How Japan’s Shinkansen Bullet Trains Changed the World of Train Travel Forever

() – Sixty years ago, in the early morning hours of October 1, 1964, an elegant blue and white train glided effortlessly through urban Tokyo, its elevated tracks taking it south toward the city of Osaka. already a place in the history books.

It was the dawn of Japan’s “bullet train” era, widely considered the defining symbol of the country’s astonishing recovery from the trauma of World War II. Along with the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, this technological marvel of the 1960s marked the country’s return to the top of the international community.

In the six decades since that first train, the word Shinkansen – meaning “new trunk line” – has become an internationally recognized synonym for speed, travel efficiency and modernity.

Japan remains a world leader in railway technology. Powerful conglomerates like Hitachi and Toshiba export billions of dollars worth of trains and equipment around the world each year.

The Shinkansen network has expanded steadily since the 515-kilometer Tokaido Line, linking Tokyo and Shin-Osaka, was completed in 1964. Trains run at speeds of up to 200 mph (about 322 km/h) on routes that depart from the capital and head north, south and west to cities such as Kobe, Kyoto, Hiroshima and Nagano.

In addition to being a symbol of recovery, Shinkansen have been used as a tool for Japan’s continued economic development and as an agent of change in a country bound by convention and tradition.

Expanding the limits

Its development is largely due to Japan’s early railway history. Instead of the “standard” track gauge of 4 feet (121.9 cm) and 8.5 inches (21.2 cm) used in North America and much of Europe, a narrower track gauge of 3 feet (91.4 cm) and 6 inches (15 cm).

Although it was cheaper and easier to build across mountainous terrain, capacity was limited and speeds were low.

Since Japan’s four main islands stretch about 1,800 miles (nearly 3,000 kilometers) from end to end, journeys between major cities were long and often tortuous.

In 1889, the trip from Tokyo to Osaka by train took 16 and a half hours, much better than the two or three weeks it took on foot a few years earlier. In 1965, the Shinkansen only took three hours and ten minutes.

Demands for a standard gauge railway network began in the 20th century, but it was not until the 1940s that work began in earnest as part of an ambitious Asian “ring line” project to connect Japan with Korea and Russia to through tunnels under the Pacific Ocean.

Defeat in World War II meant that plans for the new railway were shelved until the mid-1950s, when the Japanese economy was recovering strongly and improving communications between its major cities was essential.

Although much of the network serves the most populated regions of Honshu, Japan’s largest island, long sea tunnels allow bullet trains to travel hundreds of kilometers to Kyushu in the far south and Hokkaido in the north.

Japan’s difficult topography and widely varying climates, from the frigid winters of the north to the tropical humidity further south, have made Japanese railway engineers world leaders in finding solutions to new problems as they push the boundaries of railway technology.

One of them, and not the least important, is seismic activity. Japan is one of the most geologically unstable places on the planet, prone to earthquakes and tsunamis and home to around 10% of the world’s volcanoes.

While this undoubtedly provides the defining image of the Shinkansen – a modern, high-tech train whizzing past snow-covered Mount Fuji – it also makes the safe operation of high-speed trains very difficult.

Despite these factors, no passengers have been killed or injured on the Shinkansen network due to derailments throughout its history.

The next generation of bullet trains, known as ALFA-X, is currently being tested at speeds of almost 400 km/h (250 mph), although the maximum speed in service will be “only” 360 km/h (225 mph).

The defining features of these and other recent Shinkansen trains are their extraordinarily long noses, designed not to improve their aerodynamics, but primarily to eliminate sonic booms caused by the “piston effect” of trains entering tunnels and expelling waves. compression at the other end at supersonic speeds.

This is a particular problem in densely populated urban areas, where noise from Shinkansen lines has long been a source of complaints.

The ALFA-X experimental train also features new safety technology designed to reduce vibration and noise and reduce the likelihood of derailments in major earthquakes.

More than 10 billion passengers have so far traveled quickly and comfortably on these trains, and the predictability of the operation makes high-speed travel seem routine and largely taken for granted.

In 2022, more than 295 million people traveled on Shinkansen trains in Japan.

It is no surprise, then, that many other countries have followed Japan’s example and built new high-speed railways over the past four decades.

Perhaps the best known of these is France, which has operated its Train à Grand Vitesse (TGV) between Paris and Lyon since 1981.

Like Japan, France has successfully exported the technology to other countries, including Europe’s longest high-speed network in Spain, as well as Belgium, South Korea, the United Kingdom and the Africa’s first high-speed railway in Morocco.

France’s TGV network has been phenomenally successful, reducing travel times over long distances between the country’s large cities, creating additional capacity and making high-speed travel accessible and affordable, even mundane for regular travellers.

Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Taiwan, Türkiye and Saudi Arabia They now operate trains on exclusive lines that link their main cities, competing directly with airlines on national and international routes.

In the United Kingdom, Eurostar high-speed trains run from London to Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam, but “High Speed ​​2,” a second route running north from London, has been mired in controversy. What was once heralded as a landmark megaproject to propel an interconnected Britain into the next century has now been reduced to a 225km link that will barely improve existing services.

At the moment, the closest equivalent to the bullet train for British passengers are the new “Intercity Express Trains” built by Hitachi which use technology derived from their Japanese cousins, although these only operate at a maximum of 200 kilometers per hour.

Meanwhile, India and Thailand are planning extensive high-speed rail networks of their own.

In recent years, China has eclipsed the rest of the world, using its economic might to create the world’s longest high-speed rail network.

According to the country’s national railway operator, the total length is approaching 45,000 kilometers by the end of 2023.

More than just a means of transportation, these lines provide rapid connections across this vast country, stimulating economic development and consolidating political and social harmonization.

Using technology initially drawn from Japan and Western Europe, and subsequently developed by its increasingly sophisticated rail industry, China has quickly become a leading player in high-speed rail.

It looks like this will continue as it develops magnetic levitation (Maglev) trains capable of running at almost 400 mph.

Japan has had its own experimental Maglev line since the 1970s and is building a 286-kilometer line between Tokyo and Nagoya.

It is scheduled to open in 2034 and will extend to Osaka, which will reduce travel time to the latter to just 67 minutes.

“The Shinkansen is clearly much more than a means of transportation,” says British academic Christopher P. Hood, author of “Shinkansen: From Bullet Train to Symbol of Modern Japan.”

“It was the most potent symbol of Japan’s postwar reconstruction and emerging industrial power, and as it continues to evolve, it is likely to remain so for many years to come.”

Although the iconic blue and white 0-series trains from 1964 have long since been retired, they still form many people’s image of what a bullet train looks like.

Their notable descendants are an indispensable part of the transportation infrastructure in Japan and many other countries around the world, and as environmental concerns make people think twice about flying, they could be about to experience a new resurgence, which would usher in a new golden era for the railway.