High speed trains in Japan. Shinkansen is a fast and convenient mode of transport

29.09.2019

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

Under the cut, a very small 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 the Odawara train station, from where our journey through Japan is laid. Hikari #503 promised to take us to Kyoto in just an hour and a half.
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"Shinkansen" (Shinkansen), literally translated from Japanese - "new trunk line" - is the general name of high-speed rail connecting the most important cities in Japan. This road was called the “New Line” because the 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. Prior to this, the entire Japanese railway network was narrow-gauge (gauge - 1067 mm).

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 18th Summer Olympics in Tokyo. The first trains developed a speed of 220-230 km/h.

The high-speed line network is controlled by the Japan Railways Group. JR Group is the backbone of Japan's railway network (controls 20,135 out of 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 passenger traffic day and night. Now they serve only passengers, and in the period from midnight to 6 am, traffic stops for maintenance work. There are very few night trains left in Japan, and they all still run on the old railway, the tracks of which were laid parallel to the tracks of the "bullet train" and connected the major cities of the country.

There are three categories of high-speed trains in use in Japan today: nozomi, hikari, and kodama. The nozomi express is the fastest. The 500 series trains running on these lines are reminiscent of spaceships with their external appearance, and a particularly elongated 15 m long nose that creates the necessary aerodynamics. Their introduction to Japan's railroads completely changed the standard for high-speed rail. In some areas, "nozomi" develops speeds up to 300 km / h and stops only in large settlements. "Hikari", the second fastest, makes stops at intermediate stations, and "kodomi" - at all stations. However, the speed of "kodomi" exceeds 200 km / h, although when passing through some areas and settlements, the speed of "Shinkansen" is limited to 110 km / h.

Despite the high speeds, the Shinkansen in Japan has proven to be an exceptionally reliable mode of transport: over the years of operation, since 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 the best way to travel around Japan today. At the same time, the traffic interval in the morning and evening peak hours is 5-6 minutes!

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

High-speed trains here are much more popular than air travel within the country, since for a trip to the Shinkansen there is no need to spend time on the road to the airport, go through registration, and so on. Shinkansen saves time in everything!
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These high-speed trains are also called bullet trains.
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A little higher, I already noted that these trains compete with airplanes only by saving time. 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 in Japan is the Japan Rail Pass. Such a ticket is simply necessary for an independent traveler.

The Japan Rail Pass entitles you to unlimited travel on JR roads, buses and ferries operated by JR (not valid on Nozomi Super Express). Such a ticket is valid for 7, 14 or 21 days and can be purchased only outside Japan.

JR Pass can only be purchased by foreigners, and only before coming to Japan. The prices for the regular JR Pass Ordinary "adult" JR Pass are $237,438 and $562 for 7, 14 and 21 days respectively. Naturally, the thieves' JR Pass Green 1st Class will be more expensive - by about $150.

So if you are going to ride around Japan a lot, I advise you to purchase such a travel card in advance.

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On the platform, no one goes beyond the yellow line.
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The N700 trains reach speeds of up to 300 km/h, while the tilt capability allows them to maintain speeds of up to 270 km/h on curves up to 2,500 m in radius, where speeds of up to 255 km/h were previously allowed. Another feature of the N700 is that it accelerates faster than other Shinkansen trains, with an acceleration of 0.722 m/s², which allows it to reach 270 km/h in just 3 minutes.
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Now in Japan, magnetic trains are being tested to the fullest. In April 2015, a maglev maglev train broke its own speed record by accelerating to 603 km/h during a test near Fujiyama. JR Central, which owns these trains, intends to launch them on the Tokyo-Nagoya route by 2027. The distance of 280 kilometers is planned to be overcome in just 40 minutes.

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I did not take photos inside the train. I will only note very comfortable seats, personal sockets and airtight smoking capsule rooms. Country for the people!
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N700. Each such train has 16 carriages and 1323 comfortable passenger seats.
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And here is another video about the passage of the N700 series Shinkansen:

If you want to know everything about the Shinkansen trains, then Varlamov is your place.

