High-speed Japanese trains Shinkansen. Japanese railway miracle - Shinkansen train

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This year marks 50 years since the first Shinkansen bullet train left the train platform in Tokyo. talks about the project that became the basis for the development of rail transport throughout the world.

Nine days before opening Olympic Games In 1964, in Tokyo, Emperor Hirohito honored with his presence the commissioning ceremony of the first high-speed train connecting the Japanese capital with Osaka. The blue and white express, whose outline resembled a bullet, rushed along the railway tracks past the picturesque Mount Fuji at a speed of 210 km per hour, covering the distance between the two megacities in record time.

A special high-speed railway track was built for the train, digging 108 km of tunnels and building more than three thousand bridges. But this was not a one-time PR campaign on the eve of the Olympics.

The Tokaido Shinkansen (which means "new main line" in Japanese) has become not only the fastest railway in the world, but also the busiest.

Today, 16-car Shinkansen bullet trains fire from Tokyo Station platforms every three minutes. Their average speed on the route is 270 km/h. Each train has 1,323 comfortable passenger seats.

Since last year, trains on the Tohoku Shinkansen line, one of six high-speed rail lines built over the past 50 years, have reached speeds of up to 320 km/h in some sections despite Japan's mountainous landscape.

High-speed trains have almost completely replaced air trains in Japan. Passenger Transportation between the largest cities in the country. They are not only fast, regular and follow the traffic schedule down to the second. According to a government report on the state of Japanese land transport, the carbon dioxide emitted by such a train is only 16% of that of a car making the same journey.

These trains are kept perfectly clean. But more importantly, since the day Emperor Hirohito blessed the first train in 1964, there has not been a single accident on Japanese expressways. fatal. In 50 years, two trains derailed - one during the 2004 earthquake, the second during heavy snow last year. But both times there were no casualties.

50 years ago, against the backdrop of the new Shinkansen bullet train, all other railways in the world suddenly seemed outdated.

It was October 1964 - the height of Beatlemania. At that time, the fastest British locomotive could reach a speed of 160 km/h, and even then only on small modernized sections of the railway, built in the Victorian era.

Japanese bullet trains, so named because of the pointed nose that characterized the first O series, became the basis for the development of the French TGV, German ICE and Italian Pendolino. But all these trains were born only many years later.

Renaissance of Japan

Japan's global leadership in rail services was the result of the country's impressive economic and cultural revival in the first 20 years after its political and military defeat in 1945.

Then Emperor Hirohito - the same one who opened the Tokaido Shinkansen line and the Olympic Games in 1964 - said on the radio that as a result of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, “the military situation was not necessarily in Japan’s favor.” Then the Japanese first heard his voice on the radio.

Less than 20 years later, Tokyo Olympics guests saw a completely different country - full of energy, rich in culture, modern architecture and great highways. Japan was already famous for its high-end motorcycles and cameras, advanced cinema and many, many more achievements. So, in addition to the high-speed railway itself, the Japanese even then had something to show the world.

It is not surprising that Japan then became an extremely fashionable country. Leading musicians, from Ella Fitzgerald to the Beatles, flocked to Tokyo to tour. But all these remarkable achievements and cutting-edge developments fit harmoniously into the rich and extremely distinctive Japanese culture.

Advertisements showed high-speed trains zipping along the Tokaido Shinkansen line past cherry blossoms and snow-capped mountains. It was a fascinating combination of two worlds - the old imperial and the new democratic.

It is not surprising that the first expressway was not cheap for the Japanese. During construction, its cost doubled. Because of this, Japanese Railways President Shinji Sogo and his chief engineer Hideo Shima were forced to resign. They were not invited to the grand opening of the railroad they created.

This financially risky project began in 1959, when Hideo Shima was asked to design and build a new railway line, create a train and the necessary infrastructure.

Shima and his team came up with the idea of ​​a completely new train. It had to walk on elevated tracks like highways and laid over viaducts. It was necessary to smooth out the angles of inclination as much as possible and minimize the number of turns and bends of the railway track.

Old trains were prohibited from running on these tracks. Although this was impossible in any case - previous generations of Japanese trains used a narrower gauge. The Shinkansen adopted the European and American standard railway gauge of 1.4 m wide. This made it possible to achieve greater stability of the train at high speeds.

The Shinkansen was not the first train designed by Hideo Shima. This engineer was the designer of several previous generation Japanese steam locomotives. One of them set a speed record in 1954.

But the new generation of electric trains from the point of view of technical progress represented a tremendous leap forward. And although Hideo Shima was disgraced due to budget overruns, he still enjoyed great authority as a specialist and subsequently became the head of the Japanese National Space Development Agency.

For twenty years, Hideo Shima has made his way from steam locomotives to space technology. Today he is revered as the father of the Shinkansen and many other high-speed electric trains that run on expressways in the most different countries peace.

Comfortable trip

Over the past 50 years, trains have become even faster. Total number The passengers they carried on the Tokaido Shinkansen alone reached 5.5 billion.

The most modern models With their extraordinarily long pointed noses, hidden wheels and shiny green or blue bodies, these E5 and E6 trains are stunning to look at. They resemble mechanical alien eels, and their performance is as impressive as their design.

