There's plenty of fun stuff to discover, like local trains pulling over and having two expresses blast by -- station dwell times on the order of only 5 minutes.

Dashed lines are trains that run less than 5 days a week, or whose days of operation I was too lazy to fully decode from the far from simple timetable. In the end, of course, everything has to fall into repeating patterns with some holes where paths aren't filled or at peak/off-peak transitions.


PS it turns out that there is cab ride video video of a Nozomi express service on this line (Shinkansen 500 series train) (subtitled):

Parts 1-8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CiD7QKJKc8Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IJtlkCVkSg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xomsvdlH-4M
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJdTjdOFl2E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBbcLwHZlpA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYXCcvj4ogI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oG3QcNDS4GA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JiyrWniyzQ

The run depicted is very similar to but not identical with the Nozomi
train number 2 "N2" in my diagram.

Bonus Shinkansen inspection and maintenance video (no subtitles):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUcfsqlzLRs

That's a great graph, thanks for producing it. Can't see that sort of thing happening in the UK any time soon!

I made a time-distance graph of traffic on the Tokaido-Sanyo Shinkansen

That's pretty darn impressive! What software did you use? MS Excel?

Doesn't look like Excel, but that is an absolutely amazing graph. The Japanese really did go all out with their rail network - it's something to be infinitely proud of.

The Japs really did go all out with their rail network

:nono: "Jap" is a derogatory term, FYI.



Damn, that's one hell of a graph, no wonder JR Central is building that maglev relief line :lol:

If you draw the Tokyo to Fukuoka(westbound) schedule from the bottom up you would complete the diagram.

JR Tokai boasts punctuality of the Tokaido Shinkansen with average delay per train throughout the year of only 0.3minutes.
Average of total time of late departures and arrivals of one minute or more from/to Tokyo and Shin-Osaka stations,
including delays caused by uncontrollable reasons such as heavy rain, typhoons, and heavy snowfall.

JR Tokai data book 2007 (http://jr-central.co.jp/eng.nsf/english/data_book/$FILE/JR_TOKAI_DATA_BOOK_2007.pdf)

:drool:

:nono: "Jap" is a derogatory term, FYI.

Sorry, I didn't know that. It's what they are called in Britain... I'll go back and edit my post so as not to cause offense.

not wanting to stir a storm here, but how is "jap" derogatory, its like me saying being called a "brit" is derogatory. I'm sure its more to do with the context...

jap for Japanese, nip for Chinese, and goose for Korean were all derogatory term during different wars. But time has changed, and people has also come to accept it. Although AFAIK, nip and goose's still quite offensive and will get you a few stare.

jap for Japanese, nip for Chinese, and goose for Korean were all derogatory term during different wars. But time has changed, and people has also come to accept it. Although AFAIK, nip and goose's still quite offensive and will get you a few stare.

"Nip" and "Jap" both refer to Japanese ("Nippon" is "Japan" in Japanese language), and are terms used by the western allies from World War II to refer to the Japanese at the time. The Chinese one you are referring to is "chink", which is just as bad as any of the others. "Brit" to my knowledge, has no war connections, but I am unclear on the background of that abbreviation.

That's pretty darn impressive! What software did you use? MS Excel?
I have personal code I use to generate the basic graph and labels (as Postscript) from a table of data.
It can be used for much less interesting and much less competent lines also: eg http://www.pobox.com/users/mly/Caltrain-Timetabling/Caltrain-200406+xings.pdf

Cutting and pasting the times from the PDF files was tiresomely done by hand, no software in my possession being adequate to the task.

Then there's a whole lot of hand editing and labelling and prettification done in Illustrator. It was quite a lot of effort, and not very automated

Re "Japs", etc, into which this thread misdirected: that's only even vaguely offensive in America, and certainly nowhere else in the English-speaking world. The sooner Americans stop pretending they're the entire world and the sooner they stop lecturing to the world the better for everybody.

PS here are some other interesting graphically presented train operating data, this time from Switzerland, showing platform occupancy, and indirectly train connections and the overall "takt":
http://www.pobox.com/users/mly/SBB/Zuerich-20050407-an-ab.pdf (Zürich HB)
http://www.pobox.com/users/mly/SBB/Luzern-20050407-an-ab.pdf (Luzern)
http://www.pobox.com/users/mly/SBB/Arth-Goldau-20040407-an-ab.pdf (Arth-Goldau)

And here's really excellent takt graphical communication:
http://static.nzz.ch/download/pdf/Fahrplan08netzgrafik.pdf
(entire national long-distance network, not showing local traffic)
http://www.zvv.ch/pdf/Netzgrafik%20S-Bahn%20ZH%202007.pdf
(just Zürich area S-Bahn, not showing bus or tram traffic)

"We [Swiss transportation planners] are lazy; we just plan one hour and repeat it all day every year."

^^^^

Really interesting.

Great work!!!!

Kawasaki Line
high-resolution http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtgR7RlpVrI&fmt=6
WtgR7RlpVrI&fmt=6
Chiba monorail
high-resolution http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tCwFZgoTDQ&fmt=6
-tCwFZgoTDQ&fmt=6
Tokyo yurikamome
high-resolution http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMgwsLOvV7k&fmt=6
GMgwsLOvV7k&fmt=6

Morning drive in Tokyo
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?p=20273756#post20273756

Wow, great videos! And the High Quality links! :cheers:

I don't really like the "nose" of new N700, I prefer the design of the 500. :(

the 500 looks a lot better than the 700.

Could be function above form.

This nose may optimally distribute air to the edge above the train, and the 2 side edges. In particular it may distribute air evenly to the upper corners.

How the nose works in reverse at the end of the train is possibly more important for drag minimisation.

It may also utilise findings from hypersonic theory, which finds benefits in smooth changes in cross sectional area. That is why it appears to start thick, and then thicken slower. In reality the cross sectional area may be increasing linearly.

This design certainly sets Hitachi apart from Siemens and Alstom.

I understand it to be for the benefit of tunnels, balanced with the general aerodynamic requirements. When any train enters a tunnel a shock wave travels down the tunnel at the speed of sound. The intensity of the shock wave depends on the displacement of air by the vehicle and the speed of that vehicle - the speed variable being square and the displacement variable cubic. Hence the shock wave gets quite huge at shinkansen speeds. This type of nose is designed to mitigate the intensity of the shock wave as it enters the tunnel, same with the duck-billed Spanish train. I don't really understand exactly why the shock wave is that much of a problem.

To back up what I just said, here's a vid of shinkansen coming out of a short tunnel, probably about 150 metres long, you can really here the shock especially at 0.38

<object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/nHSyLapG4ZE&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/nHSyLapG4ZE&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>

Only RESPECT FOR THE BESTS :applause:, the BIRTHPLACE of High Speed Trains and for the country that leads the railway technology ...
JR (East-West-Central-Kyushu) RULES !
Shinkansen FOR EVER !

^^ Ok now you're just getting annoying.

^^I can' t understand where is your problem.
Isn' t Japan the birthplace of High Speed Trains or they aren't the leading nation in railway technology ?

^^ care to explain why are they "the leading nation in railway technology"? And even being the birthplace of high speed rail is debatable; before WW2, Europe operated trains that reached 200km/h in short sections

Only RESPECT FOR THE BESTS :applause:, the BIRTHPLACE of High Speed Trains and for the country that leads the railway technology ...
JR (East-West-Central-Kyushu) RULES !
Shinkansen FOR EVER !

^^ Fanboyism RULEITINGUE!!!! :lol:

High Speed Train = exclusive name of the british IC125 ... aka "the HST"

Same as the TGV is exclusive to the Alstom/SNCF (and others) Train a Grand Vitesse

Shinkansen travelled at a mere 220(?)km/h when it was launched ... other routes had managed to attain the same level of speeds even BEFORE WW2 had started ... :cheers:

Its a great achievement nonetheless ...

You Portuguese are very funny ...:bash:
Where is your problem with the Japanese ?
They operated the FIRST HIGH SPEED TRAIN in the world, and i don' t care if you like this or not.

The railway technology (http://www.railway-technology.com/projects/shinkansen/) says the obvious:
Japan is where regular, high-speed railways were born.
I am sorry but the German and French products (ICE-TGV) came much much later ...

In the present day if they haven' t the strict regulations with the noise they could operate in 405 km/h with the Fastech 360Z.
They hold the world railway record with their Maglev ...
I think this is enough.
Sorry about your Bombardier and Siemens trains but this is the truth.
Not to mention the British wich had steam locomotives when Japanese had Shinkansens ...:lol:

^^ I've already said before that I think that the Japanese Shinkansen is "the best" but you're really annoying. People are allowed to have their opinions but you carry on as if Japan is the only place in the world worth talking about.

The Japanese system was the first to use dedicated tracks for a dedicated system. This was not because they were in any way ingenious about this - they had to because the existing system was shit before WW2 and had been bombed during it. A dedicated high speed railway was more of an accident too, as originally the new line was also intended for freight use which proved impractical in the event.

Siemens, Bombardier and Alstom are all producing very high quality technologies that are not inferior to their Japanese counterparts, but instead have certain other strengths - which is not surprising considering the manufacturers designed them that way. If Alstom had had a contract for a Shinkansen type train, they could have developed and built it, just as Hitatchi could probably have built an RFF compatible TGV.

Can you not see how your posts read like the "mine is bigger than yours" type nonsense?

If Alstom had had a contract for a Shinkansen type train, they could have developed and built it, just as Hitatchi could probably have built an RFF compatible TGV.
Indeed, Hitachi is building Class 395 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Class_395) trains for fast commuter services using High Speed 1 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Speed_1), aka the Channel Tunnel Rail Link. The CTRL follows French technical standards for high-speed lines and uses French signalling systems.

I think it's not so much what you say but the way you say it. Talking like an avid chav who has taken a little too much burberry with their tea for breakfast.

People here like to talk properly. At least, I like to.... :cheers:

Siemens, Bombardier and Alstom are all producing very high quality technologies that are not inferior to their Japanese counterparts, but instead have certain other strengths - which is not surprising considering the manufacturers designed them that way. If Alstom had had a contract for a Shinkansen type train, they could have developed and built it, just as Hitatchi could probably have built an RFF compatible TGV.

Can you not see how your posts read like the "mine is bigger than yours" type nonsense?
I didn' t want to enter the discussion because i suppose people can read the technical specs of the trains (it appears that you can't or you don' t want).
Do you want to compare same age TGVs and Shinkansens to see that the TGVs uses DC engines (when Shinkansens have Asynchronous), have powered ONLY the two cars at the each end of the composition ?
Not to mention that the Japanese have in some Types of Shinkansens motors in ALL the bogies ...
What else do you want to compare to end with the conclusion that Shinkansens are better than the European trains ?
Even the Velaro (which are real EMUs) do not have the engines which have the Shinkansens (i think they have only 3 of 6 carriages with motors).
In which section the Europeans are betters ?
You speak but you don' t mention NOTHING ...
In your question:
Hitachi and Kawasaki could make TGVs but Alstom i don' think that it can make Shinkansens (until recently).
The reason is the technology that i mentioned above.

I didn' t want to enter the discussion because i suppose people can read the technical specs of the trains (it appears that you can't or you don' t want).
Do you want to compare same age TGVs and Shinkansens to see that the TGVs uses DC engines (when Shinkansens have Asynchronous), have powered ONLY the two cars at the each end of the composition ?

Wrong - TGVs have ac traction motors. In fact French electric trains have used AC motors since around about the 50s - I believe they started experimenting with in the late 40s (The only reason the British didn't use AC motors for our West Cost route was that at the end of the 50s we had little development experience with it but loads with DC so it was decided to have reliable development over long term cost benefits). So - a/c motors are not that special and in fact I believe the French beat the Japanese to this. When the development of asynchronus came in or whether that's the same or different to 3-phase ac motors and without a slipring design I don't know, but it's irrelevent to your assertion.

http://www.trainweb.org/tgvpages/motrice.html
Synchronous AC traction motor: the motor is excited at a frequency proportional to its rotational speed. There is no collector as on DC motors, which allows a reduction of wear and maintenance costs. (Note: the synchronous AC traction motor is different from asynchronous AC (induction) traction motor. Whereas the latter has a simple cage rotor with no power connections, the synchronous motor has rotor coils fed through slip rings.) In an unusual arrangement considered to be one of the TGV design's strong points, the traction motors are slung from the vehicle body, instead of being an integral part of the Y230 power truck (bogie). This substantially lightens the mass of the truck (each motor weighs 1460 kg), giving it a critical speed far higher than 300 km/h (186 mph) and exceptional tracking stability. The traction motors are still located where one would expect them: in between the truck (bogie) frames, level with the axles, but just suspended differently. Each motor can develop 1100 kW (when power comes from 25kV overhead) and can spin at a maximum rate of 4000 rpm.

Not to mention that the Japanese have in some Types of Shinkansens motors in ALL the bogies ...

And do you know why? To increase efficiency and track maintenance costs the French decided to articulate as many bogies as they could - but that meant not having motor equipment in most of the cars otherwise the weight of the axles would have gone over 19 tons, which was another limit they set to avoid excessive track maintenance. So, they used non-articulated locomotives, but they also motored the non-articulated end axle of the leading and last trainlers, the ones next to the locos, to distribute the weight from teh locos, again to maintain the 19 ton per axle rule.

So, why didn't they use distributed power? (although two of the trailer cars are motored so it's sort of distributed anyway) - It's because they designed to a completely different concept. As it happens the company that builds TGVs builds distributed power trains also - the Pendolinos. It has also just started the AGV, which has distributed power AND articulated bogies - this puts it technologically ahead of any Shinkansen in terms of noise, wear and tear, and eloquent design.

Onto the ICE3 - fully distributed power throughout it's 8 cars so you need to check your facts. Besides, I really don't see what you're point is about some of the cars not being powered - why haul around the (costly) equipment if it isn't needed? Irrelevent though as the ICE3 is fully distributed.

What else do you want to compare to end with the conclusion that Shinkansens are better than the European trains ?
Even the Velaro (which are real EMUs) do not have the engines which have the Shinkansens (i think they have only 3 of 6 carriages with motors).
In which section the Europeans are betters ?
You speak but you don' t mention NOTHING ...
In your question:
Hitachi and Kawasaki could make TGVs but Alstom i don' think that it can make Shinkansens (until recently).
The reason is the technology that i mentioned above.