Japanese railway miracle "Shinkansen"

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Exactly 50 years ago, in October 1964, Japan launched the world's first bullet-train, the Shinkansen (aka bullet-train), 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.

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

More stuff from the trip:

If the tired soul of a traveler becomes completely sad in the realities of a modern metropolis, you can always go on vacation in Hakone. Hakone is a resort area located near Tokyo, within the boundaries of the Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park, between Mount Fuji and the Izu Peninsula. In good weather and under favorable circumstances, in general, if you are lucky, you can watch the famous Fuji-san - in fact, many travelers come here for this.

There are also many thermal springs in the vicinity of Hakone - it is not for nothing that this town near Tokyo has been one of the most popular resorts in Japan since time immemorial. Today, more than a dozen hot springs operate in this region, feeding the hot springs 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 a trip to beautiful Japan. The first point of my journey, of course, was the huge metropolis and capital of Japan - Tokyo. Under the cut, I propose to see pictures about my two days in the most modern metropolis in the world.

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

Flights to Osaka are now operated weekly on Wednesdays and Fridays. From Knevichi Airport, the plane departs 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 the destination at 19:05. Flights on the new flight are carried out on Airbus A320 liners equipped with economy and business class cabins. Under the cut, a little about the airport and the new flight of the green grasshopper aircraft of the S7 airline.

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

Yes, it turns out there is still a Far East who has not been to Japan :))

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Image copyright Thinkstock

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the first bullet train, the Shinkansen, leaving the train platform in Tokyo. talks about the project that became the basis for the development of rail transport around the world.

Nine days before the opening of the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Emperor Hirohito honored with his presence the ceremony of putting into operation the first high-speed train linking the Japanese capital with Osaka. The blue-and-white bullet-shaped train raced along the railroad tracks past the picturesque Mount Fuji at a speed of 210 km per hour, covering the distance between the two megacities in record time.

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

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

Today, 16-car Shinkansen bullet trains are fired from Tokyo Station platforms every three minutes. Their average speed on the route is 270 km/h. Each such train has 1323 comfortable passenger seats.

Since last year, trains on the Tohoku Shinkansen line, one of six high-speed rail lines built in 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 passenger transportation between the country's largest cities in Japan. They are not only fast, regular and follow the traffic schedule to the nearest second. According to a government report on the state of Japanese land transport, the CO2 emissions of such a train are only 16% of those of a car making the same journey.

Image copyright getty Image caption There were only two accidents on high-speed trains in Japan, and no one was injured in them. One of two cases before you: there was a heavy snowfall, the train derailed.

These trains are kept immaculately clean. But more importantly, since the day Emperor Hirohito blessed the first train in 1964, there have been no fatal accidents on Japanese expressways. In 50 years, two trains have derailed - one during the 2004 earthquake, the other during last year's heavy snowfall. But both times there were no casualties.

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

It was October 1964, the height of Beatlemania. Then the fastest British locomotive could reach speeds of 160 km / h, and even then only on small modernized sections of the railway, built back in the Victorian era.

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

Revival of Japan

Japan's global leadership in rail communications was the result of the country's spectacular economic and cultural renaissance 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 has developed not necessarily in favor of Japan." Then the Japanese first heard his voice on the radio.

Image copyright getty Image caption Arnold Schwarzenegger, as governor of California, visited Japan and was shown the Falcon train.

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

Not surprisingly, Japan became an extremely fashionable country at that time. Leading musicians rushed to Tokyo on tour - from Ella Fitzgerald to the Beatles. But all these remarkable achievements and advanced developments harmoniously fit into the rich and extremely original Japanese culture.

In commercials, high-speed trains raced along the Tokaido Shinkansen line past cherry blossoms and snow-capped mountains. It was an exciting combination of two worlds - the old imperial and the new democratic.

Image copyright Thinkstock Image caption Japanese high-speed trains are never late.