When fired from stations, these bullet trains are capable of reaching a speed of 270 km/h in three minutes. On some sections of the road they rush at a speed of 320 km/h. At the same time, the cabin is quiet and no shocks or vibrations are felt.

These trains boast comfortable and perfectly clean toilets, as does almost all of Japan. Seats with reclining backs are located along the train. The conductors serve drinks and neat boxes of bento - Japanese breakfasts and snacks. All service personnel are impeccably dressed. Polite manners are valued and encouraged here.

Meanwhile, white-gloved drivers sitting in air-conditioned cabins ensure strict adherence to train schedules.

The unusually elongated noses of these trains help not only to develop speed, but also to reduce the noise level that the train produces - especially when it leaves the tunnel. So-called "tunnel noise" has been a source of dissatisfaction for many Japanese living near the Shinkansen, but it has been significantly reduced thanks to the aerodynamic design.

The Shinkansen rail network continues to grow. The latest generation of bullet trains are currently running between the southern islands of Honshu and Kyushu. In 2016, a sea tunnel will connect the Japanese with the northern island of Hokkaido, and in 2035 a line will be built to Sapporo.

By then, the first Chuo Shinkansen line should open, connecting Tokyo and Osaka. This is a fundamentally new railway based on the principle of magnetic levitation (Maglev). The trains, literally floating in the air, will travel (fly?) from Tokyo to Osaka in just over an hour, reaching a speed of approximately 500 km/h. This is more than twice as fast as the first Shinkansen trains.

Creating a railway system with trains running at speeds of 200mph at the same intervals as the London Underground is a remarkable achievement by any standard. They are also much cleaner and more reliable than the London Underground.

Whatever the ups and downs of the Japanese economy over the past 50 years, the Shinkansen has been business card new Japan - a country that conquered the world with its cameras, radios, music systems, cars, motorcycles, films, comics and fashion.

The mesmerizing sight of the Shinkansen bullet train rushing by at full speed against the backdrop of fields with cherry blossoms and picturesque Japanese mountains remains the same impressive sight as it was half a century ago.

About the author: Jonathan Glancy is a journalist and television producer. He has worked as an architecture and design correspondent for the Guardian and as design editor for the Independent. He writes articles for the Daily Telegraph and collaborates with the BBC on radio and television documentaries. His books include "History of Architecture", "Lost Buildings", "Biography of the Spitfire", "Nagaland and the Giants of Steam".

The high-speed rail network in Japan is exactly what I dreamed of seeing with my own eyes. These bullet trains are fired from Japanese train platforms every three minutes. Their average speed on the route is 270 km/h, the maximum is not worth mentioning - new records are broken too often.

Below the cut is a very short post about the main competitor to air travel and the most punctual passenger transport on the planet - the Shinkansen.

The long-awaited acquaintance with the “Japanese miracle” took place at Odawara Station, from where our journey through Japan starts. Hikari No. 503 promised to take us to Kyoto in just an hour and a half.
1.

Shinkansen, literally translated from Japanese as “new main line”, is the general name for high-speed railways connecting the most important cities in Japan. This road was called the “New Line” because Japanese builders for the first time, when laying the Shinkansen, moved away from the practice of narrow gauge railways - the standard gauge became 1435 mm. Before that, everything was Japanese railway network It was narrow-gauge (gauge - 1067 mm).

2.

The first section of the Shinkansen Tokyo-Osaka (“Tokaido Shinkansen”), 515 km long, was opened in 1964, on the eve of the opening of the XVIII Summer Olympics in Tokyo. The first trains reached speeds of 220-230 km/h.

The high-speed network is controlled by the Japan Railways Group. JR Group is the backbone of Japan's railway network (controls 20,135 of the 27,268 km of roads, which is ~74% of all main lines). Her share is large share intercity and suburban railway communication. Initially, the Shinkansen lines carried freight and passengers day and night. Now they serve only passengers, and from midnight to 6 a.m. traffic is stopped for maintenance and repair work. There are very few night trains left in Japan, and they all still run on the old route. railway, the tracks of which are laid parallel to the tracks of the “bullet train” and connect big cities countries.

Today there are three categories of high-speed trains in use in Japan: nozomi, hikari and kodama. Nozomi Express is the fastest. The 500 series trains operating on these lines appearance, and especially the elongated bow part, 15 m long, creating the necessary aerodynamics, resembles spaceships. Their appearance on Japanese railways completely changed the standards for high-speed roads. In some areas, the “nozomi” reaches speeds of up to 300 km/h and stops only in large populated areas. “Hikari”, the second fastest, makes stops at intermediate stations, and “kodomi” - at all stations. However, the speed of the “kodomi” exceeds 200 km/h, although when passing through some areas and settlements Shinkansen speed is limited to 110 km/h.

3.

Despite the high speeds, the Shinkansen in Japan has proven itself to be an extremely reliable mode of transport: over the years of operation, starting in 1964, not a single fatal accident (excluding suicides) has been recorded. The “punctuality” of Japanese high-speed trains is also exceptionally high: the average annual delay is less than a minute, and even at peak loads it is no more than 3-4 minutes. Having become a convenient and affordable mode of transport, the Shinkansen is in many cases today the most optimal way to travel around Japan. At the same time, the traffic interval during morning and evening rush hours is 5-6 minutes!

4.