You are obviously so misinforemed - you need to take off those rose-tinted spectacles. Other reasons why the Europeans are ahead of the Shinkansen is by necessity - TGVs and ICE and many others have to operate on many different power supplies as well as signalling systems.

Onto the ICE3 - fully distributed power throughout it's 8 cars so you need to check your facts. Besides, I really don't see what you're point is about some of the cars not being powered - why haul around the (costly) equipment if it isn't needed? Irrelevent though as the ICE3 is fully distributed.
WRONG.
Here are my facts (http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0BQQ/is_10_42/ai_99512029) ...
In Siemens Velaro ONLY 50% of the bogies are powered.
The distributed traction equipment--50% of all axles are driven--make it possible to fully leverage the adhesion coefficient on track gradients of up to 2.5%.
Now what to tell you ? How much important is to have ALL your bogies powered when you have the geography of Japan ?


Other reasons why the Europeans are ahead of the Shinkansen is by necessity - TGVs and ICE and many others have to operate on many different power supplies as well as signalling systems.
This is ridiculous ...
The Japanese don' t have the need to build trains to operate in different voltages and signalling systems.
Which TGVs have ac motors ? You have to specified. The early TGVs have DC motors.
Here is why is this important:
http://www.railfaneurope.net/tgv/images/wrecks/psefire.jpg

Look the cockpits from same ages (mid 90's) trains:
TGV Duplex
http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/fr/electric/emu/TGV/Duplex/cab%2Binterior/TGVDuplex-Cab1.jpg
Type 500
http://web-japan.org/kidsweb/archives/news/97-2/shinkansen-2.gif

Next time elfabyanos dont' be so sure and before all don't be so ironic.

WRONG.
Here are my facts (http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0BQQ/is_10_42/ai_99512029) ...
In Siemens Velaro ONLY 50% of the bogies are powered.
The distributed traction equipment--50% of all axles are driven--make it possible to fully leverage the adhesion coefficient on track gradients of up to 2.5%.
Now what to tell you ? How much important is to have ALL your bogies powered when you have the geography of Japan ?

My mistake. You're original point was that this made Shinkansen superior. ICE3 can deal with 2.5% gradients. Why don't you instead explain why Shinkansen's power design makes it better? Even the series 500 has basically the same power output as an ICE3 for a similar length vehicle. The traction being a factor of axle weight and power - how does this figure? I still don't get what you're trying to say.

This is ridiculous ...
The Japanese don' t have the need to build trains to operate in different voltages and signalling systems.Exactly - just as ridiculous as your point about distributed power. Needs must and where there isn't a need....

Which TGVs have ac motors ? You have to specified. The early TGVs have DC motors.
Here is why is this important:
http://www.railfaneurope.net/tgv/images/wrecks/psefire.jpg


Ok yes, the first batch had DC motors, from 1985 onwards they had AC motors. The earlier ones were rebuilt to the same standard as the others later. Can I ask WTF is the picture about? If you had any clue about what you were talking about you would know that the reason why ac motors are important is because they are more efficient and you don't need to have a 1 ton rectifier built in to the vehicle.

Look the cockpits from same ages (mid 90's) trains:
TGV Duplex
http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/fr/electric/emu/TGV/Duplex/cab%2Binterior/TGVDuplex-Cab1.jpg
Type 500
http://web-japan.org/kidsweb/archives/news/97-2/shinkansen-2.gif

Next time elfabyanos dont' be so sure and before all don't be so ironic.

Ok you win the argument with those pictures :nuts:

Why don't you not be so sure instead? The only reason why I'm arguing with you is because of your righteous attitude. I've already told you TWICE that I think Shinkansen is the best high speed railway network in the world. But I'm not a fool and I know there is some good stuff from France and Germany.

It's really senseless to argue which train is "better" as long as there's no agreement about what exactly makes a train "good" or "bad".

In another thread JR-Fan wrote about the Shinkansen's higher capacity and its rotatable seats (among other things) as something that made it a superior train. He probably won't attach any value to features of other trains that are not shared or topped by the Shinkansen.

Another problem with comparing these trains is that they're all build for different type of networks with different specifics. Some good points of the Shinkansen might not be good for the German high speed network and vise versa. The only way to compare them is to look if they do good what they are supposed to do.

And calling Japan the leading nation in railway technology only based on High Speed Rail technology is a bit senseless. Modern freight locomotives are also very technologically advanced and the German Bombardier Traxx and Siemens Eurosprinter locomotives are simply better then their Japanese counterparts.

@JR-fan, why don't I ever see you in the mass transit thread in the Japan sub-forum?


As a bonus a picture taken by me of a 700 series in Kyoto station leaving for Shin Osaka.

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/momo1435/IMG_5991.jpg

@Momo1435: It's 700 series in the picture, not 500 :)

I've been reading this discussion from the very beginning and I agree that it's pointless, but mayby let's just all agree that Japan is the leading country in railway technology just to please JR-fan :D

I didn' t want to enter the discussion because i suppose people can read the technical specs of the trains (it appears that you can't or you don' t want).
Do you want to compare same age TGVs and Shinkansens to see that the TGVs uses DC engines (when Shinkansens have Asynchronous), have powered ONLY the two cars at the each end of the composition ?
Not to mention that the Japanese have in some Types of Shinkansens motors in ALL the bogies ...
What else do you want to compare to end with the conclusion that Shinkansens are better than the European trains ?
Even the Velaro (which are real EMUs) do not have the engines which have the Shinkansens (i think they have only 3 of 6 carriages with motors).
In which section the Europeans are betters ?
You speak but you don' t mention NOTHING ...
In your question:
Hitachi and Kawasaki could make TGVs but Alstom i don' think that it can make Shinkansens (until recently).
The reason is the technology that i mentioned above.

lol rubbish. We are not talking about technology of the past but the ones apply today, and as far as I know the TGV is the safest and the fatest TRAIN in the world. As for the maglev, if you want to talk about the TECHNICAL ASPECT well, it's even not a train ! ! !

I also really would like to see hitachi and kawasaki make a tgv, the Japanese still have some problems to find some solutions with the shinkansens to improve the speed , the confort, and the safety of this train , while the TGV standards are now far above.

About history, in 1967 when the japanese train was launched the train could push till 210 km/h, in the meantime, a lot of european trains (from germany, UK and France) could go to 200 km/h. So , frankly, I don't think we really could speak of high speed.... the technology used by the shinkansen was nontheless very good and finally was the begninng of the fastest trains.

Another problem with comparing these trains is that they're all build for different type of networks with different specifics. Some good points of the Shinkansen might not be good for the German high speed network and vise versa. The only way to compare them is to look if they do good what they are supposed to do.

And calling Japan the leading nation in railway technology only based on High Speed Rail technology is a bit senseless. Modern freight locomotives are also very technologically advanced and the German Bombardier Traxx and Siemens Eurosprinter locomotives are simply better then their Japanese counterparts.

@JR-fan, why don't I ever see you in the mass transit thread in the Japan sub-forum?


As a bonus a picture taken by me of a 500 series in Kyoto station leaving for Shin Osaka.

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/momo1435/IMG_5991.jpg

Very good, excepted that Bombardier is canadian, not german :)

My mistake. You're original point was that this made Shinkansen superior. ICE3 can deal with 2.5% gradients. Why don't you instead explain why Shinkansen's power design makes it better? Even the series 500 has basically the same power output as an ICE3 for a similar length vehicle. The traction being a factor of axle weight and power - how does this figure? I still don't get what you're trying to say.
I said that the geography in Japan forced their engineers to look for more complex solutions in the same problems.
OF COURSE the need to have ALL the bogies powered increases radically the cost.
For example Type 500 is the most expensive EMU in the world with the cost of around 50 millions$.
Additionally the problem that Japanese have with earthquake forced them to have automated systems that cuts the power when it detect an earthquake.
All this are facts that don' t have Germans and France.



Ok yes, the first batch had DC motors, from 1985 onwards they had AC motors. The earlier ones were rebuilt to the same standard as the others later. Can I ask WTF is the picture about? If you had any clue about what you were talking about you would know that the reason why ac motors are important is because they are more efficient and you don't need to have a 1 ton rectifier built in to the vehicle.
The pic show the problem with heat that have ALL the DC motors.
If you have a clue then you must know it.


Why don't you not be so sure instead? The only reason why I'm arguing with you is because of your righteous attitude. I've already told you TWICE that I think Shinkansen is the best high speed railway network in the world. But I'm not a fool and I know there is some good stuff from France and Germany.
The pictures show how is MMI (Man Machine Interface) in the TGVs and in the Shinkansens.That' all.
I agree with you that there is some not only good but EXCELLENT stuff from France and Germany, but I am a fan of the Japanese trains (look my nick:)).
I don' t understand why anyone could have a problem with that.


And calling Japan the leading nation in railway technology only based on High Speed Rail technology is a bit senseless. Modern freight locomotives are also very technologically advanced and the German Bombardier Traxx and Siemens Eurosprinter locomotives are simply better then their Japanese counterparts.
:okay:
I agree with you. In freight locomotives the Europeans are better than the Japanese and you probably know why.
When I speak about Japanese superiority I talk about High Speed Trains and this is my opinion.

@JR-fan, why don't I ever see you in the mass transit thread in the Japan sub-forum?
You can see that my English is not very good.
Of course I read your (and TRZ) posts there ...:okay:
In the other hand if in Japan sub-forum write peoples that are fans of Japanese trains and don't have to make arguments like here I' ll be glad to take part.:banana2:


As a bonus a picture taken by me of a 500 series in Kyoto station leaving for Shin Osaka.

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/momo1435/IMG_5991.jpg
:okay: THANKS for the excellent Type 700 ...

@caserass
Everybody know the facts of TGVs.
But you must accept that the France is more more better for High Speed Trains than mountainous Japan.
Personally after Japan i admire the Frenchs and their TGV ...

You Portuguese are very funny ...:bash:
Where is your problem with the Japanese ?
They operated the FIRST HIGH SPEED TRAIN in the world, and i don' t care if you like this or not.

The railway technology (http://www.railway-technology.com/projects/shinkansen/) says the obvious:
Japan is where regular, high-speed railways were born.
I am sorry but the German and French products (ICE-TGV) came much much later ...

In the present day if they haven' t the strict regulations with the noise they could operate in 405 km/h with the Fastech 360Z.
They hold the world railway record with their Maglev ...
I think this is enough.
Sorry about your Bombardier and Siemens trains but this is the truth.
Not to mention the British wich had steam locomotives when Japanese had Shinkansens ...:lol:

Define "high speed" ... a 200km/h train is reluctantly called a high sperd train by trainluvers nowadays ... :ohno:

In EU it's above 200km/h (above 250km/h for new lines)
In the Americas it's above 145km/h (and bombardier cames from the Canuck land and not europe) :bash:

But "historicaly" the move from conventional to high speed railway lines is decides on the basis of saturation of the conventional routes and not the braging achievements ... japanese just happened to have their main line saturated first ... shame on you. :bash:

Unmanned rocket sleds that ride on rails have reached over 10,400 km/h (6,462 mph), equivalent to Mach 8.5. The fastest manned rail vehicle is a manned rocket sled, that travelled at 1,017 km/h (635 mph).

^^ HS Trains and MAglevs are SLOW vehicles indeed. :ohno:

FYIO (if you don't know what it means: "for your information only")

Canada (the land of Bombardier)
United Aircraft Turbo train = 200km/h in the 60's
Via Rail = 200km/h DIESEL trains sinse the 70's
- electric HS trains not needed since the BIGGEST country on earth as LESS population than tokyo :lol:
- daily lifes run happily in 900km/h Bombardier AIRPLANES over there (3x faster than your shinkansen hein) :cheers:

Italy
electric EMU's started running at 200km/h in 1937 :bash:

Germany
diesel emu at 205km/h

^^ during the 60's a speed of 200km/h was usual in most main lines all over europe. :ohno:

Until the 1972 oil crisis almost nowhere on earth was electric traction seen as necessary ... :ohno:

Don't compare a comuter stile corridor like tokyo-osaka with other less populated routes. :lol:

I said that the geography in Japan forced their engineers to look for more complex solutions in the same problems.
OF COURSE the need to have ALL the bogies powered increases radically the cost.
For example Type 500 is the most expensive EMU in the world with the cost of around 50 millions$.
Additionally the problem that Japanese have with earthquake forced them to have automated systems that cuts the power when it detect an earthquake.
All this are facts that don' t have Germans and France.



The pic show the problem with heat that have ALL the DC motors.
If you have a clue then you must know it.


The pictures show how is MMI (Man Machine Interface) in the TGVs and in the Shinkansens.That' all.
I agree with you that there is some not only good but EXCELLENT stuff from France and Germany, but I am a fan of the Japanese trains (look my nick:)).
I don' t understand why anyone could have a problem with that.


:okay:
I agree with you. In freight locomotives the Europeans are better than the Japanese and you probably know why.
When I speak about Japanese superiority I talk about High Speed Trains and this is my opinion.

You can see that my English is not very good.
Of course I read your (and TRZ) posts there ...:okay:
In the other hand if in Japan sub-forum write peoples that are fans of Japanese trains and don't have to make arguments like here I' ll be glad to take part.:banana2:


:okay: THANKS for the excellent Type 700 ...

@caserass
Everybody know the facts of TGVs.
But you must accept that the France is more more better for High Speed Trains than mountainous Japan.
Personally after Japan i admire the Frenchs and their TGV ...

^^ Here in calm portugal (in the other tip of the eurasia tectonic) we have lots os earthquakes also ... It seems our construction is better than yours ...

And FYIO we get some 100 quakes (of lower than 5 in richter scale) a month here ... 1 or 2 over 5 every month to make our life more interesting ... some say we are due another 9 any day.


Most HSL in europe are more tunel and viaduct than flat running ... so Japan is no different in that also ... :ohno:

You Portuguese are very funny ...:bash:
Where is your problem with the Japanese ?
They operated the FIRST HIGH SPEED TRAIN in the world, and i don' t care if you like this or not.

The railway technology (http://www.railway-technology.com/projects/shinkansen/) says the obvious:
Japan is where regular, high-speed railways were born.
I am sorry but the German and French products (ICE-TGV) came much much later ...

