International Railroad Discussion > Shinkansen Madness (Japan)

I visited Japan for the first time in 8 years last March. On my first full day there on March 15, JR East had revised their schedules to increase the top speed of their fastest Shinkansen services, the Hayabusa and Komachi, which run together between Tokyo and Morioka. I didn't foam the new top speed Shinkansens until the next day. Instead, I visited the Yamanashi Maglev Test Center which required riding a non-HSR train to Otsuki:

http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?6,3354831

Hayabusa uses a Series E5 set, 10 cars, which has been in service since March of 2011. Until March 15, 2014, the E5 operated at a top revenue speed of 300 km/h (186 mph), but was increased to 320 km/h (199 mph) after that.

Komachi uses a Series E6 set, 7 cars, in service for only a year, since March of 2013. It also ran at a top speed of 300 km/h until March 15, and since it is often coupled to the E5 and run together, the top speed was increased to 320 km/h as well.

In the first clip of the video, Hayabusa/Komachi #1 is deadheading into Tokyo, with the E5 set leading and E6 set trailing. You can see the engineer of the train about to board at the end of the clip. I boarded this train few minutes later, for a day trip to Akita, which is about 410 miles away. This was during my second trip to Japan this year, in April.

The second clip was recorded on March 16 at Koriyama while I was chasing JR freight trains north of Tokyo. Koriyama is located about 226 km (140 miles) north of Tokyo, and is in the 320 km/h speed zone, which is between Utsunomiya to the south and Morioka to the north. E6 Komachi #21 leads the E5 Hayabusa #21 and blasts through Koriyama at the new top speed.

In the third clip, the Shinkansen I'm about to ride on, Yamabiko #206 is being passed by Hayabusa #102 at Utsunomiya on March 17. I had just finished riding the Luxury Sleeper Cassiopeia, and was on my way to Tokyo to chase it. Note that while both train sets had E6 coupled to the E5, the E6 did not come from Akita as Komachi - the train sets were earning revenue service while deadheading to Tokyo, and would become northbound Komachi later on. Usually the caternary noises are drowned out by wheel noises, but in this clip, you can clearly hear them, since Yamabiko #206 blocks out the wheel noises. Top speed through Utsunomiya Station is 275 km/h (171 mph). 320 km/h zone starts just north of the station, and I checked that with a GPS while riding Komachi #1 in April.

- Shinkansen E5 stopped at Utsunomiya.
- Better look at the "micro pressure wave" resistant nose.
- Video clips as described above and below.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/29/14 11:25 by cchan006.

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Shinkansen Series 500 is still my favorite:

http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?6,3359527

However, Shinkansen E6 is a close second, designed by Ken Okuyama, industrial designer who's resume includes Camaros, Porsches, and Ferraris. Shinkansen E5, which he did not design, lacks a face, and hence lacks character, but he made sure the E6 had character, as you can clearly see "eyes" to the sides of the cab.

In the fourth clip, southbound E5 Hayabusa leads an E6 Komachi through the curve at Nasu-Shiobara Station. While riding Komachi #1 on April 16 and observing the speed with my GPS, I noticed that the Shinkansen did not slow down taking this curve, taken at ~315 km/h. Both E5 and E6 employ active suspection/tilt technology, so they didn't need to slow down here. I returned here on April 17 to record some video clips after finding that out.

In the fifth clip, I nab a southbound E5 few minutes later from the other platform. I suspect it was travelling slower (275 km/h), because it was following a schedule for a slower service designed for the older E2 set. In fact, the Hayabusa/Komachi I rode did not exceed 315 km/h (196 mph), according to my GPS, and this might be due to schedule padding. Rather than arrive early and sit at a station, Japanese engineers seem to manage the speeds of their trains, so they arrive as scheduled.

In the sixth clip, I record the uncoupling of E6 and E5 sets at Morioka Station (535 km, or 333 miles from Tokyo) on April 20, while on my way to chase the C58-239 and SL Ginga, which I'll report on later. I rode the same train I did on April 16, Komachi #1, and once again, the train did not exceed 315 km/h according to my GPS.