Not surprisingly, the first high-speed highway cost the Japanese dearly. During construction, its cost doubled. Because of this, Japan 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 Shime was asked to design and build a new railway line, create a train and the necessary infrastructure.

Shima and his team put forward the idea of a fundamentally new train. He had to walk on tracks raised like highways and laid over viaducts. It was necessary to smooth the slope angles as much as possible and minimize the number of turns and bends of the railway track.

The old trains were forbidden to run on these tracks. Although this was not possible anyway - Japanese trains of previous generations used a narrower gauge. "Shinkansen" adopted the European and American standard railway gauge of 1.4 m. This made it possible to achieve greater stability of the composition at high speeds.

Image copyright AP Image caption "Nozomi" - one of the fastest trains, goes almost non-stop. Nozomi means "hope" in Japanese.

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

But the new generation of electric trains, in terms of technical progress, represented a grandiose leap forward. And although Hideo Shima was disgraced due to budget overruns, he still enjoyed great authority as a specialist and later became the head of Japan's National Space Development Agency.

For twenty years, Hideo Shima has come a long way from locomotives to space technology. Today, he is revered as the father of the Shinkansen and many other high-speed electric trains that run on high-speed highways around the world.

Comfortable ride

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

The most modern models of this train, the E5 and E6, with their unusually long pointed nose, hidden wheels and shiny green or blue body, are striking in their appearance. They resemble mechanical alien eels, and their driving performance is as impressive as their design.

Image copyright Thinkstock Image caption Japanese trains are very comfortable

Shooting from stations, these bullet trains are capable of reaching speeds 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, indeed, almost all of Japan. Reclining seats are located along the train. Guides carry drinks and neat boxes of "bento" - Japanese breakfasts and snacks. All attendants are immaculately dressed. Polite manners are valued and supported here.

Meanwhile, white-gloved drivers in air-conditioned cabs ensure that the train schedule is strictly followed.

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 at the moment when it leaves the tunnel. The so-called "tunnel noise" has been a source of dissatisfaction among many Japanese who live near the Shinkansen, but it is greatly reduced by the aerodynamic design.

The Shinkansen railway network continues to grow. The latest generation of bullet trains still runs 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 branch line to Sapporo will be laid.

Image copyright getty Image caption A train on a magnetic cushion (maglev) either rides or flies

By that time, the first Chuo-shinkansen line, which will link Tokyo and Osaka, will have to open. This is a fundamentally new railway based on the principle of magnetic levitation (maglev). Trains literally floating in the air will travel (fly?) from Tokyo to Osaka for a little over an hour, reaching speeds of about 500 km / h. This is more than twice as fast as the first Shinkansen trains.

Building a railroad system that runs at 320 km/h and at the same intervals as the London Underground is an extraordinary achievement by any measure. At the same time, they are 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 was the hallmark of the new Japan - a country that conquered the world with its cameras, radios, music systems, cars, motorcycles, movies, comics and fashion.

The mesmerizing view of the Shinkansen bullet train passing at full speed against the backdrop of cherry blossom fields 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 a 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 A History of Architecture, Lost Buildings, Biography of the Spitfire, Nagaland and the Giants of Steam.

We continue to talk about unusual things and next in line are devices whose value is hard to overestimate - trains!

The history of trains as a whole is a hymn to speed and reliability, passing through intrigue and a lot 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 their high-tech brothers, machines from the future, the Maglevs (from the English magnetic levitation - “magnetic levitation”), have joined the classic rail train. Proudly hovering above the magnetic canvas and driven by the latest achievements in the field of superconductors, they can 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, on a special section during tests in Yamanashi Prefecture, the train was able to reach a speed of 603 kilometers per hour, there was only a driver on board. This is just an incredible number!

Test video:

In addition to the insane speed, you can add the amazing noiselessness 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 in speed among rail trains, but the second in the absolute standings, on the planet (for 2015) is the French TGV POS. What is surprising is that at the moment of fixing the speed record, the train was accelerated to an impressive figure of 574.8 km / h, while journalists and attendants 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 the 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 holds a speed of 431 km / h for 90 seconds (during this time it manages to swallow 10.5 kilometers!), Which is up to the maximum speed of this train, then during the tests it was able to accelerate to 501 km / h.