^^ god bless it's not wikipedia (every time I read it I have to correct some missinformation) :ohno:

You are claiming that they are the BEST ... not the first ... and they are neither one or the other ...

1st came the italians and germans with their luxurious trains of the 30's at 200km/h

the best are those that take you from megalopolis to megalopolis ah high speeds in confort and then let you in a tiny vacation place in some remote little town ... :lol:

In the present day if they haven' t the strict regulations with the noise they could operate in 405 km/h with the Fastech 360Z.
They hold the world railway record with their Maglev ...
I think this is enough.
Sorry about your Bombardier and Siemens trains but this is the truth.
Not to mention the British wich had steam locomotives when Japanese had Shinkansens ...:lol:

... and if pigs had wing they could fly ... if ... if ... bah!!! :bash:

the ONLY world record with a maglev that matters to anyone is the shangai one ... since that is the only one that is actualy in revenue service.

Or you only count the standards where shinkansen/japan shines over the others ???

:ohno:

@Momo1435: It's 700 series in the picture, not 500
Oops :wallbash:

Look the cockpits from same ages (mid 90's) trains:
I would imagine that the TGV Duplex cockpit was designed to be similar to older TGV models, so that drivers could switch over without retraining.

By the way, TRAXX (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRAXX) locomotives are made by the German branch of Bombardier, formerly ADtranz, and development began before Bombardier acquired the business.

Type 500
http://web-japan.org/kidsweb/archives/news/97-2/shinkansen-2.gif

Nice picture, you can see where Taito got the idea for the Densha de Go Shinkansen controller from!

http://www.kebabselector.co.uk/ghz/densha2.jpg

....HOW MANY GAMES HAVE YOU GOT THERE??

2 game cubes, I can see a SNES, and is that Playstation as well?

Looks like there's a Genesis and an Xbox too.

I happened to watch a documentary about the experimental Fastech in NHK world. I think I heard that in one of the experiments, the Fastech, while travelling at 300kph, needs 3.8 km of rail to stop completely, without any awkward sensation inside the train(being thrown to the front). It is like an airplane, that needs long runway for landing. Good things is, trains like Fastech, consider both speed and comfort in travel, whereas other commuter trains would not bother to see if the passengers already have their faces sticking on the glass while braking.

According to, I think, the Wikipedia article for Shinkansen, any speed increases on the current Shinkansen network is "too fast." It's because at those speeds there is excessive track and catenary wear. In a way, we've reached the current limit of railway speeds, unless a way to counter the wear is found and economical to introduce. Unfortunately, the next evolution, maglev, is cost prohibitive as well. I think JR Central's plan to build one from Nagoya to Tokyo is preposterous, as it will cost (currently) $25 billion dollars and won't even extend all the way to Kansai.

Nevertheless, Japan's current system is quite good and already quite fast, so the need for higher speeds isn't really needed. Now if they could expand the network a bit and lower those ticket prices, that would be great:). And more importantly, they should work on marketing Shinkansen technology to other countries. They'd get some revenue out of it and be able to experiment more as well; in way, they could out source the development of Shinkansen technology, lowering costs and speeding up development. They are starting to do this, but it's taken along time (introduced in 1964 and only recently they start to take the technology abroad?)

According to, I think, the Wikipedia article for Shinkansen, any speed increases on the current Shinkansen network is "too fast." It's because at those speeds there is excessive track and catenary wear. In a way, we've reached the current limit of railway speeds, unless a way to counter the wear is found and economical to introduce.

Nevertheless, Japan's current system is quite good and already quite fast, so the need for higher speeds isn't really needed.

The Fastech production trains will run at 320km/h from 2011 rather than the originally planned 360 km/h, which bears out your point that high speed has to be economically viable.

JR Central started construction of Maglev. On the other hand, JR East aims at the speedup of the Shinkansen. but the leading role of the high speed railway will be Maglev.

Is Shinkansen faster than the TGV?

No.

cant see the pics! :(

It feels so disappointing for Japan.

The Fastech 360 will only operate at 320km/h, while the French with the AGV, as well as the Siemens Velaro (which is running at 350km/h in China and soon Spain) will operate at considerably higher speeds.

cant see the pics! :(
ditto :(

Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd., Japan's largest maker of rail cars, will develop trains able to run as fast as 350 kilometers (217 miles) an hour, aiming to win orders from the U.S., Brazil and emerging markets.

The efSET, as the new train will be called, will use the Shinkansen high-speed technology and be ready by March 2010, Kobe, Japan-based Kawasaki Heavy said today in a faxed statement. The maximum speed of the trains running on the Shinkansen, a network of high-speed railway lines in Japan, is 300 kilometers an hour.

Kawasaki Heavy will seek contracts as developed and emerging economies build 10,000 kilometers of high-speed rail links in the next 20 years, according to the statement.

　川崎重工は、新型高速鉄道車両「ｅｆＳＥＴ（イーエフセット）※」の開発に着手することを決定しました。今回の新型高速鉄道車両の自社開発は、世界市場に照準を合わせた自主的な車両開発であり、これまで国内外で展開してきた案件毎の車両開発とは異なる全く新しい取り組みで、高速鉄道車両の分野では、日本の鉄道車両メーカーとして初めての取り組みになります。

　今回当社が開発する高速鉄道車両は、営業運転速度３５０ｋｍ／ｈを実現するとともに、これまで国内の新幹線車両の設計で培った乗客の快適性向上や周辺環境への負荷低減を実現する技術を適用した新型車両で、２００９年度末までに開発を完了する予定です。

　当社は、１９６４年に営業運転を開始した０系新幹線から、最新鋭の新幹線車両に至る国内向け新幹線車両の設計・製造に永く携わってきた鉄道車両メーカーであり、高速鉄道車両の設計・製造に関する豊富な実績およびノウハウを有しています。また、当社は２００４年に台湾高速鉄道向け７００Ｔ型車両、２００６年に中国鉄道部向けＣＲＨ２型車両を納入した実績を有し、これら車両の良好な運行実績からアジア地域における高速鉄道車両市場での基礎を築いてきました。

　鉄道車両は温暖化ガス排出量が少ない大量輸送手段として、世界的に重要性が見直されており、都市間移動の主要交通手段として高速鉄道の導入が世界的に検討されつつあります。現在、アメリカ、ブラジル、ロシア、インド、ベトナムなどの国々が高速鉄道の具体的な新規建設計画を進め、世界中で今後２０年程度の期間で１０，０００ｋｍ前後の高速鉄道路線が増設される予定であり、これに応じた高速鉄道車両の需要が見込まれています。

　こうした市場環境のもと、欧州の鉄道車両メーカーも自社開発の高速鉄道車両の開発・市場投入を進めており、当社は欧州列強との競争に勝ち切り、世界市場での受注を獲得するためには、世界基準に沿った自社開発の高速鉄道車両が必要と判断し、今回の開発を決断しました。開発に際しては、国内鉄道事業者ならびに国内外の機器・部品メーカーからの協力を得ながら、ユーザーフレンドリーで信頼性の高い高速鉄道車両開発を進める予定です。

　当社は、今回の新型高速鉄道車両の開発を機に、今後も鉄道車両ビジネスの拡大および収益力向上を実現していくとともに、より快適で優れた交通手段の提供を通じて世界規模で社会に貢献していきます。

http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/3159/2008091100000023maipbusjr5.jpg

just ads it happened with cars HS trains also become look a likes... pity.

OSAKA--The 0 Series Shinkansen, the original model that debuted with the opening of the Shinkansen network in 1964, will be retired from service in mid-December, having made a lasting impression on the imagination of the public and on the lives of the people who worked on them.

Regular operations of the 0 Series Shinkansen, which currently run daily on the West Japan Railway Co.'s Sanyo Shinkansen line between Osaka and Fukuoka, will conclude at the end of November.

By that time, 0 Series trains will have traveled a combined total distance equivalent to 30,000 times the circumference of the Earth.

The 0 Series is scheduled to run for a further three days in mid-December so that passengers can bid farewell to the engineering landmark.

"The thought of not seeing the trains run again makes me feel sad," says Kiyoshi Tamura, a vice chief at the JR West Hakata Shinkansen train yard in Nakagawamachi, Fukuoka Prefecture, who has been involved in the repair and design of Shinkansen trains since joining the firm--then Japanese National Railways--in 1978.

Tamura, 55, will retire next spring, just months after the 0 Series ferries its final passengers.

Unlike modern aluminum-constructed trains, the steel-constructed 0 Series models are prone to corrosion, with rainwater causing rust to form on the cars.

"Sometimes passengers have claimed that rainwater [leaking through holes] got into their bento boxes. The trains need frequent repair work, and strange noises occur if we don't take care of them," Tamura said.

Tamura's former duties also involved controlling the air pressure inside the cars. The Sanyo Shinkansen line, running between Shin-Osaka Station in Osaka and Hakata Station in Fukuoka, passes through a series of tunnels, and passengers can experience discomfort in their ears if the air pressure is not sufficiently maintained.

He said, "I had to stay alert for the slightest gaps in window seals and other places." To Tamura, the 0 Series was "a child that caused a lot of trouble."

On the day of the 0 Series' final run, however, Tamura will stand at his favorite viewing spot, a place he discovered in Yamaguchi Prefecture, so he will be able to forever recall the sight of the 0 Series speeding by.

One former Shinkansen worker who was initially less sentimental about the trains is Terunobu Utsunomiya, 58, now the acting director of the Kyushu Railway History Museum in Kitakyushu. He admits that, when he first worked on the 0 Series Shinkansen as a dining car staffer, he was not particularly fond of the trains.

"I felt that the 0 Series didn't capture the romance of travel and that it didn't have the relaxed atmosphere of other express trains," he said.

His feelings prompted him to resign from his post, but after the more modern 100 Series made its debut, Utsunomiya had a change of heart and developed an affection for the 0 Series.

He returned to work on the 0 Series, and served there as the dining car chief from 1991 to 1995, when the service was removed from 0 Series trains.

At that time, the country was enjoying the last days of the bubble economy, and the Shinkansen's seats were full of workers on business trips. Utsunomiya recalls: "The bento boxes we made in the dining car were snapped up. I even got an extra bonus!"

The job was no piece of cake, though. Utsunomiya had to remain standing throughout the journey, as the train shook and trembled. By the end of his shift, his knees would be shaking with fatigue.

"Both I and the 0 Series worked hard," he said.

Utsunomiya hopes one of the 0 Series trains will be added to the exhibits at the Kitakyushu museum, to sit alongside its JNR steam locomotive and other precious railway memorabilia.

"I'd like to care for the weary train cars that have been running for so long," he says. :cry:
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20081118TDY04301.htm
http://img246.imageshack.us/img246/9536/img3de33aa4zikdzjav4.jpg

iOCSj9dBv9Y

Sad news. I hope they will preserve some of them in museums

Hopefully some sets will be donated to technic museums around the world.

This was not only the 1st dedicated high speed trains, they're also the 1st series of High Speed Train that goes into retirement. A well deserved retirement for these pioneers of highspeed rail travel after 44 years of active duty. Right now with the N700, already the 5th generation of Shinkansen doing it's runs on the Tokaido Shinkansen (0 -> 300 -> 500 -> 700 -> N700) continuing the legend.

さよなら新幹線0系電車

Congratulation for honorable retirement.

JR 0 series special section (http://www.jr-odekake.net/navi/shinkansen/0kei/) : This section have many interesting contents about 0 series.

http://www.jr-odekake.net/navi/shinkansen/0kei/img/yume_800_600.jpg

Series 0 is the mother of all bullet train in japan. Is a legacy and a memory foreever.
Bye series0.

We miss you so much.

Sad news. I hope they will preserve some of them in museums
They could donate them to poor countries...
;)

:lol: :lol:

I wonder if anyone on this forum is going to ride the memorial run of the O-kei Shinkansen scheduled on Dec 15(?) this year.
I heard the seats were all sold out after 5 minutes in start of sales.:lol:

sad news... but 1964 train is really old...
farewell 0 series...:hi:

44 years is quite long to serve, so it did a good job. Bye bye 0 series :)

if you compare it with airliners you'll understand how marvelous this piece of engineering is.
It is older than the original A300,Lockheed L-1011 TriStar, 737, DC-9 or the 747.
:)

Hopefully some sets will be donated to technic museums around the world.

Yes, there is already one in the UK.

http://www.nrm.org.uk/exhibitions/shinkansen/start.asp


http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/e/e9/NRM_Shinkansen.jpg/800px-NRM_Shinkansen.jpg

They could donate them to poor countries...
;)

Or donate them to the US. :lol:

These trains are absolute icons, nothing short of engineering marvels of the time. Japan paved the way for high speed passenger rail and the whole of the world has them to thank.

I'm sure they'll be missed, but progress is still a good thing as they are getting a little old now.

It's amazing that they're only now retiring them, it's testament to how good the engineering was. Incredible machines!

remember that the '0-series' Shinkansen were still being built until 1986. Even so by Shinkansen terms where the trains have a normal lifespan of 15 years these final machines are quite old at 22 years old. There are many '100-series' Shinkansen which have already been retired and the remaining now only form short 4-6 car workings as Kodama trains on the Sanyo Shinkansen only.

Or donate them to the US. :lol:
I think the US would prefer a few old HST 125s; electrification would be expensive, and the old Shinkansens are not particularly fast by today's standards (220 kph compared to 200 kph for the 125 - about the same as the world record for a steam train).
I don't know how shinkansens would cope on mixed-traffic lines

Rse

I think the US would prefer a few old HST 125s; electrification would be expensive, and the old Shinkansens are not particularly fast by today's standards (220 kph compared to 200 kph for the 125 - about the same as the world record for a steam train).
I don't know how shinkansens would cope on mixed-traffic lines

Rse

Yeah, I guess the Americans would like something newer than the old 0-series which start building in 1964 while the Intercity 125 only began production in 1975.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/InterCity_125

Japanese Google...
http://www.google.co.jp/logos/shinkansen.gif

First model of Japan's bullet train runs for final time
14 December 2008
Agence France Presse

The first ever model of Japan's world-famous bullet train Sunday enjoyed its farewell run, its operator said, 44 years after it transformed overland travel.