- Shinkansen E6 on a northbound Komachi/Hayabusa, taking the curve at Nasu-Shiobara at 315 km/h.
- E6 conference in Tokyo.
- E6 coupled to E5, adjacent to the older E2, at Tokyo.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/29/14 19:31 by cchan006.

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Newest Shinkansen set is the E7, also designed by Ken Okuyama - this one's got a face, too. JR East is placing them on the Nagano Shinkansen on the Asama service, in anticipation of the new Hokuriku Shinkansen Line due to start service next year, which will extend the Nagano Shinkansen Line from Nagano to Kanazawa. The top revenue speed of the E7 is "only" 275 km/h, and 260 km/h on the Nagano/Hokuriku Line, due to tighter curves, steeper grades, and more tunnels. Due to slower anticipated speeds, the nose is shorter on the E7, which means the end cars can carry more passengers.

In the seventh clip, I'm at Omiya Station on April 18, about to embark on a day trip to Nagano onboard Asama #521. By luck, the ticket agent assigned me to car #7.

In the eighth clip, I'm at Kumagaya Station, which is on the Joetsu Shinkansen Line. Nagano Shinkansens also run on this line, and separates from the Joetsu Shinkansen further north at Takasaki. I catch a Nagano-bound E7 at dusk here, probably running close to 240 km/h (149 mph), which is equivalent to Acela Express's revenue top speed through Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

In the same clip, a Tokyo-bound double-decker E4 sets arrive as Shinkansen MAX Toki, as the E7 disappears from view. It's common practice to couple two E4 sets together on the Joetsu Shinkansens, which run between Tokyo and Niigata, as the ridership is very high on this line.

In the ninth and final clip, I catch a northbound "Max" Toki heading to Niigata, running with double E4 sets, 8 cars each. Max is suppsed to stand for (M)ulti (A)menity　e(X)press, but it's probably one of those senseless quasi-English acronyms the Japanese made up. Only the double-decker Shinkansens get the "Max" name on their trains, including the better-looking E1 sets which are unfortunately out of service. E4 has a top speed of 240 km/h.

- Ken Okuyama-designed Shinkansen E7 at Tokyo. I had to catch one, since JR East posted posters everywhere promoting the beginning of E7's revenue service on March 15, 2014.

- E7 heading north away from Omiya, as people try to take a photo.

- Ugly Shinkansen conference at Tokyo - platypus-faced Series 700, and the ugliest Shinkansen on the planet, the double-decker E4.

(more Shinkansen Madness to follow)



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/29/14 11:23 by cchan006.

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Fascinating, thanks for sharing.

- Standing room only on Asama #563 (Shinkansen E2) while on my way from Tokyo to Takasaki to chase the D51-498 steam locomotive back in March 21. This is an extra train to handle extra traffic during heavy travel seasons, so it does not run everyday. On reserved-only trains like the Hayabusa, the ticket agent will issue you a standing room only ticket when the seats are full. Otherwise, you try to ride the unreserved seat section, like I did here.

- Mt. Fuji was visible from Asama #563 that day, about 100 km away (62 miles) as the crow flies. I'm just north of Omiya, as the train is accelerating.

I'm also posting a video of my ride on Komachi #1 here. In the first clip, I'm passing Oyama Station, then meet with southbound Nasuno #260.

In the second clip, I'm trying to record a clip of the Utsunomiya Freight Terminal. This is where I spotted a Schanbel car in March, and you might be able to spot it in the clip. The view is partially blocked by a Shinkansen meet, possibly Yamabiko #202. The video transitions into a clip of my train passing Utsunomiya, and unfortunately, no trains parked at the station.

In the third clip, my train meets a southbound E5+E6 set before Koriyama, probably Hayabusa #102. You might notice the train tilting to take the curve without slowing down. The video transitions into a clip of my train approaching Koriyama, and once again, you can see the train tilt (without slowing down) as the passing siding for the opposing direction is seen. The train meets Yamabiko #206 stopped at Koriyama, using the E5 + E6 sets. So I got clips of the station from the platform, and also from onboard a train. The track that descends from the elevated ROW at the end of the clip goes down to a maintenance yard, where MOW vehicles are parked (not visible).

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The 700 is OK, the E4 is definitely an abomination of nature. I rode behind one a few trips ago. It looks like a plastic toy.