4.CRH380A

Another record comes from China, a train with an incredibly euphonious name “CRH380A”, which 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 is assembled and produced entirely based on Chinese production facilities. The train carries almost 500 passengers, and boarding is implemented like in an airplane.

5.TR-09

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

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

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

7.THSR700T

The next hero, although not the fastest train on the planet, still deserves a separate applause, the reason for this is the impressive capacity of 989 passengers! considered one of the most capacious and fastest modes of transport.

8.AVETalgo-350

We arrive at the eighth place and we stop in Spain on board the AVETalgo-350 (Alta Velocidad Española), nicknamed the Platypus. The nickname comes from the aerodynamic look of the lead car (well, you can see for yourself), but no matter how funny our hero looks, the speed of 330 km / h makes him eligible to participate in our rating!

9 Eurostar Train

9th place Eurostar Train - France, the train is not so fast at 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 like it like me, thumbs up!) competed with the amazing Aston Martin DB9 in season 4, episode 1.

10. Peregrine Falcon

Of course, the Italian “ETR 500” with its good 300 km / h should be put in 10th place, but I want to put our quite fast Sapsan. Although the current operating speed of this train is limited to 250 km / h, its modernization (and rather the modernization of the tracks) will allow the train to go at a speed of 350 km / h. At the moment - this is not possible for a variety of reasons, one of them is the vortex effect, which is capable of knocking an adult person off their feet at a distance of 5 meters from the tracks. Sapsan also sets one funny record - this is the widest high-speed train in the world. Although the train is built on the platform of Siemens, due to the wider gauge used in Russia 1520 mm, against the European one of 1435 mm, it became possible to increase the width of the car by 300 mm, this makes the Sapsan the most “pot-bellied” bullet train.

Exactly 50 years ago, in October 1964, Japan launched the world's first ultra-high-speed Shinkansen train (aka bullet-train), 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.

2. Literally translated from Japanese, the word "Shinkansen" means "new highway." Before the advent of high-speed trains, railways in Japan were narrow-gauge (1067 mm), and had many bends due to the local topography. On such roads, the ability to develop high speeds was too limited. For the Shinkansen, new lines were specially designed, already with a standard gauge of 1435 mm.

Why Japan initially deviated from the international standard is still not fully understood. It is believed that this was the decision of a certain Mr. Okubo, who was in charge at the time the construction of the first railway in Japan began. Of course, the narrow gauge was cheaper, and the trains themselves were smaller and more economical to manufacture. However, along with this, it also meant a lower carrying capacity and low speed. Therefore, the expediency of this decision for the Japanese remains a big question. At the beginning of the 20th century, projects were proposed to rebuild the canvas according to the international standard, and although there were many who supported this idea, it was decided instead to spend funds on laying new lines. So, the narrow gauge spread throughout Japan, which still causes a lot of inconvenience.

Supporters of the broad gauge managed to bring their projects to life on the railway laid by the Japanese in the early 30s. in colonized South Manchuria. In 1934, between the cities of Dalian and Changchun (700 km), the legendary Asia Express was launched, a symbol of the Japanese imperial power of that time. Capable of reaching speeds of over 130 km/h, it was far superior to China's rail system at the time, and was even much faster than Japan's fastest express train. And on a global scale, Asia-Express had impressive characteristics. For example, the first air-conditioned carriages in the world were equipped in it. The dining car was equipped with refrigerators, there was also a special car - an observation deck with windows around the perimeter, furnished with leather chairs and bookshelves.

3. This example probably became the final argument in favor of the broad gauge and gave rise to the first high-speed railway projects in Japan. In 1940, the Japanese government approved a project of incredible scale. Even then, the project involved the creation of a train capable of speeds up to 200 km / h, but the Japanese government was not going to be limited to laying lines only in Japan. It was supposed to lay an underwater tunnel to the Korean Peninsula and stretch the path right up to Beijing. Construction had already been partially begun, but the outbreak of war and the subsequent deterioration of Japan's military and political positions put an end to imperial ambitions. In 1943, the project was curtailed, the same year was the last for Asia-Express. However, some sections of the Shinkansen line in operation today were built before the war.