Now high-speed trains are the same symbol modern Japan, as well as high-quality electronics, reliable and durable cars.

5.

High-speed trains here are much more popular than air travel within the country, since to travel on the Shinkansen there is no need to waste time on the road to the airport, check-in, etc. Shinkansen saves time in everything!
6.

These high-speed trains are also called bullet trains.
7.

A little higher, I already noted that these trains compete with airplanes only in time savings. Comfort and price are about the same! Yes, riding Shinkansen trains is not cheap - a short trip can cost a decent amount. What should a tourist do?

The most economical way to travel around Japan is the Japan Rail Pass. Such a travel ticket is simply necessary for an independent traveler.

The Japan Rail Pass allows unlimited travel on JR roads, buses and ferries (not valid on the Nozomi Super Express). This ticket is valid for 7, 14 or 21 days and can be purchased only outside Japan.

8.

The JR Pass can only be purchased by foreigners, and only before arriving in Japan. Prices for the regular JR Pass Ordinary “adult” JR Pass are $237,438 and $562 for 7, 14 and 21 days, respectively. Naturally, the criminal JR Pass Green 1st Class will be more expensive - about $150.

So if you are planning to travel around Japan a lot, I advise you to purchase such a pass in advance.

9.

10.

No one goes beyond the yellow line on the platform.
11.

12.

N700 trains reach speeds of up to 300 km/h, and the ability to tilt allows them to maintain speeds of 270 km/h on curves with a radius of up to 2500 m, where speeds were previously allowed at 255 km/h. Another feature of the N700 is that it accelerates faster than other Shinkansen trains, with an acceleration of 0.722 m/s², allowing it to reach a speed of 270 km/h in just 3 minutes.
13.

Magnetoplane trains are currently being tested in full force in Japan. In April 2015, a magnetic levitation maglev train broke its own speed record, reaching 603 km/h during tests near Fuji. JR Central, which owns the trains, aims to have them on the Tokyo-Nagoya route by 2027. The distance of 280 kilometers is planned to be covered in just 40 minutes.

14.

15.

I didn't take any photos inside the train. I will only note very comfortable seats, personal sockets and sealed smoking capsule rooms. A country for people!
16.

N700. Each such train has 16 carriages and 1323 comfortable passenger seats.
17.

And here’s another video about the N700 series Shinkansen flying over:

If you want to know everything about Shinkansen trains, then you should come to Varlamov.

Japanese railway miracle "Shinkansen"

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Exactly 50 years ago, in October 1964, the world's first high-speed train, the Shinkansen (aka bullet-train), was launched in Japan, capable of reaching speeds of up to 210 km/h and forever becoming one of the symbols of the “new” Japan and its growing economic power. The first line connected the two largest Japanese cities - Tokyo and Osaka, reducing the minimum travel time between them from 7.5 to 4 hours.

I express my deep gratitude for the opportunity to visit different parts of Japan. Representative office of the National Tourism Office of Japan in Vladivostok and S7 Airlines.

More materials from the trip:

In the vicinity of Hakone there are also many thermal springs - it is not for nothing that this town not far from Tokyo has been one of the most popular resorts in Japan since time immemorial. Today, there are more than a dozen hot springs in the region, feeding the baths of many hotels and ryokans in Hakone. About everything in order under the cut.

Finally, the time has come to write reports on the results of the trip to beautiful Japan. The first point of my trip, of course, was the huge metropolis and capital of Japan - Tokyo. Below the cut I suggest you look at pictures about my two days in the most modern metropolis in the world.

On April 28, a new direction was added to the route network of S7 Airlines - a direct regular flight connected Vladivostok and the Japanese city of Osaka. I was among the first passengers on this flight.

Flights to Osaka now operate weekly on Wednesdays and Fridays. The plane departs from Knevichi airport at 13:30, and arrives in Osaka at 14:40 local time, that is, two hours in the air - and you are in Japan. The plane departs back to Vladivostok from Osaka Kansai Airport at 15:45, and arrives at its destination at 19:05. Flights on the new flight are carried out on Airbus A320 aircraft equipped with economy and business class cabins. Below the cut is a little about the airport and the new flight of the green grasshopper plane of S7 airlines.

For obvious reasons, Japan has always been one of the most popular foreign destinations for business and tourist trips for residents of the Far East. This year, due to the significant simplification of the visa regime, interest in this country should grow significantly. Well, it's time for me to visit too.

Yes, it turns out there is still a Far Easterner who has never been to Japan :))

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These high-speed trains are also called “Bullet train”, from English “bullet train”, they depart from Tokyo Station in the Japanese capital, and cover almost all of Japan with a wide network. Japan built its first high-speed train back in 1964, and now the length of the Shinkansen high-speed railway network is about 2,500 kilometers. They cover with their network the main Japanese island Honshu, the southern island of Kyushu, and undersea expressways to the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido are already under construction.

In Tokyo, I lived at Shinagawa Station - this is a large transport hub, and the “bullet train” made a short stop there in just 1.5 minutes. Tokyo is a densely populated city and Japanese bullet trains operate with short stops at the city's most important transport hubs and at major intermediate stations between cities. Japan is industrially developed quite evenly and there is life here too in the suburbs, people live, work and move around. It is clear that in Russia, it is not clear why and where the high-speed Sapsan stops on the way from St. Petersburg to Moscow.

