Central Japan Railway Co (JR Tokai) has applied to the transport ministry for approval to increase the speed of trains on the Tokaido shinkansen line from 2015.
JR Tokai President Yoshiomi Yamada made the announcement at a news conference in Tokyo on Thursday. He said the new speed of 285 km/hour will be 15 km an hour faster than the current fastest train on the Tokaido line, TBS reported Friday. It will cover the distance between Tokyo and Shin-Osaka in 2 hours, 25 minutes, shortening the current fastest time by approximately two to three minutes.
JR Tokai will put a new high-speed shinkansen train into service in the spring of 2015.
© Japan Today
15 Comments
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rickyvee
it'll only save 2 or 3 minutes? i'd rather go at the slower and safer speed, please.
Sawendro
At that velocity, I'm not sure 15km/h slower is much safer.
StormR
Once you reach a certain speed splatter is splatter and a handful of kph make little difference to the size of the splatter.
wanderlust
Sanyo Shinkansen - Osaka to Hakata - has had 300 kph trains running for years without problems - the Nozomi 500 being the first to do it, it even had a digital speedometer in each coach, and an announcement of attaining the 300 kph speed. It's running and maintenance costs were higher than other models, leading to withdrawal from service.
DaveAllTogether
Yes, but the Sanyo was built after the Tokaido, and it has a minimum curve radius of 4,000m vice 2,500 on the Tokaido. Minimum radius is what determines the maximum speed on a line. With the improved brake performance on the newer train sets it should not be a problem to decelerate from 285km before entering a sharp curve.
presto345
I remember feeling the thrill of that speed in 1995 when my relatives and I were traveling east to Shin Osaka! But now, almost 20 years on, the trains are much more stable and comfortable on the Sanyo tracks.
Mirai Hayashi
300kph.....!! Make it so!
federale
It is these small increases in speed that lead to cumulative higher speeds that will signifcantly shorten travel times.
SenseNotSoCommon
Some people do that on the Autobahn. Go for 300kph!
Raymond Chuang
Actually, I think it's possible that certain long stretches of the Tokaido Shinkansen line could be boosted to as high as 300 km/h, especially west of Atami Station. We're forgetting that the latest N700A Shinkansen trainsets now have faster acceleration, improved braking, and the ability to "tilt" a few degrees into curves, and once we have enough N700A (and refurbished late production N700 trainsets updated to N700A standards), all Nozomi trains could hit 300 km/h on parts of the Tokaido Shinkansen line.
SamuraiBlue
Ir's not the small increment of individual travel but system as a whole that counts for this slight bump up in speed in which will give JR Tokai another one or two slots they will be able to squeeze into to gain extra capacity as a whole. With it they are able to generate another 90 mil yen per day in potential revenue.
Peacetrain
"and it has a minimum curve radius of 4,000m vice 2,500 on the Tokaido. Minimum radius is what determines the maximum speed on a line. "
Times like this is when I remember why I always read comments. Amazing.
Okay, now what I want to know is what happens in an earthquake. What damage does the Shinkansen do at 300 kms if it gets derailed - or won't that happen? Serious question for the engineers here.
DaveAllTogether
Urgent Earthquake Detection and Alarm System There are very sensitive seismometers throughout the network that can detect the minute waves that precede the substantial ones. There were 88 trains in operation when 3/11 hit. All trains came to a stop.
Peacetrain
Makes me feel much better Dave.
takuma82
The french bullet train "TGV Sud-Est" runs between 270 and 300 kph. The Paris-Strasbourg high speed line evens runs at 320 kph. The new high speed lines will be able to reach 360 kph :-)