The first bullet trains -- known as the Shinkansen in Japan -- were rolled out to the world's awe for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics as one of the symbolic events to mark the nation's recovery from the ashes of World War II.

The first model, the zero-kei (zero-series), was called the "dream superexpress", and attracted legions of train fanatics around the globe.

As technology progressed, so did the bullet trains, becoming lighter and faster, with the latest N700-series running as fast as 300 kilometres (186 miles) per hour.

The zero-series, which runs at 220 kph, was pulled from commercial service in late November before the symbolic last run on Sunday, operator West Japan Railway Co. said.

Another bullet train operator, Central Japan Railway Co., hopes to put magnetically levitated trains into operation by 2025 as a successor to the bullet trains.

The planned maglev line would whisk passengers from Tokyo to central Nagoya at more than 500 kph.

Computer glitch disrupts Japan's bullet trains
29 December 2008
Agence France Presse

Services on dozens of Japan's bullet trains were disrupted Monday due to a computer glitch, delaying more than 65,000 passengers during the busy New Year's season, the operator said.

East Japan Railway Co. halted five lines of the bullet train in northeastern Japan for three hours before restarting them, a company spokesman said.

"We had a problem with our operating system and an investigation is under way," the spokesman said.

A total of 79 services were cancelled and 37 others were delayed, affecting 65,400 passengers in the morning.

The trouble came a day after heavy snow and strong winds separately forced the company to suspend 35 bullet train services, also in eastern and northern Japan, affecting more than 30,000 passengers.

New Year's Day is the most important holiday for many Japanese, who pack trains and planes as they travel across the country to spend time with loved ones.

The bullet train -- or Shinkansen -- was introduced as the world's fastest rail service in the run-up to the 1964 Tokyo Summer Olympics, showcasing Japan's technological prowess as it rebuilt from World War II.

Shinkansen is by far the best trains I have seen.

They all look and function great.

Hope JR East improve the stability of computer system & Signal system.
I know JR East is planning to upgrade the existing signal system to (Distance-to-go) mode.

It may increase the line capacity and shorten journey time.


Japanese shinkansen, is the best HSR system I have ever seen.

　ＪＲ東日本は３日、２０１３年春に東北新幹線で時速３２０キロ運転を始める新型車（Ｅ５系）のデザインを発表した。現在、１０両編成の量産先行車を製造中で、今年夏から試運転を始める。

　新型車は上半分を緑、下を白、中央にピンクのラインで塗装し、「未来を感じさせる先進的なイメージとスピード感」を表したという。シートや内装は茶や赤など暖色系でまとめた。

　設計費を含めると、１編成が４５億円。１５年度までに計５９本を投入する。

　東北新幹線は１０年１２月、現在の八戸から新青森まで延伸される。新型車は１１年春から営業運転を始めるが、当初は国内最高タイの時速３００キロで走行する。３２０キロ運転になれば、東京―新青森間は最速３時間５分で結ばれる。

http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/2176/trd0902031814012l1sz1.jpg

http://kentvedemiryolu.com/icerik.php?id=460

There is a photo showin a bullet train calling at historic Kyoto station

^^ I wouldn't call Kyoto's station historical.

~~~~~~~
And the E5, wow it will take some time to get used to, it's like an extreme version of the N700. Luckily this summer the 1st trail runs will start, I want to see how it looks for real.

^^ I wouldn't call Kyoto's station historical.

~~~~~~~
And the E5, wow it will take some time to get used to, it's like an extreme version of the N700. Luckily this summer the 1st trail runs will start, I want to see how it looks for real.

Technical wise it will probably be better than the N700, aesthetic wise, I think I like the 700 series the best, not a huge duck bill or alligator mouth like the N700 and E5.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3097/3102734104_3960b4b7fb_o.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2362/2432547782_bd4667c154_b.jpg

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/42/92934021_b4b8086dc2_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3215/2620891706_ea1503c492_b.jpg

http://img519.imageshack.us/img519/6582/img0168mn1.jpg

Flickr

Bullet trains are so bad ass!!

They scream coolness and speed.

Japan's definitely got their HSR train styling under control.

Oh wait, there's the N700...and the Fastech....nevermind.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3214/2807956205_4dbc5481aa_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3099/2808820922_33bb30f276_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3114/2808865334_622a729947_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3277/2808017013_7549d976f2_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3228/2808877666_3714215da5_o.jpg

source: http://flickr.com/photos/edgarleo/sets/72157606976386140/?page=2

so why did the render the JR500 obsolete again?

^ It's not obsolete just yet.
It's just JR Central that have decided that JR West (who owns the trains) are no longer allowed to run the 500 series on the Tokaido line, especially since the new N700 makes the run faster and more economical then the 500 ever did.

JR west on the other hand have shortened (some?) the trains and use them to replace the old 0-series (withdrawn on 14 December 2008) on the Kodama service on the Sanyo line.

Japan's definitely got their HSR train styling under control.

Oh wait, there's the N700...and the Fastech....nevermind.

wasn't the N700 designed aesthetically by a German?

Ah, no it wasn't! ha.

The FasTech Dolphin nose (Stream) was nice looking.
http://www.jreast.co.jp/e/press/20050302/img/img_06.jpg

But they chose the Arrow (for noise and performance reasons, I believe)

Where do bullets call at Tokyo? Do they use the historic Tokyo Station or have they their own dedicated station?

Where do bullets call at Tokyo? Do they use the historic Tokyo Station or have they their own dedicated station?
The 2 terminals of the Tokaido Shinkansen and the Tohoku Shinkansen are located at Tokyo station, but there's no connection between the two lines. The two terminals are at the other side of the station then the historic building.

There are 2 more Shinkansen stations in Tokyo at Shinagawa and Ueno.

^^I can' t understand where is your problem.
Isn' t Japan the birthplace of High Speed Trains or they aren't the leading nation in railway technology ?

both statements are correct.

both statements are correct.

......"birthplace" is a bit questionable, but if you talk about commercially operational high-speed trains, then yes. The best rail technology? - I don't know about if it's the "best", but the only significant rival is the French.

It seems Japan has one of the best railway technologies in the world, but it naturally suits to Japanese environment; a mountainous land with extremely dense population. French/German technologies, on the other hand, suits better to less densely populated area with less mountainous terrain, that is, pretty much anywhere else but Japan.

「４００系新幹線つばさ」来年度内に引退

平成４年７月から山形新幹線「つばさ」として営業運転を始めた「４００系」が来年度内に姿を消す。新幹線区間を時速２４０キロ、在来線区間を１３０キロで走り、東京～山形間を乗り換えなしの２時間２７分で結んだ最先端車両だった。全１２編成中２編成は既に引退、残る１０編成も後継の「Ｅ３系２０００番台」に役割を譲ることになった。

〈ハンサムな顔ですね～。ところでこの鼻の部分、何かが隠されています。ジャカジャン♪　ここには自動連結器が入っています。おっと出てきましたね～〉

小泉今日子さんと４００系が“共演”した山形新幹線開業を知らせるＣＭの一コマ。ロボットのように先端部が左右に開き、連結器がスムーズに出てくるシーンに鉄道ファンの目は奪われた。

「カバーが開閉する最初に流れたテレビコマーシャルのインパクトが強かった」と振り返るのは東京都東村山市の自営業、林昭夫さん（４２）。旅行のついでではなく４００系を撮影するために妻子を連れて東京駅を訪れた。

林さんは「フロントの曲線が０系っぽくて（後継の）Ｅ３系よりも好き」と話し、２階建てのＥ４系「やまびこ」を連結して出発する様子をカメラに収めていた。

４００系はＪＲ東日本が民営化後に初めて手掛けた新幹線。在来線と新幹線を直通するという、当時としては常識外の発想で誕生した。同社は「開発の先端を歩んだ車両。『お疲れさまでした』と言いたい」とねぎらう。

在来線を走るには車体の大きさが制限されるにもかかわらず、新幹線用と在来線用に保安装置などの機器類を二重に備える必要があった。そして一番苦労したのは、本線を走るフルサイズの新幹線と分割併合するための自動連結装置の開発だった。

車種の違う新幹線車両の分割併合は初めて。ただ連結器をぶつけるだけではない。先端のカバーが左右に開いて一度引くような動きをしてから連結器がぐっと出てくる。順を追ったロボットのような動きは何回も試験を繰り返して実現したという。

前途多難が予想されたこともあった。

量産先行車が試験走行を実施していたころ。緑の帯が入る前のメタリックグレーの車体を見た子供が「まだ色塗ってな～い」と話しているのを聞き、開発担当者は落胆した。

メンテナンスは大変でも斬新さを出すためにあえて採用した色だが、新幹線といえば「白」の時代だっただけに、地元の山形県にデザインを説明したときも反応は芳しくなかったという。

デビュー後、心配は杞憂（きゆう）に終わる。

平成４年７月に山形新幹線「つばさ」として営業運転を開始。当初６両編成だったが、需要に応える形で３年後に１両増結し７両編成となる。福島駅で新幹線を降り、少し離れた在来線ホームまで歩く必要はない。多くの乗客が便利さを実感したのだ。

心配されたメタリックグレーの外観も好評を博し、鉄道アイドルの木村裕子さんが「彼氏は４００系つばさ」と公言するなど、人気の高い新幹線車種の１つになった。デザインは後継のＥ３系２０００番台にも継承されている。

http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/3511/trd0902071301006l3wu5.jpg

http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/9235/trd0902071301006l7ia8.jpg

http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/5307/trd0902071301006l5le7.jpg

http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/5282/trd0902071301006l6rf9.jpg

The 2 terminals of the Tokaido Shinkansen and the Tohoku Shinkansen are located at Tokyo station, but there's no connection between the two lines. The two terminals are at the other side of the station then the historic building.

There are 2 more Shinkansen stations in Tokyo at Shinagawa and Ueno.

According to some Youtube videos their platforms are right next to each other, so I guess it'll be easy to connect their tracks if that's the case...

According to some Youtube videos their platforms are right next to each other, so I guess it'll be easy to connect their tracks if that's the case...


According to Website Mapion.co.jp , there is no track connection between two Shinkansen

According to some Youtube videos their platforms are right next to each other, so I guess it'll be easy to connect their tracks if that's the case...

According to Website Mapion.co.jp , there is no track connection between two Shinkansen

No they are not connected, yes it is easy to connect them since the platforms are right next to each other.
Finally no I do not think they will connect each other since developing a time diagram will be a bxtch and not many people travels from ex. Nagoya to Sendai.

There could be problems with interoperability because the technical specifications of both lines are not the same. At least the power supply and the automatic train protection are different, but something like difference in height of the overhead lines might also be a problem for the Shinkansen.

......"birthplace" is a bit questionable, but if you talk about commercially operational high-speed trains, then yes. The best rail technology? - I don't know about if it's the "best", but the only significant rival is the French.

Depends on what one considers "best"

It's entirely subjective.

Fast acceleration, quiet, safe. all Hallmarks of the Japanese system. However, if one puts speed into the mix and says speed is what makes it the best, there are faster systems out there.

I don't think the Shinkansen is only suitable to Japan. I just don't think the Japanese have really had the opportunity to market it outside of Japan.

Probably has to do with cost. I'd imagine that the Shinkansen system is more expensive to build... but that's just conjecture.

Here are the estimated costs of current TGV/ICE/Shinkansen lines:
TGV (LGV Rhin-Rhône): 14 million USD per km
TGV (LGV Bretagne-Pays de la Loire): 33 million USD per km
ICE (Cologne–Frankfurt): 43 million USD per km
Shinkansen (Hokuriku, Kyushu): 70 million USD per km

To be fair, Shinkansen is particularly expensive as newer lines are essentially massive subways; something like 80% of whole line is underground, to go through the mountainous terrain, to avoid noise problem, and to avoid buying landed properties which would be even more expensive than making tunnels.

I don't bash Shinkansen. I do think it is one of, if not the best high-speed rail in the world, historically and technologically.
Nonetheless, it's natural many countries would choose something faster and cheaper - only those who has very busy corridor (thus need higher capacity) would seriously consider Japanese high-speed.

Here are the estimated costs of current TGV/ICE/Shinkansen lines:
TGV (LGV Rhin-Rhône): 14 million USD per km
TGV (LGV Bretagne-Pays de la Loire): 33 million USD per km
ICE (Cologne–Frankfurt): 43 million USD per km
Shinkansen (Hokuriku, Kyushu): 70 million USD per km



How many kilometers are tunnels out of these lines?

Here are the estimated costs of current TGV/ICE/Shinkansen lines:
TGV (LGV Rhin-Rhône): 14 million USD per km
TGV (LGV Bretagne-Pays de la Loire): 33 million USD per km
ICE (Cologne–Frankfurt): 43 million USD per km
Shinkansen (Hokuriku, Kyushu): 70 million USD per kmAnother thing that makes the cost for a Shinkansen lines higher are that the part not built underground are elevated, where as most TGV and ICE lines are in ground level and also that most countries in Europe are relatively flat in comparison with Japan.

　ＪＲ東日本は３日、２０１３年春に東北新幹線で時速３２０キロ運転を始める新型車（Ｅ５系）のデザインを発表した。現在、１０両編成の量産先行車を製造中で、今年夏から試運転を始める。

　新型車は上半分を緑、下を白、中央にピンクのラインで塗装し、「未来を感じさせる先進的なイメージとスピード感」を表したという。シートや内装は茶や赤など暖色系でまとめた。

　設計費を含めると、１編成が４５億円。１５年度までに計５９本を投入する。

　東北新幹線は１０年１２月、現在の八戸から新青森まで延伸される。新型車は１１年春から営業運転を始めるが、当初は国内最高タイの時速３００キロで走行する。３２０キロ運転になれば、東京―新青森間は最速３時間５分で結ばれる。

http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/2176/trd0902031814012l1sz1.jpg

This new Shinkansen is for the New Hokkaido Shinkansen Line as the tohuko line extend the line to hokkaido in city of hakodate. This tran basically based in the test rain they introduced the Fastech 360. So we will wait for this trainn to roll out soon.

I know some may disagree, but that is one horrendously ugly train!

I know some may disagree, but that is one horrendously ugly train!

I will agree on this one, it is not aesthetically pleasing. I would prefer something in the area of a 700 that could run 320 km/h. The 700T can do 315 km/h, perhaps working off of that might lead to 320 km/h, the max speed that will be allowed on Tohoku Shinkansen.