Shinagawa Railway Station Pavilion.

I was traveling by train from Tokyo to Kyoto, it was an early crossing and in the morning all the Japanese were rushing to work. At the station it was very difficult to squeeze through the crowd of “robots” trying to make it in time for the “first bell.” Indeed, the population density in Tokyo is enormous, even with their extensive transport network, in the morning “biomass traffic jams” occur at stations.

A ticket to Kyoto cost about 130 US dollars. In order to get to the high-speed train platform, you need to go through turnstiles, somewhat reminiscent of the turnstiles of the Moscow metro.

Shinkansen in Japan are usually not late, but arrive minute by minute. After all, if the train stops at the Shinagawa intermediate station for only one and a half minutes, then being late is unacceptable. In 2012, the average deviation of trains from schedule was only 36 seconds. Shinkansen to different destinations arrive at Shinagawa Station approximately every five minutes, and a specially trained Japanese person monitors the departure of these high-speed trains at the station.

Islamic-looking Japanese woman at Shinagawa Station. Shinkansen literally means "new highway" in Japanese. The name "bullet train" is also a literal translation from the Japanese "dangan ressha", this name was originally in the 30s of the 20th century, when Japan's high-speed railways were still in development.

The Japanese are a very law-abiding station and they board the train STRICTLY according to general queue, and on the platform there is even a marking on how they should stand, and the place where this or that car stops is also written on the platform itself. Squeezing forward, pushing through the line, is considered very uncultural here, and it is unlikely that a law-abiding Japanese would ever do this.

No one rushes anywhere without a queue; everyone gets off or boards high-speed trains in a sedate and orderly manner. In 1965, with the launch of the Shinkansen, the Japanese were finally able to make "one day trips" between their two industrial centers - Tokyo and Osaka.

And finally, slowly, our Shinkansen arrives at the station.

Externally, from the front it even looks a little more beautiful than our famous Sapsan.

Sometimes Shinkansen can even "kiss".

In the end I do last photo my "hippy Japanese" neighbor, and I jump on the train to Kyoto.

The doors of the Shinkansen open to the side, like in our Russian metro, after which passengers board. Shinkansen are very, very safe transport in Japan. In its 49 years of existence since 1964, carrying 7 billion passengers, there has not been a single fatality due to a train derailment or collision. Injuries and one death were recorded when people were pinned by the doors and the train began to move. To prevent this, there is now an employee on duty at each station who checks that the doors of the high-speed train are closed.

Japan is a very earthquake-prone country and all Shinkansen have been equipped with an earthquake prevention system since 1992. If earth vibrations or tremors are detected, the system itself very quickly stops this train. All trains are also equipped new system"anti derailment".

And of course, a train is much more environmentally friendly than a car. If now Shinkansen can reach speeds of up to 320 km/h, but in fact they travel on average 280 km/h, then by 2020 they plan to increase the top speed limit to 360 kilometers per hour.

An example of the layout of a car on a Japanese high-speed train, with three seats on one side and two on the other.

The train has machines selling mineral water and tea, so beloved by the Japanese.

Urinals on Japanese trains are equipped with transparent glass.

In addition to urinals, there are also ordinary toilets with a “normal” door, maybe simply because the Japanese believe that women are embarrassed to pee with transparent glass, but men are not)).

There are also separate small rooms where you can wash your hands.

In addition to water and tea vending machines, trains periodically sell drinks and snacks. Even the cheapest purchase can be paid with a credit card; there will be no problems with “plastic money” in Japan.

You can enjoy cold beer or hot coffee.

In Japan, as well as in Russia, several types of dried squid are sold, I always thought that dried salted squid was pure Russian theme, but no, in Japan this is also very common. The squid is very tasty, as is the Japanese beer "Asahi".

Each seat is also equipped with a power outlet, just like on New Zealand trains, meaning you can work on a laptop without time restrictions.

Controllers are also a constant occurrence on Japanese trains, since the Shinkansens make virtually no stops along the way; running out onto the platform of an intermediate station and “running around” the controller, as we do in Russia, will not work in Japan.

There is no way to avoid checking purchased tickets.

When the train travels from Tokyo to Kyoto, 45 minutes after departure everyone runs to take pictures famous symbol Japan - Mount Fuji. The Japanese show their country's national symbol to young children.

If someone wants to make a call and does not have a mobile phone, I wonder if there are still such comrades in the 21st century, then there is a payphone on the train.

WITH detailed instructions by use.

Another feature of high-speed “Japanese” trains is that the seats are not fixed in place, as for example in our “Sapsan”, but can freely rotate around their axis by 360 degrees. The rotating mechanism is activated by pressing a special pedal under the seat. And behind the seats there are special nets in which you can put your things, so someone put away his “Canon” camera - which, as popular wisdom says, is “the poor man’s Nikon”.

You can turn the seat 90 degrees and drive looking straight out the window the whole time.

The population density in Japan is enormous and when you travel from Tokyo to Kyoto you don’t even have time to catch the feeling of changing cities, since the industrial zone seems to never end, and the agricultural land is not visible at all. Outside the windows is the factory of the famous Japanese beer “Kirin”.

If, for example, you’re tired of looking out the window, then you can turn the seats another 90 degrees and play cards with your neighbor.