The construction of the Shinkansen was again talked about 10 years after the war. Rapid economic growth has created a strong demand for freight and passenger transportation across the country. However, the idea to revive the project turned out to be completely unpopular and was sharply criticized. At that time, there was a strong opinion that auto and air transport would soon replace rail transport, as happened, for example, in the United States and some European countries. The project was again in jeopardy.

In 1958, between Tokyo and Osaka, along the still narrow track, the direct ancestor of the Shinkansen, the Kodama business express, was launched. With a top speed of 110 km/h, it covered the distance between cities in 6.5 hours, making one-day business trips possible. In Japan, where the culture of doing business is based on face-to-face meetings, this was a very convenient solution. However, he did not last long. The incredible popularity of Kodama left no one in doubt about the need for high-speed lines, and less than a year later, the government finally approved the Shinkansen construction project.

Kodama Business Express, 1958-1964:

4. It is widely believed that the launch of the Shinkansen was scheduled for the opening of the Olympic Games in Tokyo, but the Japanese deny this. Construction of the Shinkansen lines began in March 1959, more than a month before Tokyo was chosen as the host city for the games. However, the Olympics came in very handy. Initially, the declared budget for the construction of the Shinkansen was obviously too small and everyone knew about it, but it was too risky to state real numbers. The loan provided by the World Bank at a rather low interest rate did not cover even half of the costs. The real cost, which, in the end, exceeded the declared one by almost 2.5 times, was covered by “begging” for money from the state, allegedly in order to be in time for the opening of the Olympics!

Early in the morning of October 1, 1964, the ceremony for the first launch of the Shinkansen from specially built platform number 19 was held at Tokyo Station. The platform was lavishly decorated with red and white ribbons and the traditional Japanese paper ball "kusudama". The moving train tore the ribbons, the ball opened up and 50 snow-white doves flew out of it. Then there was music, fireworks and the general rejoicing of thousands of Japanese who were not too lazy to visit such a significant event at 5 in the morning. In the evening of the same day, photographs of the Shinkansen appeared on the front pages of all the major publications in the country under loud headlines, broadcasting the beginning of a new era in the history of Japan, and, why be modest, of the whole world.

Ceremony launching the first Shinkansen. Tokyo, 1964

5. A sense of national pride in the Shinkansen did not bypass any Japanese, and the emperor himself, they say, composed either a song or an ode about him.

In 1975, Japan was visited by the queen of the railroad's home country. We are talking, of course, about England. The royal couple arrived on a friendly visit to the emperor, and one of the first points in the entertainment program was a trip on the “miracle train” to Kyoto. For Japan, this was a great opportunity to brag, but the cunning Japanese trade unions could not miss such a rare chance. Literally immediately after the arrival of the queen, the workers staged the first strike in the history of the Japanese railway. In a word, all the drivers of the Shinkansen, of which there were 1,100 people, refused to ride the queen until the demands of the union were met. Naturally, the bosses, driven into a corner, quickly complied with the requirements, but the queen only managed to ride the Shinkansen on her way back. The series of failures did not end there. On the day the queen was supposed to take the train, it was raining heavily and the train was late by as much as 2 minutes. In general, whether it was possible to impress Elizabeth II or not is unknown, but they say that she was not at all offended by the strike, but accepted everything with humor. She said she was no stranger to strikes herself.

6. Contrary to skeptical expectations, the Shinkansen train turned out to be incredibly successful and quickly paid for the construction costs. Just 8 years later, the second line was opened. Already by 1981, the loan debt to the World Bank was fully covered. Moreover, today the Shinkansen train provides up to 80% of Japan Railways' profits. At the moment, there are 8 Shinkansen lines with a total length of almost 3,000 km, and they continue to be built.