:drool:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/246/3264105931_9de514ce61_o.jpg
source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrisjongkind/3264105931/

The FasTech Dolphin nose (Stream) was nice looking.
http://www.jreast.co.jp/e/press/20050302/img/img_06.jpg

But they chose the Arrow (for noise and performance reasons, I believe)

I'm wondering, how big is the difference in noise and performance between both shapes.
I wouldn't be surprised, if it is it only few percent.

If that helps, the arrow line produces 10% smaller static pressure wave than the stream line.

On the Fasttech I even like the arrow-line nose better then the stream-line nose.

2ZqgcSxCXKA

http://i39.tinypic.com/34jf3ug.jpg

http://i41.tinypic.com/ml5l4z.jpg

Here are the estimated costs of current TGV/ICE/Shinkansen lines:
TGV (LGV Rhin-Rhône): 14 million USD per km
TGV (LGV Bretagne-Pays de la Loire): 33 million USD per km
ICE (Cologne–Frankfurt): 43 million USD per km
Shinkansen (Hokuriku, Kyushu): 70 million USD per km

How many kilometers are tunnels out of these lines?

We can say that French HSL don't have tunnels at all. There are very few tunnels, the longest being the proposed 4 km tunnel throught hills on the LGV Est (not yet built), and the urban tunnel of Marseille (7 km).
LGV Rhin-Rhône: only one 2 km tunnel
LGV Bretagne-Pays de la Loire: probably nothing (except maybe some short artificial tunnels)
The exception is the planned Lyon-Turin line (France-Italy), with about...120 km of tunnels on a 150 km line.

The Cologne–Frankfurt line has about 33 km of tunnels in a 170 km line.

The Bologna-Firenze line has 73 out 78 km underground and costed about 100 millions USD per km.

Let's ignite some fresh, healthy debate. :D
Does Japan have the most ridership levels? Most km of HSR track? Were they indeed the birthplace of HSR? (i thought they were...)

According to Wikipedia, the first HSR was the Italian ETR 200... Wait, that means its hard to define a "birthplace" of HSR. Uh oh.... :eek:

Wikipedia also says the Tokaido Shinkansen line is by far the most used in the world.

Any thought on whose got the most infrastructure for HSR? :)

^^ It's basically a question of either Europe or Asia. Us sad sack North Americans got nothing. :(

the New bullet trains look like Dolphins! :lol:

According to Website Mapion.co.jp , there is no track connection between two Shinkansen

There is even no service connection between Japan's lines? For example, to swap trains or to transport them from the factory to their customers?

As far I as remember there are some service tracks connecting Toukaidou Shinkansen with Touhoku Shinkansen at Toukyou Station, but they're not normally in use.

^^ A quick look on Google Earth can tell you that there is no connection between the two lines in Tokyo station. New Shinkansen sets are transported by road to the respective lines.

E-fcOrGoUXo

True. I was confused, I thought I saw it somewhere. Well, guess not :)
Transporting the carriages on the road must be quite a challenge considering Tōkyō's narrows streets and sometimes tight corners. But I guess they know the best route to bring it safely to the tracks :)
I've never seen a train being transported that way. Gotta look cool.

I've never seen a train being transported that way. Gotta look cool.

For Americans, it's the opposite. It's weird (and cool) to see trains being transported on rail (excepting flatbed railcars). :)

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/101/261364604_12d6bcfb0f.jpg (http://flickr.com/photos/snapman/261364604/) (Flickr, junicorn)

delete

Transporting the carriages on the road must be quite a challenge considering Tōkyō's narrows streets and sometimes tight corners. But I guess they know the best route to bring it safely to the tracks :)
I would assume that the train sets are delivered to depots well outside central Tokyo or central anywhere else.

To be fair, Shinkansen is particularly expensive as newer lines are essentially massive subways; something like 80% of whole line is underground, to go through the mountainous terrain, to avoid noise problem, and to avoid buying landed properties which would be even more expensive than making tunnels.

The only line that I can think of that has that much tunnel will be the planned Chuo Mag-lev Shinkansen. Existing lines have nowhere NEAR that much tunneling.

the New bullet trains look like Dolphins! :lol:

Yes... very fast ones. :banana:

I think it's one of those subjective things. Or it just grows on you. I think they actually used dolphins as a model. At those speeds cutting through air is similar to cutting through water.

Things in the natural world tend to be way more efficient than anything we dream up, so hey, why not try to mimic them.

I wonder if the next train will look like this:
http://www.extremescience.com/images/sailfish.jpg
source (http://media-2.web.britannica.com/eb-media/46/9546-004-2EC9FB73.jpg)

^^ It's basically a question of either Europe or Asia. Us sad sack North Americans got nothing. :(

looool so true. It's too bad, not funny anymore.

Here are the estimated costs of current TGV/ICE/Shinkansen lines:
TGV (LGV Rhin-Rhône): 14 million USD per km
TGV (LGV Bretagne-Pays de la Loire): 33 million USD per km
ICE (Cologne–Frankfurt): 43 million USD per km
Shinkansen (Hokuriku, Kyushu): 70 million USD per km

To be fair, Shinkansen is particularly expensive as newer lines are essentially massive subways; something like 80% of whole line is underground, to go through the mountainous terrain, to avoid noise problem, and to avoid buying landed properties which would be even more expensive than making tunnels.

I don't bash Shinkansen. I do think it is one of, if not the best high-speed rail in the world, historically and technologically.
Nonetheless, it's natural many countries would choose something faster and cheaper - only those who has very busy corridor (thus need higher capacity) would seriously consider Japanese high-speed.

^^ Did you at least check the terrain in wich those lines run thru ???

The 2 TGV railways are 100% countryside lines ... koln frankfurt is in the woods also ... :lol:

The projected stretch of the Lisboa-Madrid HSL in our side of the border will have a cost-per-km of only 7,5M€ (some 10 million USD per km) ... and it's a 350km/h HSL.


Shinkansen lines are what can be made in the area ... if the Japanese had suck huge and empty countrisides as we europeans they would be running Shinkansen at 1000km/h and the HSL could even be lined with golden bricks all the way ... and it would still cost less than current lines in japan (it's all in the terrain). :dunno:

http://i44.tinypic.com/n8ay0.jpg

Doctor Yellow!

From 'Railway Gazette'

'Series E5 design unveiled

17 Feb 2009


JAPAN: East Japan Railway unveiled the exterior and designs for its next generation of Shinkansen trains on February 3. A pre-production Series E5 trainset is due to be rolled out in June for testing, as a precursor for the fleet to operate between Tokyo and Shin Aomori following the opening of the extension from Hachinohe in December 2010.

JR-East's research programme launched in 2002 was looking at 360 km/h operation to bring the journey time for the 670 km Tokyo - Shin-Aomori trip below 3 h including intermediate stops, compared with 3 h 20 min with the current Series E2-1000 sets running at 275 km/h. After trials with the two Fastech 360 prototypes the railway announced that it was scaling back its ambitions and would build a pre-production trainset designed for a maximum of 320 km/h.

The railway subsequently ordered a fleet of 59 Series E5 trainsets, which are due to enter service in the spring of 2011. The 10-car sets will have eight powered vehicles and two trailers, and will feature a 'Super Green Car' with 2+1 seating for 18 passengers at the Aomori end. The trains will incorporate a number of technical advances from the Fastech 360 sets, including a lightweight pantograph, active suspensions and body tilting.'

http://www.railwaygazette.com/uploads/pics/tn_jp-jreast-e5-impression.jpg

I know what it reminds me of:

http://bringatrailer.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/1962_Jaguar_E_Type_FHC_Vintage_Race_Car_Front.jpg

Japan trainmakers eye rail boom, wary on yen

TOKYO, April 8 (Reuters) - Japanese makers of railway rolling stock, such as Hitachi and Kawasaki Heavy Industries, are shifting some production overseas to tap growing infrastructure demand without getting hit by a strong yen.

Hitachi plans to build a plant in Britain, where it leads a consortium picked in February as preferred bidder to supply a large fleet of intercity trains, while Kawasaki Heavy produces most of its trains in the United States for orders there. It also hopes to have manufacturing bases in other countries.

Japan's near half-century experience with its bullet train system, with zero fatalities to date, puts the country's firms in a strong position to win orders in a global railway investment boom, analysts say.

But a strong yen could eat into profits made overseas, and analysts also say Japanese firms' share prices aren't likely to post meaningful gains until they actually cash in on the upturn.

The world's $165 billion rail market -- according to UNIFE, the association of the European rail industry -- is expected to grow at 2.0-2.5 percent a year over the next nine years, and the global recession could boost that as governments step up infrastructure spending to stimulate sagging economies.

Japanese manufacturers need to expand abroad as they face limited growth in rolling stock demand at home because of a mature train system and a shrinking population.

For companies like Hitachi, which expects a big loss last fiscal year, winning railway orders is crucial as the downturn batters its other sprawling operations that range from rice cookers and flat TVs to nuclear power plants.

"No doubt it's a business chance for the makers," said Merrill Lynch analyst Takahiro Mori. "Even after getting initial orders, there'll be a need for maintenance, then in the future, a need for replacement trains."

Japanese manufacturers have around a tenth of the global rolling stock market, behind Bombardier's 25 percent, Siemens' 20 percent and Alstom's 15 percent, according to business magazine Nikkei Business.

While the three leaders can offer packages of hardware and software, most Japanese manufacturers, including Kinki Sharyo, have to club together to provide necessary gears and services in full, and that has hindered them from increasing global share, said Merrill's Mori.

But, as more nations look to expand their high-speed rail networks, Japan's bullet train model can give it an edge.

"Quality and reliability are having more of an impact on competition now, and we couldn't imagine it before but now we are getting various offers from countries like Germany and Switzerland," said Shinya Mitsudomi, Hitachi's head of global transportation systems sales and marketing.

CURRENCY RISK

As the industry grows, the United States has earmarked $8 billion for high-speed rail development in an economic stimulus package, and President Barack Obama has proposed an additional five-year, $5 billion grant program for railways.

China and India are keen on rail spending, while railway investment is expected in Vietnam and Brazil, too. Britain and France have announced huge stimulus projects with specific allocations to beef up their rail infrastructure.

Tomomi Yamashita, fund manager at Shinkin Asset Management, said investors could turn a spotlight on train makers' shares once markets and manufacturers' other businesses recover.

"Investors can buy stocks on this theme. Share prices won't likely reflect that until investors actually expect growing demand to become a profit contributor, but the idea itself can be a reason to buy," he said.

Kawasaki Heavy trades about 32 times forward earnings, and Kinki Sharyo at around 14 times. For comparison, Bombardier's forward PE is 6, Siemens' 9 and Alstom's 11.

Train prices vary, but substantial orders generate big sales and can turn be long-term income streams with maintenance orders.

For example, Hitachi won a 50 billion yen ($498 million) contract in 2005 to provide 174 high-speed trains in Britain, with another 20 billion yen for a 7-year maintenance contract. Kawasaki's 140-train supply deal to New York City's subway was worth about 27 billion yen.

Mitsudomi said Hitachi is eyeing China and Britain, and plans to build a UK assembly plant with around 200 staff.

"In China, there are tremendous investments going on -- it's like many fish are swimming around -- and distance-wise, China is close," he said. "This market is where not only us but all the Japanese makers as well as foreign train makers are interested."

Kawasaki Heavy has taken around 40 percent of the high-speed rolling stock orders in China, beating Bombardier's 30 percent, according to Merrill Lynch.

To maximise earnings, the Japanese are having to minimse currency risk.

"We are trying to increase overseas sales, and we have to have a system which would not affect it even when the yen is very strong," said Kyohei Matsuoka, Kawasaki Heavy's managing executive officer who heads its rolling stock business.

"To compete globally, we have to have a big scale. And with that, we have to have financial strength to buffer a huge currency risk," he said. "On these points, we are still lagging companies like Siemens and Alstom." ($1=100.48 Yen) ($1=.7443 Euro)

Source : http://www.pbase.com/jameslclarke/trainsjapan05

http://www.pbase.com/jameslclarke/image/77909403.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/jameslclarke/image/77482729.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/jameslclarke/image/77909406.jpg

Here are the estimated costs of current TGV/ICE/Shinkansen lines:
TGV (LGV Rhin-Rhône): 14 million USD per km
TGV (LGV Bretagne-Pays de la Loire): 33 million USD per km
ICE (Cologne–Frankfurt): 43 million USD per km
Shinkansen (Hokuriku, Kyushu): 70 million USD per km

To be fair, Shinkansen is particularly expensive as newer lines are essentially massive subways; something like 80% of whole line is underground, to go through the mountainous terrain, to avoid noise problem, and to avoid buying landed properties which would be even more expensive than making tunnels.

I don't bash Shinkansen. I do think it is one of, if not the best high-speed rail in the world, historically and technologically.
Nonetheless, it's natural many countries would choose something faster and cheaper - only those who has very busy corridor (thus need higher capacity) would seriously consider Japanese high-speed.

^^ Did you at least check the terrain in wich those lines run thru ???

Maybe you didn't read my "To be fair..." part.

The current Shinkansen technology (which is, current Shinkansen lines in Japan) is naturally suitable to Japanese situation. European high speeds, on the other hand, are suitable to European situation. The "situation" here does not only refer to terrain, but also to riderships. Japanese can build the expensive system because of the relatively higher riderships, and that factor does not apply to many other parts of the world. (Of course, you could also say Japanese have no choice but to build the expensive system, because of the terrain. And that factor does not apply to many other parts of the world, either.)

if the Japanese had suck huge and empty countrisides as we europeans they would be running Shinkansen at 1000km/h and the HSL could even be lined with golden bricks all the way ... and it would still cost less than current lines in japan

Well, maybe. As I said in the previous post, I do think Shinkansen is technologically a great system, so it's quite possible the makers can make cheaper+faster system in less challenging environment. ...However, that's something we haven't seen yet. We don't call it Shinkansen, until it appears in reality. (Alstom or Giemens may be able to make Shinkansen-like system for Japan-like situation. But we don't call them TGV/ICE, until they appear in reality.)

To be fair, Shinkansen is particularly expensive as newer lines are essentially massive subways; something like 80% of whole line is underground, to go through the mountainous terrain, to avoid noise problem, and to avoid buying landed properties which would be even more expensive than making tunnels.