The Japanese in their high-speed trains have not forgotten about the “smoking junkies”; for them, special “aquarium chambers” have been made on the train, which can accommodate a maximum of two people and, in privacy, they can truly enjoy the vomit smell of nicotine.

It’s not for nothing that they say that travel time flies by. While I was walking around the train, I didn’t notice how I arrived in Kyoto. In Shinkansen, you need to carefully monitor the city of arrival, since stops at train stations, even in big cities, usually no more than 5 minutes, you need to pack your things in advance, get ready, and get off the train at the desired station. The first photos at the station in the Japanese city of Kyoto.

We continue to talk about unusual things and next in line are devices whose value can hardly be overestimated – trains!

The history of trains in general is a hymn to speed and reliability, passing through intrigue and a huge amount of money, but we are interested in the 10 fastest trains of our time.

The world of trains looks unusual today, this is due to the fact that since 1979, the classic rail train has been joined by its highly technological brothers, machines from the future - “Maglevs” (from the English magnetic levitation - “magnetic levitation”). Hovering proudly above the magnetic surface and driven by the latest advances in superconductors, they could become the transport of the future. In view of this, for each we will indicate the type of train and under what conditions the record was obtained, because somewhere on board the express there were no passengers, somewhere even drivers.

1. Shinkansen

The world speed record belongs to the Japanese maglev train; on April 21, 2015, at a special section during testing in Yamanashi Prefecture, the train was able to reach a speed of 603 kilometers per hour, with only the driver on board. This is simply an incredible number!

Test video:

Adding to the insane speed is the amazing silence of this super train; the absence of wheels makes the ride comfortable and surprisingly smooth.

Today, the Shinkansen is one of the fastest trains on commercial routes, with a speed of 443 km/h.

2. TGV POS

The first fastest among rail trains, but the second overall, on the planet (as of 2015) is the French TGV POS. The amazing thing is that at the time the speed record was recorded, the train was accelerated to an impressive figure of 574.8 km/h, while journalists and service personnel were on board!

But even taking into account the world record, the speed of the train when moving on commercial routes does not exceed 320 km/h.

3. Shanghai Maglev Train

Next, we have third place given to China with their Shanghai Maglev Train, as the name implies, this train plays in the category of wizards hanging in a powerful magnetic field. This incredible maglev maintains a speed of 431 km/h for 90 seconds (during this time it manages to swallow 10.5 kilometers!), which reaches the maximum speed of this composition, during testing it was able to accelerate to 501 km/h.

4. CRH380A

Another record comes from China, the train with the incredibly euphonious name “CRH380A” took an honorable fourth place. The maximum speed on the route, as the name implies, is 380 km/h, and the maximum recorded result is 486.1 km/h. It is noteworthy that this high-speed train was assembled and launched entirely based on Chinese production capacity. The train carries almost 500 passengers, and boarding is similar to an airplane.

5. TR-09

Location: Germany – maximum speed 450 km/h. Name TR-09.

Number five is from the country of the fastest roads - autobahns, and if in terms of speed on the roads Germany can really be classified as the fastest country, then trains are far from number 1.

In sixth place is the train from South Korea. KTX2, which is what the Korean bullet train is called, was able to accelerate to 352 km/h, but at this moment The maximum speed on commercial routes is limited to 300 km/h.

7. THSR 700T

The next hero, although not the fastest train on the planet, still deserves special applause, the reason for this is the impressive capacity of 989 passengers! considered one of the most spacious and fast species transport.

8. AVETalgo-350

We arrive at the eighth place and stop in Spain, we are on board the AVETalgo-350 (Alta Velocidad Española) nicknamed “Platypus”. The nickname stems from the aerodynamic appearance of the leading carriage (well, you can see for yourself), but no matter how funny our hero looks, his speed of 330 km/h gives him the right to participate in our rating!

9. Eurostar Train

9th place Eurostar Train - France, the train is not so fast 300 km/h (not far from our Sapsan), but the capacity of the train is impressive 900 passengers. By the way, it was on this train that the participants of the famous TV show Top Gear (now deceased, if you love it like me, thumb up!) in season 4, episode 1, they competed with the amazing Aston Martin DB9.

10. Peregrine Falcon

In 10th place, of course, you need to put the Italian “ETR 500” with its good 300 km/h, but I would like to put our quite fast Sapsan. Although the current operational speed of this train is limited to 250 km/h, its modernization (and rather the modernization of its routes) will allow the train to travel at a speed of 350 km/h. At the moment, this is impossible for many reasons, one of them is the vortex effect, which can knock an adult off his feet at a distance of 5 meters from the tracks. Sapsan also sets a funny record - it is the widest high-speed train in the world. Although the train is built on a Siemens platform, due to the wider gauge used in Russia, 1520 mm, versus the European one of 1435 mm, it became possible to increase the width of the car by 300 mm, this makes Sapsan the most “pot-bellied” bullet train.

High-speed trains are an amazing and very convenient means of traveling around Japan. In our daily movements, the main means of transportation was railway transport, and I cannot help but dwell on the topic of Shinkansen (新幹線, Shinkansen), devoting a separate article to it. At first, as usual, I gasp and admire what I saw and felt, and then I move on to the story. You say, what nonsense, she rode the train and is happy. Yes it is!