Always like the feeling of 'flying low' when riding the Shinkansen, especially with the banked curves and tilting trains. And the tunnel boom!

-M

Mike Massee
Tehachapi, CA
Photography, Railroading and more..

To complete the madness, I'm posting some more videos of the Shinkansens, namely the E2 and E3 run by JR East, the N700 run by JR Central, JR West & JR Kyushu, and the 800 Series run by JR Kyushu. That should cover all the Shinkansens currently in service in Japan, since I covered the 500 Series (and the 700 Series) in my report, "Mission Shinkansen Series 500" back in March.

In the first clip, southbound Yamabiko/Tsubasa #142 arrives into Koriyama for a stop, an E2 set leading an E3 set. E2 started service in 1997 and has a top revenue speed of 275 km/h (171 mph), and is a replacement to the now discontinued 200 Series. E2 design has been exported to China for HSR service there.

E3 Shinkansen also strated service in 1997, replacing the 400 Series. The E6, E3, and 400 series are nicknamed "Mini Shinkansen", since they are narrower and bit smaller than the rest of the Shinkansen sets due to the fact that they operate on non-HSR ROW of Akita and Yamagata Shinkansen Lines to service platforms originally designed for narrower 3'6" gauge trains. E3 has a top speed of 275 km/h matching the often-paired E2, just like how the E6 and E5 have similar top speeds. Its top speed is 130 km/h (81 mph) on the non-HSR segment.

In the second clip, I catch the E3 set running solo through Utsunomiya, probably Tsubasa #91 (Extra) heading from Tokyo to Shinjo.

In the third clip, northbound Hayate #111 running as a solo E2 set passes E2+E3 set Yamabiko/Tsubasa #123 stopped at Utsunomiya. Hayate was the fastest service on JR East's Tohoku Shinkansen Line until the E5 and the Hayabusa started service in 2011.

While waiting for the E5 and E6 sets to show up at Nasu-Shiobara as reported above, I recorded some clips of E2+E3 sets blasting through there, fourth and fifth clips. I used two different cameras here, CCD sensor on the fourth clip, and CMOS sensor on the fifth. You can clearly see the distortion caused by the "rolling shutter" of the CMOS sensor on the fifth clip.

- Shinkansen E2 set arrives at Nasu-Shiobara Station, which is on a curve.
- Shinkansen E3 and the new paint scheme. This photo was taken during my recent trip in October.
- Video as described above and below.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/29/14 14:50 by cchan006.

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Harlock Wrote:
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> The 700 is OK, the E4 is definitely an abomination
> of nature. I rode behind one a few trips ago.
> It looks like a plastic toy.
>
> Always like the feeling of 'flying low' when
> riding the Shinkansen, especially with the banked
> curves and tilting trains. And the tunnel boom!
>
> -M

I usually sit closer to the middle of the train to be close to the exits (so I can make that !@#$% transfer in 4 minutes or less), so the tunnel boom effect from where I sit is usually less pronounced. I might have to try a "tunnel boom" Shinkansen joyride on my next visit!

To continue with the descriptions of the video clips above, the sixth and seventh clips were recorded on March 19 at Aioi, while I was chasing around my favorite 500 Series train sets. Here, N700 Series train sets blasts by at or near 300 km/h. Aioi is located 665 km (413 miles) west from Tokyo, 112 km (70 miles) west from Shin-Osaka, and 68 km (42 miles) east of Okayama.

Eighth and final clip is at Kumamoto Station in Kyushu, where an 800 Series set running as Shinkansen Tsubame departs north toward Hakata. I had just finished my ride on the SL Hitoyoshi behind the steam locomotive #58654 on March 20, and was on my way back to Tokyo. For the curious, Kumamoto is 1293 km (804 miles) from Tokyo, and 741 km (460 miles) from Shin-Osaka. My 804 mile ride took 6 hours and 39 minutes from Kumamoto to Tokyo, with a 31 minute transfer/layover at Shin-Osaka to grab food.

- Two sets of coupled E2 + E3 at Tokyo (photo taken in October this year).