The only line that I can think of that has that much tunnel will be the planned Chuo Mag-lev Shinkansen. Existing lines have nowhere NEAR that much tunneling.

Maybe "80%" is exaggerated, but the newer lines are something close to that.

Tohoku Shinkansen between Hachinohe and Aomori. These bordered sections are tunnels.
http://www.tekkenkyo.or.jp/images/kaihou/228/09_photo01.gif

Hokuriku Shinkansen between Nagano and Toyama. Bold lines are tunnels.
http://www.city.joetsu.niigata.jp/contents/town-planning/shinkansen/pic/gaiyou2_5.gif

Both are still under construction, but already existing newer sections of Tohoku Shinkansen (Morioka - Hachinohe) or Kyushu Shinkansen (Shin-Yatsushiro - Kagoshima-Chuo) aren't very different.

Gov't eyes 70 billion yen in extra spending on new bullet train lines
10 April 2009
Mainichi Daily News

The government is poised to set aside about 70 billion yen for the construction of new bullet train lines under the fiscal 2009 supplementary budget, it has emerged.

The measure, part of the ruling coalition' additional spending, is aimed at stimulating the economy by bringing forward work on sections of the new lines that are under construction, while allowing the lines to open at the scheduled time.

Five new bullet train sections are under construction: Hachinohe to Shin-Aomori (to open in December 2010), Shin-Aomori to Shin-Hakodate (to be completed at the end of fiscal 2015), Nagano to Kanazawa (to be completed at the end of fiscal 2014), Hakata to Shin-Yatsushiro (to be completed at the end of fiscal 2010), and Takeo-Onsen to Isahaya (to be completed in about 2018).

The central government and local bodies share the cost of construction of the new lines at a 2:1 ratio, with the state covering the larger amount. Accordingly, local bodies situated along train lines face a new financial burden apart from the national government's spending under the supplementary budget. However, subsidies to lessen the financial burden of local bodies will be established under additional economic measures, and local bodies will be able to allocate the subsidies to construction of the new Shinkansen lines.

The overall cost of constructing the five sections is expected to be about 410 billion yen more than originally planned due to rising material costs. Additional construction expense funding provided through the supplementary budget will indirectly cover part of this additional cost.

I would imagine the Shinkensen costs a whole lot more because it's completely grade separated throughout it's entire journey. TVG/ICE runs on the ground, the Shinkensen runs on bridges. I figure this is mostly done due to going over urban areas, going around mountains with less up and down, and also for earthquakes (I dunno is it safer to have a bridge that can rattle, or a track on the ground that can snap?).

Building the endless bridges that the shinkensen runs on costs a LOT of money.

I would imagine the Shinkensen costs a whole lot more because it's completely grade separated throughout it's entire journey. TVG/ICE runs on the ground, the Shinkensen runs on bridges. I figure this is mostly done due to going over urban areas, going around mountains with less up and down, and also for earthquakes (I dunno is it safer to have a bridge that can rattle, or a track on the ground that can snap?).

Building the endless bridges that the shinkensen runs on costs a LOT of money.

Maybe that's the answer:
http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/06T9c2I9AZ469/610x.jpg

http://img.stern.de/_content/61/85/618562/04_600.jpg

http://img.stern.de/_content/61/85/618562/10_600.jpg

http://img176.imageshack.us/img176/1558/getimagetz8.jpg

Japan's definitely got their HSR train styling under control.

Oh wait, there's the N700...and the Fastech....nevermind.

At least, the export model EFSET from Kawasaki seems to looks better. Or better suited to our western taste.

:lol::lol:

http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/2127/ecofriendlysuperexpress.jpg (http://img207.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ecofriendlysuperexpress.jpg)

Oh, and it's faster than the shinkansen too.

A funny thing is that both Shinkensen and ICE will run at the under construction Beijing-Shanghai HSR line. Both of them are running at Beijing-Tianjin line for one year, max speed is 350km/h.
The 1400km 350km/h totally elevated Beijing-Shanghai line cost RMB 170 billion, 17 million USD per km, so cheap!

I would imagine the Shinkensen costs a whole lot more because it's completely grade separated throughout it's entire journey. TVG/ICE runs on the ground, the Shinkensen runs on bridges. I figure this is mostly done due to going over urban areas, going around mountains with less up and down, and also for earthquakes (I dunno is it safer to have a bridge that can rattle, or a track on the ground that can snap?).

Building the endless bridges that the shinkensen runs on costs a LOT of money.
The main reason why the Shinkansen uses many bridges lies in the terrain and the extensive land use of Japan. A big part of the country is covered by mountains, the Shinkansen doesn't go round them but uses tunnels to go trough them. The mountains are not the reason why the Shinkansen is build on bridges. But because of the mountains every single bit of land that is flat is used for agriculture or has been turned into an urban area. This means that the land prices are high and that there are many local roads and railroads that should be crossed by the Shinkansen.

Building the lines high means less impact on the ground. It uses less valuable land and there's no need to build new costly costly tunnels and bridges over under the line for the local infrastructure.

A comparison with Beijing-Shanghai cannot be really made because the land prices and labor costs are so much lower in China then in Japan. Plus the line is build through the flat coastal areas, so there's no need for expensive tunnels.

@Papacu

High Speed Lines never have level crossings and since the Shinkansen is 100% high speed.... you should be able to do the math. And there aren't many heard of sheep in Japan, the chances that something like the accident in Germany ever happens is very very very small. Not to mention that it happened in a tunnel, if an accident like this should happen in Japan it would also happen in a tunnel. There's still a point were a line goes from a viaduct into a tunnel, so there will always be places were animals can walk onto the tracks if someone didn't close a fence for example.

So it was a bit useless to post those accident pictures.

Source : http://www.pbase.com/ipenning/japan_shinkansen

http://www.pbase.com/ipenning/image/31090670.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/ipenning/image/31090672.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/ipenning/image/31090671.jpg

Making of the bullet train
1
KTTb-VVtPfc
2
2BTcpHxwmk0

Japanese TV program of the high speed test train "Fastech" (Eng dub)
1
X5gID1hRUcM
2
mQa-QrIB8ZM
3
7MZMgOXUpww
4
_UqywQy485k
5
m5T3W5wHJPE
6
n5L7OhYzKc8
7
kP9BxNBDQLM

Source : http://www.pbase.com/ipenning/japan_shinkansen
http://www.pbase.com/ipenning/image/31090670.jpg


The 'old' shinkansen 300 still looks good nowadays.

Bullet train operator eyes foreign destinations
13 September 2009
Financial Times

It is the archetypal image of how modern Japan has fused technical excellence with respect for tradition: a Shinkansen - or bullet - train speeds at 300kph (186mph) past Mount Fuji, whose snow-capped beauty has been celebrated over centuries in woodcut prints.

However, if JR Central, operator of the Tokaido high-speed line that passes Mount Fuji, succeeds in exporting the technology worldwide, Shinkansen trains may become just as much a symbol of California or Abu Dhabi as they are of Japan.

The tabular content relating to this article is not available to view. Apologies in advance for the inconvenience caused.

JR Central's efforts promise to sharpen already intense competition for the mainly European providers of trains and other equipment to the growing number of countries developing high-speed passenger rail systems.

Ironically, the export drive also comes as JR Central's focus at home turns to developing a different technology - based on maglev trains lifted by magnetic force above the track - for its home market.

Both the export drive and introduction of the new, more energy-hungry technology will need to overcome formidable hurdles.

The challenges reflect the unusual history of Japan's pioneering high-speed rail network. Because the country's traditional rail track was narrower than the 1,435mm international standard, it was unsuitable for the new trains' speeds. The country instead built a dedicated standard-gauge high-speed network segregated from the rest of the network, with high bridges and wide tunnels. Anyone travelling to a city off the Shinkansen network has to change trains, but the carriages are some of the world's widest and the system is unencumbered by slow-moving freight or commuter trains.

Since the chances of a crash with another train or obstacle are minimal, Shinkansen trains can dispense with the heavy strengthening structures found in most rail vehicle bodies. That and the need for only minimal suspension on the well-constructed track have made Shinkansen trains consistently lighter and more energy-efficient than most fast trains.

Any country wanting to take JR Central's advice on building a high-speed rail system will need a system very like Japan's to benefit safely from the technology's advantages, however.

"As far as safety is concerned, you have to have a dedicated high-speed track and complete management of the system," said Tsutomu Morimura, director-general of JR Central's general technology division.

Lord Adonis, UK transport secretary, last week ruled out such a system for Britain's future high-speed lines. It was important that cities not immediately on the first high-speed lines continued to enjoy direct services using both new routes and existing track, he said. Similar objections elsewhere in Europe are likely to keep the continent's €1.5bn-a-year ($2.2bn) high-speed market a bastion of the big three international trainmakers - France's Alstom, Germany's Siemens and Canada's Bombardier.

The technology could interest places with minimal existing passenger networks. Taiwan and one line in mainland China have already bought elements of the Shinkansen system. Networks planned for parts of the USA, particularly California, and some Arab countries could follow suit.

The Shinkansen, though, is no longer the brightest star in Japanese rail's firmament. A magnetic levitation train powered by super-conducting magnets set a world rail speed record of 581kph at JR Central's Yamanashi test track in 2003 and the company wants to build a Maglev line 340km from Tokyo to Nagoya, part-way along its ageing Tokyo to Osaka line. The journey will be shortened from one hour 40 minutes to 40 minutes.

Whether that system can produce the reliability and efficiency of the Shinkansen may determine whether it might become a candidate for export.

The main reason why the Shinkansen uses many bridges lies in the terrain and the extensive land use of Japan. A big part of the country is covered by mountains, the Shinkansen doesn't go round them but uses tunnels to go trough them. The mountains are not the reason why the Shinkansen is build on bridges. But because of the mountains every single bit of land that is flat is used for agriculture or has been turned into an urban area. This means that the land prices are high and that there are many local roads and railroads that should be crossed by the Shinkansen.

Building the lines high means less impact on the ground. It uses less valuable land and there's no need to build new costly costly tunnels and bridges over under the line for the local infrastructure.


Another reason just as important why the Shinkansen is completely grade-spearated - or, let's say why TGV and ICE aren't - is that Japan needed to build the Shinkansen network from scratch because it's standard gauge (and the rest of the Japanese rail lines are narrow gauge). So, if you build a new line dedicated for high-speed trains it absolutely makes sense to build it grade-separated.
By contrast, in Germany and France both conventional and high-speed trains use the same gauge. So it's absolutely reasonable to let them use the elder lines to provide the services in much larger regions. In large parts of Germany building dedicated high-speed lines just parallel to the existing rails wouldn't make sense anyway (due to the lower density of population, the design of the German rail network and the lower passerger numbers on single lines mainly).

^^ The question was not why the Shinkansen system is completely grade-separated, but more about how it was built. All dedicated high speed lines in Europ and Japan are completely grade-separated without any exceptions. The difference is that in Europe you don't see high viaducts that continue for kilometers long high above cities, villages and rice fields like the Shinkansen in Japan.

Btw, the Shinkansen network is not completely grade separated. On two lines the Shinkansen shares the tracks with conventional trains, the Akita Shinkansen/Tazawako Line and the Yamagata Shinkansen/Ou Main Line. There are even level crossings and parts of the line are just single track.

^^ But the Yamagata and Akita Shinkansen aren't really true high speed lines anyway, they are just normal lines that happened to have Shinkansen train service. Those stretches, of the Tohoky Shinkansen line, have a 130 km/h speed limit on them as most other JR limited express lines in Japan, so you can't classify them as high speed lines, in the same sense as the other Shinkansen Lines.

^^ Is everybody just reading half posts and not the discussion or the questions asked before? :dunno:

ztjrS0mHkBY

Shes 27, she looks like 17 and driving trains 270km/h :banana:
I just wonder is she pointing finger and talking in normal work also?

...so cool!

I think most Japanese trains are fitted with a black box, so they have to yell out the speed boards, the restricted speeds and so forth...

really love the Shinkansen 500-serie design :cheers:

I think most Japanese trains are fitted with a black box, so they have to yell out the speed boards, the restricted speeds and so forth...
It might also be a way to make sure that drivers stay alert and don't fall asleep. IIRC, train drivers in Japan are required to salute passing trains for that reason.

I think most Japanese trains are fitted with a black box, so they have to yell out the speed boards, the restricted speeds and so forth...

It's called "Yubi sashi kakunin" meaning pointing finger confirmation. It's like a mental checklist so the driver does everything by the book.

great videos. tnx for sharing

It's called "Yubi sashi kakunin" meaning pointing finger confirmation. It's like a mental checklist so the driver does everything by the book.

and it is done every day in normal service? WOW i know Japanese are diffrent from us Europeans but it seems like from another planet, i can't imagine anyone here doing same thing. We have checklists but in daily routine they often are done inside ones head without loud speaking not to mention pointing your finger.

^^ Everyday and on every train.

I also read a Dutch train forum and every now and then Japan comes up in the discussions. It's always brought up by railway enthusiast and not by the train drivers that also post there. They always get a bit angry when the comparison is made between Holland and Japan, especially when the topic is punctuality. The train drivers know that they have to completely change the way they work if they want to achieve the same punctuality as in Japan. And that probably includes something like the Yubisashi kakunin. But the work ethics are just too different to run the Dutch Railways like the Japanese. So we have to be put up with train delays because the train driver didn't want to leave before finishing his coffee in the canteen.

and it is done every day in normal service? WOW i know Japanese are diffrent from us Europeans but it seems like from another planet, i can't imagine anyone here doing same thing. We have checklists but in daily routine they often are done inside ones head without loud speaking not to mention pointing your finger.

Actually I have heard that this was picked up first at safety is absolute priority facilities like nuclear reactor facilities, rocket launch mission control, and so on.
Safety of train operation is also vital so it is only natural that it is practiced on trains as well.
By the way, it is useful at home and office like locking up, since you'll automatically realize if you had missed something during final inspection.

Actually I have heard that this was picked up first at safety is absolute priority facilities like nuclear reactor facilities, rocket launch mission control, and so on.

Precisely, it's also done by flight crews on airplanes (pre-flight checks- confirmations done by voice). Why shouldn't drivers of trains do the same?- after all they are responsible for the safety of similar numbers of passengers as pilots of commercial airliners are.

