High-speed Japanese Shinkansen trains.

I looked at the capsule hotel almost immediately upon arrival in Tokyo, and took a high-speed train a little later from Tokyo to the ancient capital of Japan - Kyoto.

These high speed trains 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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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 " one day trips" between its two industrial centers - Tokyo and Osaka.

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

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

Sometimes Shinkansen can even "kiss".

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

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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.

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An example of the layout of a car in a high-speed train in Japan, on one side there are three seats, and on the other two.

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

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Urinals on Japanese trains are equipped with transparent glass.

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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)).

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

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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.

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You can enjoy cold beer or hot coffee.

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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".

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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.

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Controllers are also a constant occurrence on Japanese trains, since 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.

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There is no way to avoid checking purchased tickets.

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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 national symbol of their country to young children.

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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.

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WITH detailed instructions by use.

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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 they say folk wisdom, is the "poor man's Nikon".

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

After leaving Kyoto, we boarded a train with the goal of getting to a place called Yamanouchi, which is difficult to pronounce. To do this, we first needed to get to Kanazawa Station, and then take another train to Nagano. Holding suspicious 3 tickets in my hands instead of the prescribed two, I felt like there was some kind of catch, and so it turned out. Therefore, I will dwell in more detail on the “ambushes” that can await you when traveling on Shinkansen (Japanese high-speed trains).

So, you have decided to travel on this miracle of railway technology. It is important to know that in Japan most of the railways are narrow gauge (1067 mm), in Russia such railways are exists only on Sakhalin. A significant exception is the Shinkansen (literally "new gauge") train system, which uses the European 1435 mm gauge.

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 with a new "anti-derailment" system.


Passenger trains in Japan can be divided into four categories: local trains (local trains), express trains (rapid trains), long-distance trains and Shinkansen bullet trains. Long-distance trains are not popular and are few in number. The Tokaido Line Shinkansen, for example, are in turn divided into those that go with all Shinkansen stops (the so-called Kodama), those that go with almost all stops (Hikari), and those that go non-stop or almost non-stop (“Nozomi”). A ticket for "Nozomi" is more expensive than for "slow" super express trains, and in real life all "Nozomi" still make one stop - in Nagoya.
The fare ranges from $15 to $440 depending on the travel distance and class of train. A ticket for a short distance trip can be purchased in the same way as a metro ticket - in special ticket machines.


If you doubt that you can handle buying such a ticket on your own, then feel free to go to the box office where real people sit, and they will certainly sell you a ticket in the right direction.

But before that, you need to navigate the schedule. The site helped me a lothttp://www.hyperdia.com/
It’s easy to understand, the only caveat is that be sure to take into account that the time for transfers from one train to another is extremely short, because everything is aimed at the Japanese, who know where they need to go to transfer and do it with ease. eyes closed. We, who are faced with such problems for the first time, will need a lot more time, especially since trains stop for no more than 1.5 minutes at stations.


With the purchased ticket you need to find the sign “Shinkansen Gate» - if you are traveling by Shinkansen orJR- if by train. The ticket must be lowered along the arrow and be sure to make sure that it comes out further at the turnstile and do not forget to pick it up from there.


Having lowered my ticket, I saw that it did not fly out at the turnstile; fortunately, an employee immediately approached me and saw that there was a problem. He asked me about my second ticket. As it turned out, due to the fact that I was traveling with a transfer, as you remember, I was given three tickets: two tickets were for two sections of the route, but the third was a general one, which indicated the amount I paid for the entire journey, and this third ticket had to be folded together with one of the tickets needed for this section of the route and put together in the turnstile window. Who knows these rules? Thanks to the employee who explained all this to me - thus putting these tickets in my place. When you make a transfer, you need to roll both tickets at the turnstile again and at the end of the journey, when you have reached the final point of the journey, send them back to the turnstile again for good. Such are the subtleties. My husband, by the way, had problems because he somehow ignored the closed doors of the turnstile and walked through with one ticket, he left the second one somewhere and then there was a small showdown with the employee. But seeing that we were respectable and elderly people and still had some remaining tickets on hand, he still released us at the final destination. Why does he need a huge “origato”?J
So, having dealt with the turnstiles, we look for the desired path from which the train leaves. Don’t be afraid of the Japanese scoreboard, after a few seconds it always switches to English and life will become more fun...


I’ll give an example of one of my tickets with explanations so that everything is clear in detail, so:


1. direction Nagano-Tokyo
2. date - January 7
3. Departure time from Nagano 11: 15, arrival time in Tokyo 12:44
4. name of the train -KAGAYAKI 508
5. car number - 10
6. seat number in the carriage - 7E
7. cost - 8400 yen
The carriage number is always indicated in some way on the platform; in the photo you can see that I am standing right under the sign where carriage 10 should stop.

