Shinkansen
I thought about posting a classic high-speed blur, or a short video, but in the end settled for a more-or-less head on photo of a Tōkaidō Shinkansen N700 series train powering up the slope and going full speed through Odawara Station en route from Tokyo to Shin-Osaka. Most units are 16 cars / coaches long with a 1,323-seat capacity. Just under 150 million people are carried on this particular route per annum.
2014 is the 50th anniversary of Japan's legendary bullet train. The country's entire network now consists of 2,387.7 km (1,483.6 miles) of line, with maximum speeds of 240–320 km/h (150–200 mph) depending on which line is being used. In 2012, JR Central reported that the Shinkansen's average delay per train, across the nation, was 36 seconds. This includes delays due to natural events, such as snow and last weekend's big earthquake that stopped many trains for about one hour. The "Urgent Earthquake Detection and Alarm System" introduced in 1992 automatically stopped those bullet trains potentially affected by the 6.8 quake. Despite carrying 10 billion people over 50 years in a land where quakes, typhoons and heavy snow are not uncommon, there have been NO passenger fatalities due to derailments or collisions. A remarkable record! By comparison there were 3,377 deaths on Texas roads in 2013 alone. In Great Britain, there were 1,713 road deaths just in 2012.
Shinkansen
I thought about posting a classic high-speed blur, or a short video, but in the end settled for a more-or-less head on photo of a Tōkaidō Shinkansen N700 series train powering up the slope and going full speed through Odawara Station en route from Tokyo to Shin-Osaka. Most units are 16 cars / coaches long with a 1,323-seat capacity. Just under 150 million people are carried on this particular route per annum.
2014 is the 50th anniversary of Japan's legendary bullet train. The country's entire network now consists of 2,387.7 km (1,483.6 miles) of line, with maximum speeds of 240–320 km/h (150–200 mph) depending on which line is being used. In 2012, JR Central reported that the Shinkansen's average delay per train, across the nation, was 36 seconds. This includes delays due to natural events, such as snow and last weekend's big earthquake that stopped many trains for about one hour. The "Urgent Earthquake Detection and Alarm System" introduced in 1992 automatically stopped those bullet trains potentially affected by the 6.8 quake. Despite carrying 10 billion people over 50 years in a land where quakes, typhoons and heavy snow are not uncommon, there have been NO passenger fatalities due to derailments or collisions. A remarkable record! By comparison there were 3,377 deaths on Texas roads in 2013 alone. In Great Britain, there were 1,713 road deaths just in 2012.