I agree on usefullnes of checklists as mesure of safety!
I learn japanese but i'm allways amazed how difrent work ethics we Europeans and Asians(espetially Japanese) have.

Precisely, it's also done by flight crews on airplanes (pre-flight checks- confirmations done by voice). Why shouldn't drivers of trains do the same?- after all they are responsible for the safety of similar numbers of passengers as pilots of commercial airliners are.
i agree that checklists would add mutch to safety in trains(not to mention punctuality, witch in our trains is just horrid), but pilots have usually higher degree, here they are engeeners with masters degree, while train crew is usually just after some low level technical high school, so their culture and even knowledge is on difrent level, so i just can't imagine those lazy b*tards behaving like airliner crew or japan bulet train crew, call it culture shock, i'm just amazed.

i agree that checklists would add mutch to safety in trains(not to mention punctuality, witch in our trains is just horrid), but pilots have usually higher degree, here they are engeeners with masters degree, while train crew is usually just after some low level technical high school, so their culture and even knowledge is on difrent level, so i just can't imagine those lazy b*tards behaving like airliner crew or japan bulet train crew, call it culture shock, i'm just amazed.

Degree of education does not matter, devotion and seriousness to their occupation does.
I think the word here is professionalism and may even be craftsmanship thriving to become perfect at one's job.
Not all have this in them but never the less they are trained to do so.

When will Japan finally put the test maglev (http://www.maglev.net)'s into real action for the public? I didn't find any info about that on wikipedia. Shinkansen's have a really great design..

When will Japan finally put the test maglev (http://www.maglev.net)'s into real action for the public? I didn't find any info about that on wikipedia. Shinkansen's have a really great design..

Projected opening is 2025. Listed under Chuo Shinkansen:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C5%AB%C5%8D_Shinkansen

Some E5 pictures.

http://img136.imageshack.us/img136/6748/trd0906171211005p15.jpg

http://img183.imageshack.us/img183/5408/001le.jpg

http://img18.imageshack.us/img18/567/090618n4067.jpg

http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/2247/090628e50628.jpg

Interior

http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/8987/090618n3935.jpg

http://img410.imageshack.us/img410/6936/090618n4004.jpg

Impressive.....

Some other pictures here: http://e954e955.bg.cat-v.ne.jp/article/515578.html

And something every railway enthusiast should check...... http://www.japaneserailwaysociety.com/jrs/members/fossett/tetchan/tetchan.htm

Credits (and thanks) to original posters.

that velour upholstery is so awful
but the train is nice

The interior does indeed look outdated, but that's a common feature on Japanese trains, plain plain plain. With the JRs it's really only the Kyushu Railway Company that really makes something special out of the interiors, just look at their 800 series Shinkansen "Tsubame". Here are some pictures of the 2nd generation that recently entered service ahead of the opening of the gap in the line between Fukuoka and Shin-Yatsushiro.
九州旅客鉄道(JR九州)はこのほど、九州新幹線用の新型車両「800系 U-007編成」を完成したと発表した。新型「800系」は、走行性能は従来車両と同一ながら、外観を一部変更し、内装をグレードアップさせているという。

外観の特長はヘッドライトのカバーが凸型に膨らみ、車体から盛り上がったような造形になっている。これは鉄道車両としては世界で初めて採用されたデザインとのこと。また、先頭車両にはつばめマークの象嵌(はめこみ)が施された。白い車体のアクセントとなる赤い帯は、つばめの飛行をイメージした曲線や宙返りラインとなっている。

内装は従来車と同様、「鹿児島産の樟の壁」や「宮崎産山の桜の木」、「八代産のい草を使った縄のれん」を使って和をイメージしている。さらに新型では妻壁に金箔を使用し、額縁を設けて木彫り・蒔絵・彫金や博多織を飾っている。座席は座面を深く、リクライニング角度を大きく、背ずりを低く改良された。また、シート地は車両ごとに異なり、赤系の市松柄、ワインレッドの本革、カーマイン無地、アイビー柄ゴブラン織、オレンジ系ツイード、アイビー柄西陣織を採用したという。

http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/2057/001lu.jpg

http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/3046/002lo.jpg

http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/9250/003ly.jpg

http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/2315/5877bca1.jpg

Precisely, it's also done by flight crews on airplanes (pre-flight checks- confirmations done by voice). Why shouldn't drivers of trains do the same?- after all they are responsible for the safety of similar numbers of passengers as pilots of commercial airliners are.

That was the first thing that I thought of too. In Japan, their trains are basically planes, serving as intercity transport. As such, the engineers are rigorously screened and only a certain person is accepted.

Remember, Japan works at continuously improving not only manufacturing techniques, but also management techniques, training etc.

Driving a train in Japan is a status symbol, driving a Shinkansen is a HUGE status symbol... perhaps something along the lines of being an astronaut.

Also, I should point out that using your voice, reinforcing with your finger, is also an excellent learning technique. There's a reason we ask kids to follow along with their finger when being read to in a book. It improves focus and helps to retain information. In addition, when learning a new language, physical reinforcement can be an excellent tool.

THe more stimuli you can get (sound, physical, visual...), the more neurons connect in your brain, the more pathways are formed, the more you're apt to remember.

The brain is really amazing, isn't it? Truly a marvel of design.

As far I as remember there are some service tracks connecting Toukaidou Shinkansen with Touhoku Shinkansen at Toukyou Station, but they're not normally in use.


BTW, in English, it's usually rendered Tokaido, Tohoku and Tokyo. No need to get phonetic.

Degree of education does not matter, devotion and seriousness to their occupation does.
I think the word here is professionalism and may even be craftsmanship thriving to become perfect at one's job.
Not all have this in them but never the less they are trained to do so.
In europe it has a lot to do with education, usually those with lower degree are "lazy slackers" (of course i'm generalizing here) but moust of the accidents, trains beeing late and so on are human factor.
Look (sory for infesting with non japan stuff this thread)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDS89z0VFHs
talks inside:
(apart from speed noticing)
-ohh we have weak current...
-look look..
-oh i made mistake
-don't care we will just do another run...
and this is suposedly speed record breaking by Simens Taurus in Poland :nuts:
now you can imageine how mutch unprofesional talks and behaviour goes inside local commuter train :ohno: we are not years but ages behind Japan :(


Remember, Japan works at continuously improving not only manufacturing techniques, but also management techniques, training etc.

Driving a train in Japan is a status symbol, driving a Shinkansen is a HUGE status symbol... perhaps something along the lines of being an astronaut.

The brain is really amazing, isn't it? Truly a marvel of design.


it is, but i'm more amazed(and ashamed) how large gap is beatiwn my country railways and JR.


BTW, in English, it's usually rendered Tokaido, Tohoku and Tokyo. No need to get phonetic.
hmm sometimes there is - above letter to indicate longer sound (when you use う to lenghten it)


But going back on topic:
I don't like E5 look, i prefer 500 series, つばめ 800 series looks good too!

I read on another forum who want to withdraw all trains of 300 series in 2011, can be true?

^ I'm not sure about 2011, maybe they mean that Tokaido Shinkansen won't have any services where they use the 300 series train.
Especially since the large number of 700-series trains and an increasingly growing number of N700-series trains available, then it's only natural that the older trains are being retired, the first 300 set were removed from service in 2007.
And by removing the older slower accelerating trains they will be able to increase the capacity of the lines...

300 series sets still in service (August 2009):
JR Central: 36
JR West: 9
total: 45

Delivery schedule N700 sets:
2010: 18
2011: 16
total: 32

There's still a gap of more then ten trains in 2011, but with the faster acceleration of the 700 series the Hikari and the Kodama services on the Tokaido Shinkansen can go faster needing less sets for the same service.

Another major event in 2011 is the opening of the full Kyushu Shinkansen with a new Sakura Service from Kagoshima to Osaka with the JR Kyushu N700-7000 8-car sets. This could mean that there will be less Tokaido Hikari services from Tokyo that go beyond Osaka to make room for the new service, needing less sets, but this is just me speculating.

The 0 series was retired in 2009, the 400 series is now also (almost) retired and the 100 and 200 series will also go in 2011. It's clearly a period of saying goodbye to the 1st generations of Shinkansen trains.

Which country is in need of high speed trains urgently? Surely PRC China could buy them off Japan to run local services. Imagine that!

^^ China already has a massive high speed rail programme (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-speed_rail_in_China), including the fastest conventional trains in the world (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beijing%E2%80%93Tianjin_Intercity_Rail).

Surely it can't hurt to purchase the retiring 300s to supplement existing stock?

Why bother? The design is over twenty years old (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/300_Series_Shinkansen), each trainset will have had twelve to nineteen years of intensive use, and they would have to be modified to work with Chinese signalling and ATP systems. China wants to be on the cutting edge of high speed rail technology, so it has no reason to buy surplus trains that Japanese operators consider to be obselete.

BbZ08WTzmVg
The low ridership filmed astonishes me :uh:

Well, I would be careful to try and draw too many conclusions from this... There's plenty of valid reasons why we wouldn't see many people in this particular video:

It's 8:20 am.
The train in the video enters service in Nagoya (probably a pull-out run from the yard)... It doesn't start all the way in Tōkyō. You have very limited reason to take this train unless you are getting on at Gifu Hajima or Maibara (both very minor stations) and / or getting off at one of the minor stations on the San'yō Shinkansen (namely, Nishi-Akashi, Himeji, Aioi).
It's a Hikari, only the second fastest service. The schedule (http://railway.jr-central.co.jp/cgi-bin/timetable/tokainr.cgi?MODE=7&HOUR=0&DIAF=%cc%be%b8%c5%b2%b0&DIAR=%c5%ec%b3%a4%c6%bb%a1%a6%bb%b3%cd%db%bf%b7%b4%b4%c0%fe&DIAD=1) at Nagoya places another Hikari for Hiroshima five minutes before this one, followed by a Nozomi two minutes before, a Nozomi five minutes after, and another Nozomi 22 minutes after. Between Nagoya and Hiroshima, there is no semi-major or major station that doesn't have at least one Nozomi an hour stopping at it.
It's the reverse commute (at this time of day, the directionality is to Tōkyō).
Much of the regional traffic that would otherwise get on at Kyōto takes JR West urban trains... They're cheaper than Shinkansen, and the time savings with Shinkansen on these regional trips within Kansai is usually not worth the extra cost. This would siphon ridership off trips to Nishi-Akashi or Himeji (see the second bullet).

Nearly empty trains are not unusual, due to the reasons quashlo mentioned. I have been on Kodama services on the Sanyo Shinkansen (the 500 series ones I try to take if possible), where I and maybe two or three other passengers had a whole car to ourselves, and this being unreserved seating- the reserved cars were likely empty. This is particularly the case once you enter the urban network region, where cheaper alternatives exist on the 1067mm lines. Usually the Kodamas are used by passengers traveling between the regional cities, where the 1067mm lines have few convenient intercity services, for example between Aioi and Okayama.

Funny how none of these fleets the past 50 years has had large windows.

^I think that is attributed to the changes in tunnel pressure due to the extremely tight bore diameters on the Shinkansen systems. The initial design of the Shinkansen was something along the lines of 230 km/h, and has been vamped up to 300-320 before noise and wear forced it back down to 270.

Ah! makes sense ... I notice your own RCT3 fleets themselves bear large windows :)

I'm not 100% sure that it's only due to the pressure difference's in tunnels, but also that every seat row have their own window, instead of sharing them as other HSR trains. If you look closely then you will notice that some cars have larger windows and that they are Green (first) class, and it's due to the larger seat pitch. I really like this idea since you won't have to worry to get a seat between two windows when you order a window seat (like I did this Friday when going between Stockholm and Gothenburg on X2000...).

Silver Swordsman: They have never run the Shinkansen trains in speeds up to 320 km/h, they are scheduled to do that later this year on the Tohoku line as they are introducing the E6 series. The Tohoku line saw it's first 300 km/h train last year with the E5 and the Sanyo line have been running at 300 since the introduction of the 500 series train. Noise is the main issue that they have run the lines at certain speeds, but newer trains are more silent at speed which will enable them to increase the speed in the future. Also some turns (on the Tokaido line) have forced them to run at reduced speeds, but active suspension have also enabled them to increase the speeds on them as well.
With the N700 there are plans on increasing the speeds on Tokaido line (at least) to raise the speed to 300 km/h on most of the line and up to 330 km/h on some sections. I bet that there are similar plans on the Sanyo line to increase the top speed from 300 to 320 km/h with these trains as well. It's somewhat a matter of prestige on having the fastest train between the train company's...

I'm not 100% sure that it's only due to the pressure difference's in tunnels, but also that every seat row have their own window, instead of sharing them as other HSR trains. If you look closely then you will notice that some cars have larger windows and that they are Green (first) class, and it's due to the larger seat pitch. I really like this idea since you won't have to worry to get a seat between two windows when you order a window seat (like I did this Friday when going between Stockholm and Gothenburg on X2000...).

Silver Swordsman: They have never run the Shinkansen trains in speeds up to 320 km/h, they are scheduled to do that later this year on the Tohoku line as they are introducing the E6 series. The Tohoku line saw it's first 300 km/h train last year with the E5 and the Sanyo line have been running at 300 since the introduction of the 500 series train. Noise is the main issue that they have run the lines at certain speeds, but newer trains are more silent at speed which will enable them to increase the speed in the future. Also some turns (on the Tokaido line) have forced them to run at reduced speeds, but active suspension have also enabled them to increase the speeds on them as well.
With the N700 there are plans on increasing the speeds on Tokaido line (at least) to raise the speed to 300 km/h on most of the line and up to 330 km/h on some sections. I bet that there are similar plans on the Sanyo line to increase the top speed from 300 to 320 km/h with these trains as well. It's somewhat a matter of prestige on having the fastest train between the train company's...

Oh, I guess I was wrong about the maximum operating speed. But how will the N700 achieve speeds of 330 km/h? According to what I read, the N700 trainset was designed for an operating speed of 270 km/h, with a maximum speed of less than 300km/h (It's why they used 500 series bogies for Taiwan High Speed Rail instead of that from the true 700 series.)