Passengers board the train, always lining up in a queue, even if this queue consists of only 2 people. The Japanese are very organized in this regard.


What else is important to know? There are always two types of toilets in shinkansen - European and Japanese, which will be written about (“Japanese style” and “Western style”). With European (Western) everything is clear, but with Japanese it is even more clear for us - Russians, because these are public toilets with a hole in the floor, familiar to everyone since Soviet times.
I took a photo of the toilet control panel just in case for those curious.J


The leftmost button - which you don’t need to press, you just need to put your palm up and everything will work - flush. Next from left to right are the “stop” buttons, two bidet options (it’s clear in the picture for which part of the body) and the last right button is to raise the seat. It’s better not to use the lower small ones, if you don’t understand, I haven’t fully studied it myself, but there may be water pressure, seat heating buttons, etc.
On trains there are always vending machines with drinks, and waiters also walk around with carts and offer food and drinks, but everything costs many times more, so it’s better to buy food in the station shops.
Here's another note about drink machines - if you see that the price tag for a drink is red, this means that the drink will be hot, if the price tag is blue, then the drink will come out ice cold!

Now, I am sure that after my instructions no one will get lost or confused on the Japanese railways.

Aka magnetic levitation train, aka maglev from the English magnetic levitation ("magnetic levitation") - this is a magnetic levitation train, driven and controlled by force electromagnetic field. Such a train, unlike traditional trains, does not touch the rail surface during movement. Since there is a gap between the train and the running surface, friction is eliminated and the only braking force is aerodynamic drag. Maglev refers to monorail transport.

Monorail:

High-speed ground transport (HSLT) is rail transport that operates trains at speeds in excess of 200 km/h (120 mph). Although at the beginning of the 20th century, trains traveling at speeds above 150-160 km/h were called high-speed.
Today VSNT trains move along specially designated railway tracks- a high-speed line (HSM), or on a magnetic suspension, along which the above-shown maglev moves.

The first regular service of high-speed trains began in 1964 in Japan. In 1981, VSNT trains began to operate in France, and soon most Western Europe, including Great Britain, was united into a single high-speed rail network. Modern high-speed trains in operation reach speeds of about 350-400 km/h, and in tests they can even accelerate to 560-580 km/h, such as the JR-Maglev MLX01, which set a speed record of 581 km/h during testing in 2003. h.
In Russia, regular operation of high-speed trains, on common tracks with regular trains, began in 2009. And only by 2017 is the completion of the construction of Russia's first specialized high-speed railway line Moscow - St. Petersburg.

In addition to passengers, high-speed trains also transport cargo, for example: French service La Poste has a fleet of special TGV electric trains for the transport of mail and parcels.

The speed of “magnetic” trains, that is, maglev trains, is comparable to the speed of an airplane and allows them to compete with air transport on short- and medium-haul routes (up to 1000 km). Although the idea of ​​such transport itself is not new, economic and technical limitations have not allowed it to fully develop.

On this moment There are 3 main technologies for magnetic suspension of trains:

1. On superconducting magnets (electrodynamic suspension, EDS);
2. On electromagnets (electromagnetic suspension, EMS);
3. On permanent magnets; this is a new and potentially most cost-effective system.

The composition levitates due to the repulsion of identical magnetic poles and, conversely, the attraction of opposite poles. The movement is carried out by a linear motor located either on the train, on the track, or both. A major design challenge is heavy weight sufficiently powerful magnets, since a strong magnetic field is required to maintain a massive composition in the air.

Advantages of Maglev:

• theoretically the fastest speed you can get on a public (non-sport) ground transport;
• great prospects for achieving speeds many times higher than those used in jet aviation;
• low noise.

Disadvantages of Maglev:

• high cost of creating and maintaining a track - the cost of building one kilometer of maglev track is comparable to digging a kilometer of metro tunnel using a closed method;
• the electromagnetic field created may be harmful to train crews and surrounding residents. Even traction transformers used on electrified alternating current railways are harmful to drivers. But in this case, the field strength is an order of magnitude greater. It is also possible that Maglev lines will not be available to people using pacemakers;
• Standard gauge tracks, rebuilt for high-speed traffic, remain accessible to regular passenger and commuter trains. The high-speed Maglev route is not suitable for anything else; additional tracks will be required for low-speed service.

Most active development Maglev is being conducted by Germany and Japan.

*Help: What is Shinkansen?
Shinkansen is the name of the high-speed railway network in Japan, designed to transport passengers between major cities in the country. Owned by Japan Railways. The first line opened between Osaka and Tokyo in 1964, the Tokaido Shinkansen. This line is the busiest high-speed rail line in the world. It carries about 375,000 passengers daily.

"Bullet Train" is one of the names for Shinkansen trains. Trains can have up to 16 cars. Each carriage reaches a length of 25 meters, with the exception of the head carriages, which are usually slightly longer. total length train distance is about 400 meters. The stations for such trains are also very long and specially adapted for these trains.