7. Of course, over the 50 years of its existence, Shinkansen has gone through a rather long evolutionary path, although not always cloudless.

In the 80s. 575 residents of Nagoya City, whose houses were located along the tracks, sued the Shinkansen management complaining about noise and strong vibrations. Immediately after that, technologies began to be introduced to reduce the level of noise and vibrations, improve the quality of the railway track. A rule was also introduced to slow down when passing through densely populated areas.

8. Today, Shinkansen are practically silent, the paths often pass in close proximity to buildings without causing much discomfort. Technologies in the field of energy saving have become another step in the development. And all because Japan, in which 99.7% of oil is imported (not from Russia), turned out to be very sensitive to repeated oil shocks. So, under the pressure of both external and internal factors in the face of the over-demanding Japanese, the Shinkansen was rapidly improving. However, the very first model of the train was permanent until 1982, and even after the appearance of new models, it remained in operation right up to 2008.

In 1987, the Japanese National Railways were privatized, and instead of a state monopoly, 5 new independent companies appeared. Healthy competition gave a new impetus to the development of technology and quality of service.

9. The so-called "green cars" appeared on the trains, comparable in level to the business class on airplanes. Actually, the airlines were and still are the main competitors of the Shinkansen. These wagons have become a kind of indicator of the economic situation in the country. During the heyday, many companies bought seats for their employees for business trips in the "green cars", but during the decline of the economy, they were usually empty.

Now the interior of the car looks like this:

10. Tickets come with or without a seat. In cars without a seat, you may have to sit in the middle, but it's cheaper 😉

11. Toilet:

12. There is a train diagram hanging at the station, so it’s immediately clear which car you need:

13. At the landing, everyone stands in neat lines. Lines for queues for each car are drawn on the platform:

15. Companies also competed in the sophistication of food on board. In general, eating "bento" in the "Shinkansen" has become a kind of tradition, even if the journey takes only a couple of hours. They are sold both at stations and on the trains themselves. Each lot has its own unique "bento". Until 2000, there were restaurant and cafe cars on the trains, but the ever-increasing flow of passengers required more seats. Double-decker trains began to appear, but restaurants did not last long in them either. The same story also affected private compartments, which could be a room for one or a whole conference room for 4-5 people. The economic recession almost completely destroyed the demand for such cars.

Traditional train station "bento" lunch:

16. 90s and the end of the "soap bubble" economy became the most unstable in the history of the development of the Shinkansen. In addition, in 1995, an earthquake occurred in the Osaka region, and although the trains themselves were not damaged, the rails decently bent. It took about 3 months to recover. But there were also positive moments, such as the 98 Olympics in Nagano, which created a demand for new destinations!

17. Despite the slowdown in economic growth, new and improved train models have steadily continued to appear throughout this time. Various security systems began to be developed, primarily for protection during earthquakes. Now, in the event of an earthquake, an automatic warning system is triggered, which slows down trains a fraction of a second before the shock itself. So, even during the devastating earthquake in 2011, there was not a single accident with the Shinkansen trains, they all stopped safely in automatic mode. By the way, the danger of earthquakes is one of the main reasons why trains run slower than they technically could.

Modern Shinkansen trains:

19. Cars on Shinkansen trains are not disconnected. Therefore, they do not have a tail, but always two heads! And trains can connect with each other (smack):

20. By the way, red is cooler and faster, so he usually drags green with him. The latest model came out just a couple of months ago, in March 2014.

There is another very special train. It's called Doctor Yellow. They say that seeing him is a very good omen. This is such a special doctor who examines and checks the tracks and other related equipment for serviceability several times a month. During the day, he travels at the same speed as the other trains, so as not to interfere. And at night, he slowly and carefully examines all sections of the path.

21. Since the 2000s. Japanese technology "Shinkansen" began to be actively exported abroad. At the moment, China, Taiwan and South Korea have high-speed trains in the Asian region. All of these countries, except Korea, have high-speed railways based on Japanese technology (Korea borrowed the technology of the French TGV). Not only technologies are exported, but also decommissioned Japanese trains themselves.