The design speed of the N700 is 330 km/h, it's currently limited to 300 km/h on the Sanyo line, 270 km/h on the Tokaido line and 260 on the Kyushu line.
I'm guessing that you are mixing up the 700 and N700 series, since the 700 series is designed to "only" do 285 km/h. The N700 is an evolution of the original 700 series, better traction, aerodynamics, etc.
700 series on Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/700_Series_Shinkansen)
N700 series on Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N700_Series_Shinkansen)

The reason why they used the bogies from the 500 series on the trains for Taiwan, is that they were required to operate at 300 km/h, and the original 700 series on which the trains for Taiwan are based on are only good for 285 km/h as I said above. This required them to use some other means of traction, and since the 500 series is designed to run at 320 km/h then why not just replace the bogies than completely redesign them...

^According to the very link that you supplied me, the N700 series is still designed for an operating speed under 300 km/h. It reached only 332 km/h during a non-operational trial run, and is designed to operate at a maximum speed of 300 km/h.

I doesn't mention the design speed anywhere on that Wikipedia page, only that it's allowed to run at a maximum of 300 km/h. Same way that the E5 was designed to run at 360 km/h but is only allowed to run at 300 km/h (soon 320 km/h), or the 500 Series that were designed to run at 320 km/h but only ran at 300 km/h.

Since they are contemplating on raising the top speed on the Tokaido line to 330 km/h when there are enough N700 trains in service then I'm 100% sure that the train have been designed for it. No Japanese engineer will run anything faster than it was intended to do...

I doubt there's any major issues with running the N700s at 330 km/h. They've already done it for that one trial run as part of a marketing thing, and JR Central has been considering doing it on a regular basis for commercial service for at least a couple years now:
http://web.archive.org/web/20091213044228/http://www.nikkei.co.jp/news/main/20091208AT1D0705D07122009.html

Of course, as the article states, the 330 km/h will only be for the straight section between Kyōto and Maibara, and only for the first and last Nozomi trains each day, which won't have the slower services clogging up the line... The rest of the line will be 300 km/h like San'yō Shinkansen.

Also, keep in mind the production of the N700A, the new modified N700s which are supposed to replace the oldest 700 series units fairly soon now. Six units will be introduced in FY2012, followed by seven in FY2013.
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=78751276&postcount=716

The Nikkei article from two years ago talks about raising the speed to 330 km/h as early as late 2011, and while we've already passed that point in time, the rumors are that the N700A is supposed to be part of the speed-up plans.

If they will speed up the Tokaido Shinkansen the 1st step will be to raise the speed to 285 km/h and maybe 300 km/h between Kyoto and Maibara. Only after the 700 series is gone somewhere in the early 2020s it becomes interesting to really speed it up. Especially when the Chuo Maglev opens between Tokyo and Nagoya an even faster connection between Nagoya and Osaka would be very welcome. Therefor I think that it's not the N700A that will be used to speed it up to 330 km/h but it's successor that will come into services together with the Chuo Maglev.

Toyama Station Hokuriku Shinkansen construction update

Some pics of the Shinkansen construction work at Toyama Station (2012.02):
Source: http://saitoshika.blog119.fc2.com/ (http://saitoshika.blog119.fc2.com/blog-entry-1399.html)

Construction of the Shinkansen viaduct proceeding behind the temporary tracks and platforms for the existing lines at the station. In addition to the Shinkansen viaduct, there is also related work to elevate approx. 1.8 km of the JR Hokuriku Line and Takayama Line and approx. 1.0 km of the Toyama Chihō Railroad, a local private railway.

http://img42.imageshack.us/img42/6718/img3711d.jpg

Lots of progress being made on the Shinkansen, as the extension to Kanazawa is supposed to open in 2014.

http://img600.imageshack.us/img600/2160/img371620120221213946.jpg

Approximate center of the Shinkansen part of the station… This is supposed to be a four-track station, if I remember correctly.

http://img542.imageshack.us/img542/2281/img3727c.jpg

West end, towards Kanazawa

http://img31.imageshack.us/img31/5328/img3725wh.jpg

In the distance we can see the four-span extradosed bridge that will carry the Shinkansen over the Jinzū River.

http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/3540/img3729r.jpg

A bit east of Toyama Station, around Inari Motomachi…
The Hokuriku Main Line and Toyama Chihō Railroad run parallel here, forming a section of quadruple-track sandwiching the Shinkansen viaduct.

http://img442.imageshack.us/img442/8763/img3746y.jpg

Toyama Chihō Railroad train, composed of ex-Keihan 3000 series (1st generation) commuter EMUs from the Kansai area.

http://img843.imageshack.us/img843/8192/img3734q.jpg

The approach into Toyama Station

http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/4449/img3739f.jpg

Sorry to change the subject, but do the Japanese salt their roadways or car parks to melt the snow?

6 years on the board, 3400 messages and still have no clue what does 'topic' means.

why to ask here, instead of road section?

why to ask here, instead of road section?

because here are displayed photo of snowy Japan

Yes, salt is used.

Shin-Ōsaka Station construction update

An update on the various construction projects at Shin-Ōsaka Station, focusing on the construction of an additional (8th) track and platform (Platform 27) at the station, along with two new sidings, to help increase capacity for the Tōkaidō / San’yō and San’yō / Kyūshū Shinkansen.

Some pics (2011.11):
Source: http://saitoshika.blog119.fc2.com/ (http://saitoshika.blog119.fc2.com/blog-entry-1277.html)

http://img109.imageshack.us/img109/5608/img390420111106231009.jpg

The new sidings are being constructed on the west (San’yō Shinkansen) side of the station.

http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/4456/img3900uq.jpg

The view from the west end of Platform 26

http://img855.imageshack.us/img855/5169/img3936x.jpg

The new platform that spans Shin-Midōsuji. We now have a good view of the glass exterior. :)

http://img827.imageshack.us/img827/6061/img3913n.jpg

Looks like the new platform will be at a slightly higher elevation than the existing platforms at the station.

http://img684.imageshack.us/img684/2462/img3929zm.jpg

Looking east (towards Kyōto).
The building in the background is a new office building being constructed by Hankyū Electric Railway using space they had originally reserved for a potential Hankyū rail connection into the station.

http://img29.imageshack.us/img29/5590/img3943xn.jpg

In addition to the new platform and tracks, JR Central is also carrying out a renovation of the Shinkansen concourse.

http://img651.imageshack.us/img651/6523/img388120111106231016.jpg

Newly-opened convenience and souvenir (food) shops.

http://img593.imageshack.us/img593/8610/img3884hb.jpg

The shutter in the rear of the store seems to indicate that this is only a temporary opening.

http://img546.imageshack.us/img546/8532/img3889w.jpg

They are also replacing the floor tiles.

http://img816.imageshack.us/img816/5507/img3886p.jpg

Old and new tiles. The new tiles are textured to help prevent slipping during wet days.

http://img845.imageshack.us/img845/7541/img3926e.jpg

http://img805.imageshack.us/img805/6440/img3922t.jpg

A month later, some additional renovated sections were unveiled (2011.12):
Source: http://saitoshika.blog119.fc2.com/ (http://saitoshika.blog119.fc2.com/blog-entry-1331.html)

http://img809.imageshack.us/img809/3857/img0889w.jpg

Work also appears to be proceeding on the waiting room outside the paid area of the station. Judging from the covered sign and the automatic doors, the glass section here will be a staffed ticket counter.

http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/4749/img089120111227225312.jpg

Beautiful! Looks inspiring!

This is a very pleasant looking station.

Any news on the future E7 unveil date? I am mighty curious to see what JR east comes up with for this one!

Any news on the future E7 unveil date? I am mighty curious to see what JR east comes up with for this one!

A prototype is supposed to be ready for testing this summer. It will be based on the proven E2 design, but with more powerful motors to be able to handle the grades of the Hokuriku Shinkansen route at 200km/h+ speeds. Also the pantograph and other "environmental" features will be different from current E2 types. The E7 is a joint development of JR East and JR West (Kanazawa Branch Office).

Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Shinkansen spurs Kyushu business
Kyodo

FUKUOKA — The Kyushu Shinkansen Line between Hakata and Kagoshima stations marked its first anniversary Monday.

While the new line initially had difficulty attracting passengers because of the timing of the March 11 disasters, it is now attracting tourists mainly from the Kansai and Chugoku regions to Kyushu.

Tourism grew especially because the Kyushu line is directly connected with the Sanyo Shinkansen Line running from Osaka through Hiroshima to Hakata.

It is estimated that tourists visiting the seven prefectures in Kyushu will spend a total of ¥2.49 trillion in fiscal 2011 through the end of this month, up 11 percent from the previous year, according to the Kyushu Economic Research Center.

"We did not have many tourists from the Kansai and Chugoku regions, but once they visit here, they will learn how attractive Kyushu is," said Koji Karaike, president of Kyushu Railway Co., which runs the Kyushu Shinkansen Line.

Reflecting the rosy outlook, the daily round-trip rides between Shin-Osaka and Kagoshima-Chuo stations will be increased from the current 15 to 23 on March 17.

JR Kyushu did not hold a ceremony marking the one-year anniversary, but plans to hold events at its main stations Saturday.

Railfan PVs for the E5 Hayabusa and E6 Komachi.
BGM is the theme song for JR East's 20th anniversary CM.

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I still could never be a fan of clown appearance/s ...

Some pics from my trip to Japan last year…

A Tōhoku Shinkansen Max E4 double-decker spotted at Akihabara Station, slithering behind some ongoing construction for the Tōhoku Through Line and preparing to dive underground before reaching Ueno.

http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6213/6409635471_0458795f53_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/7591050@N06/6409635471/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/7591050@N06/6409635471/) by quashlo (http://www.flickr.com/people/7591050@N06/), on Flickr

Really early morning (like 6:00 am early) view outside my window near Shin-Ōsaka Station…
Service on the Tōkaidō Shinkansen begins at 6:00 am, and this is the 6:13 Nozomi for Tōkyō, the second Nozomi of the day, an N700.

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Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/7591050@N06/6514385547/) by quashlo (http://www.flickr.com/people/7591050@N06/), on Flickr

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Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/7591050@N06/6514403983/) by quashlo (http://www.flickr.com/people/7591050@N06/), on Flickr

San’yō Shinkansen Hikari Rail Star 700 series

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Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/7591050@N06/6514630853/) by quashlo (http://www.flickr.com/people/7591050@N06/), on Flickr

700 series

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Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/7591050@N06/6514440355/) by quashlo (http://www.flickr.com/people/7591050@N06/), on Flickr

Third Nozomi of the day, 6:23 departure.

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Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/7591050@N06/6514491613/) by quashlo (http://www.flickr.com/people/7591050@N06/), on Flickr

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Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/7591050@N06/6514500543/) by quashlo (http://www.flickr.com/people/7591050@N06/), on Flickr

The view from atop Kyōto Station…
Nozomi N700 departing for Nagoya and Tōkyō

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Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/7591050@N06/6519340237/) by quashlo (http://www.flickr.com/people/7591050@N06/), on Flickr

Kyōto Station Platforms 11 and 12

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Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/7591050@N06/6519577729/) by quashlo (http://www.flickr.com/people/7591050@N06/), on Flickr

A few days later at Shin-Ōsaka Station…
I timed my trip to Hiroshima for one of the new Sakura sets.

Checking out the full-color LEDs
With a JR Pass you can get reserved seats at no extra charge.

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Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/7591050@N06/6607976065/) by quashlo (http://www.flickr.com/people/7591050@N06/), on Flickr

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Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/7591050@N06/6607978251/) by quashlo (http://www.flickr.com/people/7591050@N06/), on Flickr

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Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/7591050@N06/6607980465/) by quashlo (http://www.flickr.com/people/7591050@N06/), on Flickr

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Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/7591050@N06/6607982441/) by quashlo (http://www.flickr.com/people/7591050@N06/), on Flickr

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Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/7591050@N06/6607986643/) by quashlo (http://www.flickr.com/people/7591050@N06/), on Flickr

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Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/7591050@N06/6607988829/) by quashlo (http://www.flickr.com/people/7591050@N06/), on Flickr

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Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/7591050@N06/6607994479/) by quashlo (http://www.flickr.com/people/7591050@N06/), on Flickr

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Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/7591050@N06/6608001099/) by quashlo (http://www.flickr.com/people/7591050@N06/), on Flickr

Hiroshima Station
The conductor’s cab is in the middle of the formation.

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Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/7591050@N06/6608006783/) by quashlo (http://www.flickr.com/people/7591050@N06/), on Flickr

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Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/7591050@N06/6608015615/) by quashlo (http://www.flickr.com/people/7591050@N06/), on Flickr

A couple days later as I make my way to Kyūshū.
Space is limited, so the roof of the Shinkansen station serves as parking. Ōmiya, Sendai (Miyagi), and probably a few others employ a similar design.

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Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/7591050@N06/6662887177/) by quashlo (http://www.flickr.com/people/7591050@N06/), on Flickr

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Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/7591050@N06/6662903069/) by quashlo (http://www.flickr.com/people/7591050@N06/), on Flickr

Heading off to Ōsaka

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Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/7591050@N06/6662918703/) by quashlo (http://www.flickr.com/people/7591050@N06/), on Flickr

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Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/7591050@N06/6662923385/) by quashlo (http://www.flickr.com/people/7591050@N06/), on Flickr

I also made sure to get a Sakura on the way to Hakata.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7010/6662933979_a320091866_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/7591050@N06/6662933979/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/7591050@N06/6662933979/) by quashlo (http://www.flickr.com/people/7591050@N06/), on Flickr

Different formations, different colors
Mizuho and Sakura are all eight cars, as they are through-services past Hakata.

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Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/7591050@N06/6662939255/) by quashlo (http://www.flickr.com/people/7591050@N06/), on Flickr

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Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/7591050@N06/6662954929/) by quashlo (http://www.flickr.com/people/7591050@N06/), on Flickr

Businessman, probably bound for Ōsaka or Tōkyō

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Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/7591050@N06/6662968467/) by quashlo (http://www.flickr.com/people/7591050@N06/), on Flickr

Our train arrives

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Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/7591050@N06/6662982015/) by quashlo (http://www.flickr.com/people/7591050@N06/), on Flickr

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Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/7591050@N06/6662989825/) by quashlo (http://www.flickr.com/people/7591050@N06/), on Flickr

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Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/7591050@N06/6663009473/) by quashlo (http://www.flickr.com/people/7591050@N06/), on Flickr