The Shinkansen is the first train of its class, it is comfortable to move, and you don’t feel any shaking or vibration while moving on it. The feeling is similar to that of being on an airplane, it’s like you’re flying, but it’s like you’re standing still. I found a photo on the Internet that when the Shinkansen moves, a 500 yen coin does not fall, I am 100% sure that this is not a montage. Because movement of 300 kilometers per hour is not felt inside the train. High-speed trains

But when two handsome Shinkansen meet at this very speed, you can feel the force with which the train is thrown to the side. This is what kind of force (what? attraction?) must be so that the train does not fly off the rails. I'm not a technician, I don't know how to say it correctly :).

The speed is felt only when you look out the window at the lightning-fast changing landscape, and how quickly the drops dry on the glass, the rain still did not stop.

Traveling on trains of this class is expensive; a trip for a Japanese from Tokyo to Osaka will cost 19,300 yen, at the exchange rate - 177 dollars, and this is only one way. Therefore, what a blessing that for foreign tourists came up with such a miracle as JR PASS, our ticket was valid for 7 days and bought it for $230 (if I’m not confused). We definitely paid for it several times when we moved towards Osaka. Because there we only had time to travel between cities.

The ticket voucher can only be purchased outside of Japan and only for foreigners with tourist visa, that is, you need to worry about it in advance, I wrote in more detail. Then, already in Japan, the voucher is exchanged for a travel ticket.

Shinkansen is translated from Japanese as a new highway. That’s right, they began to develop a new type of highway back in 1940, and even then they planned to run trains on a new, standard-width track that could reach speeds of up to 200 kilometers per hour. In Japan, the main length of the railway (22,231 km) is made up of so-called narrow-gauge railways, the width of which is 1067 mm. For the Shinkansen, a highway with a standard European gauge of 1435 mm was required.

During the war, work on the construction of a new highway was suspended, and since 1943 it was completely stopped. In the post-war period, due to the gradual restoration of the country's industry and economy, the insufficiency of available transport was felt more and more acutely. The Japanese government was in no hurry to develop railway transport, as under the influence of American ideology it was inclined to the position that railways would be replaced by highways and air travel.

But passenger traffic was growing, more and more cargo was required to be transported to different parts of the country, and the existing railways and train fleet could not cope with this flow. In 1957, they started talking about reviving the new highway project, and much of the credit for this goes to the fourth president of the Japanese National Highways, Shinji Sogu.

To obtain government support, Shinji Sog developed a plan that ensured the participation and impossibility of abandonment of the project by the Japanese government.

• Despite great resistance, he insisted on building a standard 1435 mm gauge, arguing that this would improve the quality of roads.
• He also stated that the maximum speed of trains will be 200 km/h (and not the mind-blowing 300), so as not to focus attention on this issue.
• I convinced everyone that this was not new construction or a new highway, but an improvement of the existing one.
• He stated the required budget, which was significantly lower than the required one, and to pay for part of the project, a loan in the amount of $80 million was received from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

Shinji Sog consciously resorted to these “tricks”, realizing that if he had stated the real cost of the project, he would not have received either approval for the construction of a new expressway or money. As soon as the money was allocated, Shinji Sog, possessing exclusive presidential powers, began to divert funds from other JNR projects for the construction of the expressway.

Of course, the declared funds were not enough exactly twice, but the main work was completed and the direction was set. The 1964 Olympic Games were looming on the horizon, to be held in Tokyo. The project had to be completed by this date. The project cost 400 billion yen. Japan was the first country to build dedicated railway lines for high-speed trains.

In 1963, taking full responsibility for the current situation, Shinji Sog resigned. But his achievements in the construction of high-speed trains in Japan are immortalized with a memorial tablet at Tokyo station.

A week, or rather 9 days, before the Summer Olympic Games, which took place from October 10 to 24, 1964, the first expressway between Tokyo and Osaka was opened, with a length of 515 km, with seventeen stations.

The Shinkansen is called the bullet train and it lives up to its name. The first Shinkansen developed a speed of 210-220 km/h, today the maximum speed of trains is 320 km/h, this is, of course, not the Chinese maglev, which reaches speeds of up to 500 km/h, but it is also a very impressive speed. In addition, the Japanese are working on their version of maglev, which reaches speeds of up to 603 km/h; this speed was first recorded on April 21, 2015 and is a world record.

The advent of expressways changed business life in Japan. The country's two largest metropolises, Tokyo and Osaka, are located “three hours” away. One-day business trips could now be made. On the Nozomi Shinkansen, which travels faster than usual, this journey will take 2.5 hours.

In addition to speed, I would like to note the ease of movement and stay on bullet trains. The seats are very comfortable, the distance between the seats both in the row itself and between the rows is such that it does not create inconvenience to neighbors. In the Shinkansen, unlike buses, planes, and other trains, it is very comfortable to go about your business, while you are going to work or a meeting in another city, you can prepare the necessary information, work using a computer, there is power in all rows. They often have breakfast, lunch, and dinner in the Shinkansen. Then they must take all the bags with them and throw them away when leaving the train at the station, where there are always several types of containers for sorting waste. And of course, the Shinkansen is very comfortable to sleep in.

If you are traveling big company, then the chairs in front can be turned so that people sit facing each other.

