How Japan's Shinkansen trains revolutionized travel by train

How Japan's Shinkansen trains revolutionized travel by train

In the early morning of October 1, 1964, an elegant blue and white train glides effortlessly over the urban expansion of Tokyo. His increased tracks led south to the city of Osaka and wrote history.

The beginning of the Shinkansen-era

This was the beginning of the "Shinkansen" era in Japan, which is seen as the formative symbol for the amazing recovery of the country after the trauma of the Second World War. Together with the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 1964, this technological masterpiece of the 1960s was the return of Japan to the top of the international community.

an international benchmark for efficiency

In the six decades since the first train, the word "Shinkansen" - which means "new main route" - has become an internationally recognized synonym for speed, travel efficiency and modernity. Japan remains a world's leading country in rail technology. Mighty conglomerates such as Hitachi and Toshiba export each year, including trains and equipment, were worth billions of dollars.

continuous expansion of the network

The Shinkansen network has continuously expanded since the completion of the 320 miles long Tokaido line, which connects Tokyo and Shin-Osaka. Trains reach speeds of up to 200 MPH (approx. 322 km/h) on routes that lead from the capital to the north, south and west to cities such as Kobe, Kyoto, Hiroshima and Nagano.

a symbol of change

As a symbol of recovery, the Shinkansen was also used as an instrument for the ongoing economic development of Japan and as an agent of change in a country that is strongly shaped by conventions and traditions.

mastering technological challenges

The development of the Shinkansen owes much of the early rail history of Japan. Instead of the 1,435 mm "standard" brake width used in North America and large parts of Europe, a closer width of 1,067 mm was selected. This made it easier to build with mountainous terrain, but the capacity was limited and the speeds were low.

from long trips to fast connections

With the four main islands of Japan, which extend over around 1,800 miles (almost 3,000 kilometers), the trips between the capitals were long and often tedious. In 1889 the travel time from Tokyo to Osaka was 16.5 hours by train - better than the two to three weeks that was needed on foot a few years earlier. In 1965 the time was only three hours and ten minutes with the Shinkansen.

innovations and security

The next generation of high-speed trains, known as Alfa-X, is currently being tested at speeds of almost 250 mph (400 km/h), whereby the maximum operating limit is "only" 225 mph. The characteristic features of these and other new Shinkansen trains are their exceptionally long fronts, which were not only developed to improve aerodynamics, but mainly to eliminate sound bang, caused by the "piston effect" when entering into tunnels.

worldwide high-speed track trends

In 2022, more than 295 million people drove with Shinkansen trains in Japan. It is therefore not surprising that many other countries have followed Japan's example and have built new high -speed routes in the past four decades. France, for example, has been running his TGV system between Paris and Lyon since 1981 and has successfully exported the high-speed technology to other countries.

China's promotion in the rail sector

In recent years, China has overtaken the rest of the world and has built up the world's longest high -speed rail system. According to the national railway operating company, the total length extends to almost 28,000 miles by the end of 2023.

The future of transport

"The Shinkansen is clearly much more than just a means of transport," says British academic Christopher P. Hood, author of "Shinkansen: From high -speed train to the symbol of modern Japan". "He was the most powerful symbol of Japan's post -war reconstruction and its emerging industrial power and will probably remain for many years with progressive development." These remarkable descendants of the original trains are an indispensable part of the transport infrastructure in Japan and many other countries worldwide, which in times of growing environmental concerns not only gain in importance, but may also be able to herald a new flowering time for the train.