- Series N700 as Shinkansen Sakura #560 arrives in Kumamoto. I hopped on this train to Shin-Osaka, then transferred to Hikari #534 to Tokyo about 3 hours later. This was back on March 20.

- Series N700 at Shin-Osaka, Christmas Day, 2005. I believe this was the first set manufactured, and it was still undergoing testing, so I lucked out. Revenue service for the Series N700 did not start until summer of 2007.

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- Another angle of the N700 in December 25, 2005. The display board says "Testing Car" in Japanese, and the subtitle in English says "Out of Service."

- Test equipment at the entrance door of the 2005 version of the N700. Curtains were down on all the windows, as seen in the photo above, but the doors don't have curtains, so this was the only peek I got inside of the test N700.

- Series 800 as Shinkansen Tsubame (Swallow), photo taken June 29, 2004, probably at Izumi Station. Kyushu Shinkansen had just started service in March of 2004, so I made a trek to check it out few months later. The attractive 800 Series was designed by industrial designer Eiji Mitooka, who I've mentioned several times in my previous reports.

Back then, Kyushu Shinkansen was still disconnected from the rest of the Shinkansen system, as the HSR trains ran between Shin Yatsushiro to the north, and Kagoshima-Chuo to the south. Passengers had to transfer to non-HSR "Relay Tsubame" Limited Express trains at Shin-Yatsushiro to go to Hakata to connect with the rest of the Shinkansen system. The reason the southern segment was constructed first was because this was the most difficult section of the Kyushu Shinkansen Line, with plenty of mountains to dig tunnels through. A lesson California HSR Authority refuses to learn, but I don't take them seriously, anyway. :-)

Rest of the Kyushu Shinkansen Line was completed in time for March 2011 revenue service, when the faster Sakura and Mizuho Services started running past Hakata to Shin-Osaka.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/29/14 17:06 by cchan006.

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Here are some pictures of the seating/departure boards for the Tokaido Shinkansen at Tokyo Station. I waited to make sure the English display showed up before I hit the shutter.

In the first two images, each row represents a unique train, with the accompanying train name, number, and destination. To the right, columns are grouped together in threes: left column is for the First Class "Green" seats, the middle column is for non-smoking reserved seats, and right column is for smoking reserved seats. Each group of 3 columns represents seat availability per destination, which is indicated above. Green circle means plenty of seats available, yellow triangle means limited availability, and red X means SOLD OUT. Light blue dash means Not Applicable (N/A) which means that type of seat is not available on tha train (or the train doesn't go that far).

Status for unreserved seats are not listed. You show up, first come, first served, and you stand up if necessary.

I took the first image on April 21, a typical Monday night. Most seats are available, except for the reserved non-smoking seats on Kodama #683, and Nozomi #259. It's doubtful all Tokyo passengers are going to ride the entire segment of Kodama #683. I suspect all the seats are taken by short-distance commuters who didn't want to fight for seats in the unreserved section.

On the other hand, Nozomi #259 is probably sold out for the entire segment to Shin-Osaka, for the longer distant commuters and business travellers. Same goes for Nozomi #127, last through train to Hiroshima for the night, which has limited availability in the reserved section.

Second image was taken just before 11 am on October 13, while I was on my way to do some last minute Tokyo foaming before going to Narita Airport to head back to the U.S. October 13 was the last day of a 3 day holiday weekend, and you can see the seating board jammed with passengers trying to get home, or beat the incoming Typhoon #19.

Third image shows the departure board, telling you what train, departure time, destination, which platform, and where the non-reserved cars are, from left to right. The left board shows the fastest Nozomi services grouped together, and the right board shows the slower local Kodama, and limited stop Hikari services grouped together. JR Rail Pass users can't board the Nozomi, so the right board helps them out.

Yes, some trains depart on a 3 minute headway.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/29/14 20:47 by cchan006.

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- In the first image here, the seating boards don't look as bad for the Tohoku, Joetsu, and Nagano Shinkansen trains in the 11 am hour on October 13, the end of the 3 day weekend. However, the higher demand trains are already sold out, and in my past visits, the Joetsu Shinkansens almost always sold out later in the afternoon.

- Found a Series 500 bento in Tokyo Station during my October visit. The container is made of ceramics, and I wonder if this one was actually made in Japan? Due to the narrow opening, the bento was not easy to eat with chopsticks.