Some figures in the history of the development of high-speed trains in Japan:

1. Construction of the first section of the new expressway began in April 1959, and the first Shinkansen opened on October 1, 1964.
2. The length of high-speed rail lines has increased from 515.4 km in 1964 to 2,764.6 km in 2015.
3. On July 13, 1967, the mark of 100 million passengers using the services of a high-speed train was recorded; in 1976 - 1 billion.
4. The maximum speed of the Shinkansen is 320 km/h; on the section of road between Tokyo and Aomori, speeds of up to 360 km/h are possible.
5. Japan's busiest railway line, Tokyo-Osaka, carries 151 million passengers a year.
6. The entire high-speed train line in Japan carries 353 million people a year.
7. During peak hours, the Shinkansen runs at three-minute intervals and has up to 13 trains with 16 cars in each direction. Each carriage has 1323 comfortable passenger seats.
8. The length of each car is 25 meters, with the exception of the head car. The total length of the train is 400 meters
9. During the construction of the Tokyo-Osaka line, 3,000 bridges and 67 tunnels were built, with a length of 108 km.
10. When traveling over a distance of up to 800 kilometers, the Japanese prefer the Shinkansen over air travel. Because ticket prices are comparable, while traveling by train is more comfortable, and if you take into account the registration and boarding procedure, as well as the fact that airports are located far from cities, then it is certainly more convenient to arrive at the train departure time and get off at the desired stations are almost in the city center.

On March 26, 2016, the high-speed line connected the islands of Honshu and Hokkaido. Construction of the road began in May 2005 in Aomori (northern Honshu island) and 11 years later ended in Hakodate (northern Hokkaido island) railway track passes at a depth of 240 meters, 100 meters below the seabed. The unique Seikan Tunnel, which connects two islands, is the deepest tunnel in the world and the second longest. The length of Seikan is 53.85 km, its underwater part is 23.3 km.

The speed of the Shinkansen on this section of the road is 360 km/h. From Tokyo to Sapporo you can drive in 3 hours 57 minutes.

Shinkansen is so accurate and punctual that any deviation from the schedule is regarded as an emergency. In 2014, the average train delay was 54 seconds. In 2017, the statistics should have changed for the worse, since personally our train, on which we were supposed to travel to Matsumoto due to the October typhoon Lan, was delayed for 3 hours because a fallen tree damaged the main line. But by the way, an hour later the trains went as usual and we boarded another train, not our own, and moved on.

Shinkansen is a safe form of transport , despite frequent earthquakes and typhoons, for its more than 50 summer story there was not a single fatality as a result of a collision or. Cases of suicide are not taken into account. Everyone remembers the sensational story in 2015, when a Shinkansen passenger traveling along the Tokyo-Osaka route committed an act of self-immolation on a train carrying 1000 passengers. As a result of this incident, 80 people were injured (minorly, mainly from smoke) and two cases of clinical death were announced.

In Japan, 6% of suicides occur on railway lines. On average, 2,000 people jump in front of a train every year due to the apparent ease of suicide. Railroad companies often sue relatives for damages caused by downtime. In turn, measures are being taken to reduce such cases: stations are equipped with blue illuminated LEDs, trains are painted bright green (which, in principle, I have not often seen) - this should reassure jumpers. But the most effective thing is that barriers are installed at stations that do not allow you to approach the railway track, and only when the Shinkansen stops do the doors open to allow you to board the train.

At stations in the Kyoto and Osaka area, specifically on expressways, there are such barriers almost everywhere, so I assume that barriers are now being installed everywhere. Of course, it’s not so beautiful to watch the trains coming and going, but it’s safe for people.

A little more about safety.

Two high-speed train crashes have been officially recorded. The first occurred on October 23, 2004 in Chuetsu, in Niigata Prefecture, during a powerful earthquake with a magnitude of 6.6 points. The Shinkansen passed close to the epicenter at a speed of 210 km/h and derailed. Emergency braking was performed within seventy seconds with a braking distance of 1.6 km. There were 155 passengers on the train, none of them were injured.

The second incident occurred on March 2, 2013, on the northern section of roads in Akita Prefecture. At this time, a record amount of snow fell. Due to heavy snowfall, the train was traveling at a minimum speed of 20 mph; upon hearing a loud, uncharacteristic sound, the driver began braking the train. Traffic in the area was immediately stopped. Considering that the train was located far from the tracks, the train passengers, of whom there were 130 people, had to wait for help and evacuation for six hours until the bus arrived. All this time, electricity and heating were turned on in the pastures. None of the passengers were injured. The crash occurred on Saturday; traffic on this section of the road was restored only on Monday.

The expressways of Japan along which the Shinkansen travel are completely separate from the regular highways along which regular trains travel. At each metro station you need to find signs indicating the direction to the exit to the Shinkansen platform. Ticket offices for these trains are also located separately. Having the JR Pass in hand, we tried several times to reserve a seat at such ticket offices, but the queues were always ten or more people long, and we, as usual, were in a hurry to catch the train. So we rushed to the train and sat down in the empty seats in the carriage. Considering that our movement took place mainly during the day, there were no special problems, that is, it is not at all necessary to reserve seats on a passing train. By the way, in the Shinkansen, inspectors often walk through the carriage and check passengers’ tickets.

