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Shinkansen

A lineup of JR East Shinkansen trains in October 2012
A lineup of JR West Shinkansen trains in October 2008
Map of Shinkansen lines (as of May 2024, excluding the Hakataminami Line and Gala-Yuzawa Line extension). The section of the Nishi-Kyushu Shinkansen west of Takeo-onsen utilizes a cross-platform interchange with conventional express trains due to the suspension of the GCT development.

The Shinkansen (Japanese: 新幹線, [ɕiŋkaꜜɰ̃seɴ] , lit. 'new trunk line'), colloquially known in English as the bullet train, is a network of high-speed railway lines in Japan. It was initially built to connect distant Japanese regions with Tokyo, the capital, to aid economic growth and development. Beyond long-distance travel, some sections around the largest metropolitan areas are used as a commuter rail network.[1][2] It is owned by the Japan Railway Construction, Transport and Technology Agency and operated by five Japan Railways Group companies.

Starting with the Tokaido Shinkansen (515.4 km; 320.3 mi) in 1964,[3] the network has expanded to consist of 2,951.3 km (1,833.9 mi) of lines with maximum speeds of 260–320 km/h (160–200 mph), 283.5 km (176.2 mi) of Mini-shinkansen lines with a maximum speed of 130 km/h (80 mph), and 10.3 km (6.4 mi) of spur lines with Shinkansen services.[4] The network links most major cities on the islands of Honshu and Kyushu, and connects to Hakodate on the northern island of Hokkaido. An extension to Sapporo is under construction and scheduled to open in March 2031.[5] The maximum operating speed is 320 km/h (200 mph) (on a 387.5 km (241 mi) section of the Tōhoku Shinkansen).[6] Test runs have reached 443 km/h (275 mph) for conventional rail in 1996, and up to a world record 603 km/h (375 mph) for SCMaglev trains in April 2015.[7]

The original Tokaido Shinkansen, connecting Tokyo, Nagoya, and Osaka, three of Japan's largest cities, is one of the world's busiest high-speed rail lines. In the one-year period preceding March 2017, it carried 159 million passengers,[8] and since its opening more than six decades ago, it has transported more than 6.4 billion total passengers.[3] At peak times, the line carries up to 16 trains per hour in each direction with 16 cars each (1,323-seat capacity and occasionally additional standing passengers) with a minimum headway of three minutes between trains.[9]

The Shinkansen network of Japan had the highest annual passenger ridership (a maximum of 353 million in 2007) of any high-speed rail network until 2011, when the Chinese high-speed railway network surpassed it at 370 million passengers annually, reaching over 2.9 billion annual passengers in 2023.[10]

  1. ^ Joe Pinker (6 October 2014). "What 50 Years of Bullet Trains Have Done for Japan". The Atlantic. The Atlantic Monthly Group. Archived from the original on 27 May 2022. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  2. ^ Philip Brasor and Masako Tsubuku (30 September 2014). "How the Shinkansen bullet train made Tokyo into the monster it is today". The Guardian. Guardian News and Media Limited. Archived from the original on 16 May 2022. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  3. ^ a b "About the Shinkansen". global.jr-central.co.jp. Central Japan Railway Company. Archived from the original on 5 July 2022. Retrieved 20 June 2021.
  4. ^ "JR-East: Fact Sheet Service Areas and Business Contents" (PDF). East Japan Railway Company. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 February 2022. Retrieved 30 April 2011.[failed verification]
  5. ^ Sato, Yoshihiko (16 February 2016). "Hokkaido Shinkansen prepares for launch". International Railway Journal. Simmons-Boardman Publishing Inc. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
  6. ^ "Tohoku Shinkansen Speed Increase: Phased speed increase after the extension to Shin-Aomori Station". jreast.co.jp. East Japan Railway Company. 6 November 2007. Archived from the original on 2 November 2021. Retrieved 2 May 2011.
  7. ^ "Japan's maglev train breaks world speed record with 600 km/h test run". The Guardian. United Kingdom: Guardian News and Media Limited. 21 April 2015. Archived from the original on 18 June 2022. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
  8. ^ Central Japan Railway Company Annual Report 2017 (PDF) (Report). Central Japan Railway Company. 2017. p. 23. Archived (PDF) from the original on 29 January 2018. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
  9. ^ "JR Central Annual Report 2019" (PDF). 16 November 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on 16 November 2020. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
  10. ^ "2024年中国高铁行业研究报告 - 21经济网". www.21jingji.com. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
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