In Japan, maglevs are often called "riniaka" (Japanese: リニアカー), derived from the English "linear car" due to the linear motor used on board.

JR-Maglev uses electrodynamic suspension with superconducting magnets (EDS), installed both on the train and on the track. Unlike the German Transrapid system, JR-Maglev does not use a monorail design: trains run in a channel between magnets. This design allows for higher speeds, ensures greater passenger safety in the event of evacuation, and ease of operation.

Unlike electromagnetic suspension (EMS), trains using EDS technology require additional wheels when traveling at low speeds (up to 150 km/h). When a certain speed is reached, the wheels are separated from the ground and the train “flies” at a distance of several centimeters from the surface. In the event of an accident, the wheels also allow the train to stop more smoothly.

For braking in normal mode, electrodynamic brakes are used. For emergencies, the train is equipped with retractable aerodynamic and disc brakes on the bogies.

Ride in maglev with a top speed of 501 km/h. The description states that the video was made in 2005:

Several trains with in different forms nose cone: from the usual pointed to almost flat, 14 meters long, designed to get rid of the loud bang that accompanies a train entering a tunnel at high speed. The maglev train can be completely computer controlled. The driver monitors the operation of the computer and receives an image of the track through a video camera (the driver's cabin does not have forward viewing windows).

The JR-Maglev technology is more expensive than a similar development by Transrapid, implemented in China (line to Shanghai airport), since it requires large expenses for equipping the route with superconducting magnets and laying tunnels in the mountains using an explosive method. The total cost of the project could be US$82.5 billion. If the line were laid along the Tokaido coastal highway, it would require less cost, but would require the construction of a large number of short-length tunnels. Despite the fact that the magnetic levitation train itself is silent, each entry into the tunnel at high speed will cause a bang comparable in volume to an explosion, so laying the line in densely populated areas is impossible.

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 begins. 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 highways). Her share is large share intercity and suburban railway communication. Initially, the Shinkansen lines carried freight and Passenger Transportation 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 section, 15 m long, creating the necessary aerodynamics, resemble 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 accident has been recorded. fatal(excluding suicides). 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 is 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.

Japan for residents Far East for obvious reasons, it has always been one of the most popular foreign destinations for business and leisure travel. 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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Shinkansen Literally translated from Japanese, “new trunk 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 this, the entire Japanese railway network was narrow gauge (1067 mm gauge).

Train Shinkansen

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. Despite the fact that, it would seem, the starting positions from which Japan began its post-war run-up were very unfavorable. The economy was undermined and depleted by an aggressive long war, large cities and many industrial enterprises lay in ruins (at the beginning of 1946, the level of industrial production was 14% of the average pre-war level).

And yet, the world's first high-speed railway was built in Japan. The first trains reached speeds of 220-230 km/h. Now this figure has long been surpassed by high-speed trains from other countries, but for its time it was an unconditional record. Now high-speed trains are as much a symbol of modern Japan as high-quality electronics and reliable and durable cars.

The first Shinkansen train of series 0

In 1972, the Tokyo-Osaka section was extended by 160 km to Okayama, and in 1975 by 393 km to Hakata station in Fukuoka on the island. Kyushu. The Hikari (Light) train, which reaches speeds of up to 210 km/h in places, covers the 1,068 km between Tokyo and Hakata in less than 7 hours.

In 1982, 2 more lines went into operation leading from Tokyo to Niigata (Joetsu Line, 270 km) and Morioka (Tohoku Line, 465 km). Speeds on them reach 240 km/h, and in one of the sections even 274 km/h. The train's main lines pass through numerous tunnels, including an underwater tunnel under the Shimonoseki Strait between the islands of Honshu and Kyushu. Maximum speed trains on older sections of the mainline - 210 km/h, and on newer sections - 260 km/h. The “bullet train” often “flies” at a speed of 300 km, which is comparable to the high-speed lines TGV in France and ICE in Germany.

Map of high-speed highways in Japan

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 highways). It accounts for a large share of intercity and suburban rail traffic. 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 railway, which runs parallel to the bullet train tracks and connects the country's major cities.

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 running on these lines resemble spaceships with their appearance, and especially with their elongated 15 m long nose section, which creates the necessary aerodynamics. 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 populated areas, the speed of the Shinkansen is limited to 110 km/h.

Electric train “Shinkansen” 300 series

Shinkansen electric trains 300 and 700 series

Shinkansen train JR500

Despite the high speeds, the Shinkansen in Japan has proven itself to be an extremely reliable mode of transport: over 35 years of operation, starting in 1964, not a single fatal accident (excluding suicides) has been recorded. During this time, more than 6 billion passengers were transported. 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! It is no coincidence that the third part of all costs of operating the Shinkansen falls on technical support.