The railways themselves for high-speed trains also run separately from regular ones, which allows the shinkensen to move without any delays. Shinkansens carry only passengers and do not transport cargo, operating hours are from six in the morning to midnight.

In addition to speed, cleanliness, comfort and convenience, it was striking that high-speed trains in Japan are so popular, despite the high cost of tickets. The bulk of the passengers are people, mostly men, in business suits. Therefore, the conclusion suggests itself that they are going to work, on a business trip, and so on to neighboring cities and regions. Children also meet school age already in smaller quantities. And on the line passing through Osaka, Kyoto there are many foreign tourists with huge backpacks. The Japanese prefer suitcases and business briefcases when traveling.

On the platforms, while waiting for the train, the Japanese line up and do not crowd in front of the intended door of the carriage. If the location of the doors (if there is no special fencing) and the car number are drawn on the platform on the floor, then it is in this place that the door will be located when the train stops, everything is accurate and punctual as usual.

I haven’t seen the terrible pictures that are on the Internet about the endless stream of passengers on the subway, but eyewitnesses say that this is really true. This happens on particularly busy lines during rush hour.

• Friends, Olga Tanaka in the comments to this article wrote a voluminous, live information, which I found very interesting. Olga lives in Japan and knows not only the pros, but also the cons of high-speed trains. To prevent her information from getting lost in the comments section, I, with the author’s consent, am moving it to the main part of the article, and my response will be posted in the comments section.

Congratulations on your new interesting and rich article! Of course, having considerable experience of riding in shinkansen, I have some comments:

(1) Personally, I can’t sleep in the Shinkansen. The reason for this is the frequent movement of passengers. The Shinkansen carriage is not a reserved seat, much less a coupe, but rows of seats like in an Aeroexpress. When traveling alone, travel companions change quite often. And the Japanese also have a bad habit of taking with them not only what they need, but also what might be useful. Because of this, they always have a lot of baggage with them. They prefer to place this luggage at their feet. It's probably more reliable this way. Therefore, it is better to sit by the window: you won’t have to miss them. And there is one more thing - the station announcements in the carriages are given in Japanese and English, so they are quite long and loud. This also does not promote sleep. But, probably, this is a prevention of passing your station

(2) Happy is the one who did not take the Shinkansen to O-bon. If you've ever read notes about what it's like to travel on trains in China in China New Year, so this is practically it. Of course, there are no fake tickets or battles for seats on Japanese Shinkansen. However, frenzied crowds of people, luggage racks filled to capacity with things and passengers packed like sardines into a barrel, filling all the aisles and vestibules (yes, standing places!!!) Thanks to the efforts of my husband, I was always provided with an armored seat, and sedately watched the poor fellows who, having bought a standing ticket at the price of a seated one, traveled in terrible conditions. In general, I was outraged that the railway workers did not reduce the price of standing places, thereby enriching themselves disproportionately. But my husband objected that it was people’s own fault for not taking care of the ticket in advance. In addition, by allowing them to travel while standing, they have a chance to go to their home prefecture. Otherwise there would not have been such a chance at all.

(3) There are real “Japanese” shinkansen not only in Japan, but, for example, in Taiwan. They bought the technology from the Japanese. But the Chinese are only imitating the Japanese and they do not have the legal right to call their high-speed trains shinkansen.

(4) Personally, I love eating at the Shinkansen. At the station you buy their signature lunch in a box - bento. Always fresh and beautiful. The design of the cardboard box itself creates the perfect mood for travel. But you can already buy coffee and ice cream from the conductor right in the carriage. Ice cream, mostly of only one type - vanilla, expensive, but so tasty that you will lick your fingers.

In Russia, for subjective reasons, I really don’t like trains, but Japanese trains made me look at railway transport a little differently.

And now a little about bento (lunch packed in a special box). As Olga wrote above, bento is part of the Shinkansen journey.

Bento prepared for consumption during a train trip has a special name - ekiben. This is a single-serve lunch box. Boxes for ekiben can be ceramic, plastic, or wood. The bento comes with chopsticks and, if necessary, spoons. Lunch can be purchased at the train station or on the train itself.

The girls (I wonder what they are officially called) regularly push a cart around the carriage with bento, drinks, dry snacks, ice cream and various goodies and unobtrusively offer passengers to buy what they need. I didn’t see people in our carriage often purchasing goods from a train employee. This probably happens more during lunchtime.

But I noticed what many people eat on the train. Mainly for two reasons: when leaving the train, passengers are holding bags of garbage in their hands, which are thrown out at the station. And sometimes, when you sit down on a seat, you can inadvertently “get into trouble”; not very careful “eaters” leave scattered rice behind them.

The first railroad bento was sold at Utsunomiya Station on July 16, 1885. The bento consisted of two balls of rice and pickled radish, packaged in a bamboo box. But at least seven more railway stations are vying for the role of “first creator” of ekiben. Subsequently, ekiben became more and more popular and each prefecture tried to diversify the menu and bring local flavor to the dishes. Nowadays, there is also a continuing trend that ekibena ingredients consist of local products inherent to the area.

The golden age for ekiben was the 80s, when trains did not run so fast and the passenger, being long time on the way, I felt the need to refresh myself on the road. Today, the procedure for eating on a train is not widespread.