22. Current Shinkansen trains in Japan have a top speed of 270 km/h, with plans to increase to 285 km/h by next year, although the test speed is over 440 km/h. Travel time between Tokyo and Osaka is now less than 2.5 hours. The trains are equipped with everything necessary for a comfortable journey - the cleanest toilets, smoking rooms, sockets at each seat, sometimes even vending machines with drinks.

23. The Tokaido Line (Tokyo-Osaka) is the world's busiest high-speed rail line, carrying more than 150 million passengers a year. Trains from Tokyo leave every 10 minutes.

24. Despite the rather high cost, the Shinkansken train does not lose popularity due to its accuracy, speed, comfort, high level of service, and most importantly, safety. In 50 years of service, not a single incident has been recorded resulting in death or serious injury from a high-speed train. No other country in the world can boast such high-speed rail safety indicators. Statistics claim that the Sapsan killed more than 20 people in its first year of service alone.

25. Although the Japanese Shinkansen train remains one of the most advanced vehicles in the world, work on its improvement does not stop. There is a special research center in Yamanashi Prefecture where new technologies are created and tested, in particular, JR-Maglev, Japan's high-speed maglev train system. It was there that in December 2003 a test train of three cars of the MLX01 modification set an absolute speed record for railway transport - 581 km / h.

"Shinkansen" (Shinkansen) Literally translated from Japanese, "new trunk line" is the general name for high-speed rail lines connecting the most important cities in Japan. This road was called the “New Line” because the 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. Prior to this, the entire Japanese railway network was narrow-gauge (gauge - 1067 mm).

Shinkansen train

The first Tokyo-Osaka Shinkansen section (Tokaido Shinkansen), 515 km long, was opened in 1964, on the eve of the opening of the 18th Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Despite the fact that, it would seem, the initial positions from which Japan began its post-war run were very unfavorable. The economy was undermined and exhausted 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 developed a speed of 220-230 km/h. Now this indicator has long been blocked by high-speed trains from other countries, but for its time it was an absolute record. Now high-speed trains are the same symbol of modern Japan, as well as high-quality electronics, reliable and durable cars.

Series 0 Shinkansen first train

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

In 1982, 2 more lines came into operation, leading from Tokyo to Niigata (Joetsu line, 270 km) and to Morioka (Tohoku line, 465 km). Speeds on them reach 240 km/h, and on one of the sections even 274 km/h. On the lines of the main line, trains pass through numerous tunnels, including an underwater tunnel under the Shimonoseki Strait between the islands of Honshu and Kyushu. The maximum speed of trains on the old sections of the highway is 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 highways TGV in France and ICE in Germany.

Scheme of high-speed highways in Japan

There are three categories of high-speed trains in use in Japan today: nozomi, hikari, and kodama. Nozomi express is the fastest. The 500 series trains running on these lines are reminiscent of spaceships with their external appearance, and a particularly elongated 15 m long nose that creates the necessary aerodynamics. Their introduction to Japan's railroads completely changed the standard for high-speed rail. In some areas, "nozomi" develops speeds up to 300 km / h and stops only in large settlements. "Hikari", the second fastest, makes stops at intermediate stations, and "kodomi" - at all stations. However, the speed of "kodomi" exceeds 200 km / h, although when passing through some areas and settlements, the speed of "Shinkansen" is limited to 110 km / h.

Electric train “Shinkansen” 300 series

Electric trains "Shinkansen" 300 and 700 series

JR500 Shinkansen train

Despite the high speeds, the Shinkansen in Japan has proven to be an exceptionally reliable mode of transport: for 35 years of operation, since 1964, not a single fatal accident (excluding suicides) has been recorded. During this time, more than 6 billion passengers have been 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 the best way to travel around Japan today. At the same time, the traffic interval in the morning and evening peak hours is 5-6 minutes! It is no coincidence that a third of all costs in the operation of the Shinkansen falls precisely on technical support.