- To wrap up the report, here's the least ugly angle I found of a Shinkansen E4 waiting at Tokyo Station.

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Great series, love all the information.

Jeff Smith
Lakewood, CA
RailMaster Hobbies

+++1. Your photos AND the exceptionally informative captions and background information are MUCH appreciated. Thank you for taking the time to do these posts.

Best rgds, SZ

What do the symbols mean on the schedule boards?

Steinzeit Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> +++1. Your photos AND the exceptionally
> informative captions and background information
> are MUCH appreciated. Thank you for taking the
> time to do these posts.
>
> Best rgds, SZ


I'll second that - thanks so much for the great
photos and information!

/Mitch

And we have AMTRAK. UGH!

Jim

Fantastic photos and videos! Sure is too bad to see that and compare it to what we have over here.

- Jeff Carlson

bnsfsd70 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Fantastic photos and videos! Sure is too bad to
> see that and compare it to what we have over
> here.
>
> - Jeff Carlson

I think it's safe to say that passenger rail is THE primary mode of transportation in Japan. Bus stations and routes, and taxi stops congregrate at train stations. In rural areas, bus schedules are often synchronized with train departures and arrivals, even if the bus company has no relation to the rail company providing the service. Rail access to major airports is a given, usually with two different railroad companies competing for business.

FYI, it's interesting that no direct Shinkansen access exists to an airport (but there is one to a ski resort!). That's because airport is not a center of a huge metropolis, so the ridership will not be high as services that cater to an existing public transportation network. It's a little off topic, but Narita Shinkansen project was abandoned for that reason, that it was uneconomical... so airplanes take a backseat to trains in Japan.

In my opinion, high speed rail is a natural progression in incremental improvements when trains are the primary mode of transportation. I hope people dismiss the folks who think we can "leap frog" our way into HSR by skipping the incremental improvements that's so badly needed in the U.S. passenger rail network, especially Amtrak, treated by the society as a secondary (or worse) mode of transportation. Majority of Shinkansen patrons take non-HSR trains first and last during their journeys and THAT is what we need to work on.

So for me, it's pointless to compare what Japan does and what we have until I see Americans as a whole take passenger rail more seriously.

Wonderful photos, Bravo!!

Have you passed through the Akima Tunnel yet???

It is a favorite of mine as they mined it from one end as the opposing exit portal
had no room for support equipment or a concrete ready mix plant.

The Akima Tunnel is the only railroad tunnel in the world that was excavated
using a sheild tunnel miner in one pass and used a pneumatic capsule pipeline to carry away
tunnel muck to the dumping station near the entrance and used the same Pnuematic Capsule Pipeline
System to deliver the concrete for the floor and tunnel lining using the worlds largest mobile crawler mounted concrete formworks in 2004.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/04/14 08:15 by leonz.

leonz Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Have you passed through the Akima Tunnel yet???
>
> It is a favorite of mine as they mined it from one
> end as the opposing exit portal
> had no room for support equipment or a concrete
> ready mix plant.
>
> The Akima Tunnel is the only railroad tunnel in
> the world that was excavated
> using a sheild tunnel miner in one pass and used a
> pneumatic capsule pipeline to carry away
> tunnel muck to the dumping station near the
> entrance and used the same Pnuematic Capsule
> Pipeline
> System to deliver the concrete for the floor and
> tunnel lining using the worlds largest mobile
> crawler mounted concrete formworks in 2004.

Akima Tunnel is located on the Nagano Shinkansen Line, 8295 meters long (~5.2 miles). It's ranked 22nd in Japan in terms of tunnel length. Thanks for the information about the engineering behind the tunnel. I believe the project was completed before 1997, not 2004, since October of 1997 is when Nagano Shinkansen began revenue service.

I rode through it on my joyride to Nagano and back in April, but didn't notice anything unusual (at or below 260 km/h). I may have to pay attention on my next visit, to see if the inside of the tunnel looks different than the others while travelling between Annaka-Haruna and Karuizawa, which is where the tunnel is located. That section of the line is supposed to be on a 3% grade, although I don't know how steep it is inside the Akima Tunnel.