Traditional medicine

Shinkansen high-speed trains in Japan. Japanese Shinkansen high-speed trains

The high-speed rail network in Japan is exactly what I dreamed of seeing with my own eyes. These bullet trains are fired from Japanese train platforms every three minutes. Their average speed on the route is 270 km/h, the maximum is not worth mentioning - new records are broken too often.

Below the cut is a very short post about the main competitor to air travel and the most punctual passenger transport on the planet - the Shinkansen.

The long-awaited acquaintance with the “Japanese miracle” took place at Odawara Station, from where our journey through Japan begins. Hikari No. 503 promised to take us to Kyoto in just an hour and a half.
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"Shinkansen" literally translated from Japanese as "new main line" is common name high-speed railways connecting the most important cities in Japan. This road was called the “New Line” because Japanese builders for the first time, when laying the Shinkansen, moved away from the practice of narrow gauge railways - the standard gauge became 1435 mm. Before this, the entire Japanese railway network was narrow gauge (1067 mm gauge).

The first section of the Shinkansen Tokyo-Osaka (“Tokaido Shinkansen”), 515 km long, was opened in 1964, on the eve of the opening of the XVIII Summer Olympics in Tokyo. The first trains reached speeds of 220-230 km/h.

The high-speed network is controlled by the Japan Railways Group. JR Group is the backbone of Japan's railway network (controls 20,135 of the 27,268 km of roads, which is ~74% of all highways). Her share is large share intercity and suburban railway communication. Initially, the Shinkansen lines carried freight and passengers day and night. Now they serve only passengers, and from midnight to 6 a.m. traffic is stopped for maintenance and repair work. There are very few night trains left in Japan, and they all still run on the old railway, the tracks of which are laid parallel to the tracks of the “bullet train” and connect major cities countries.

There are three categories used in Japan today high speed trains: "nozomi", "hikari" and "kodama". Nozomi Express is the fastest. The 500 series trains operating on these lines appearance, and especially the elongated bow part, 15 m long, creating the necessary aerodynamics, resembles spaceships. Their appearance on Japanese railways completely changed the standards for high-speed roads. In some areas, the “nozomi” reaches speeds of up to 300 km/h and stops only in large populated areas. “Hikari”, the second fastest, makes stops at intermediate stations, and “kodomi” - at all stations. However, the speed of the Kodomi exceeds 200 km/h, although when passing through some areas and populated areas, the speed of the Shinkansen is limited to 110 km/h.

Despite the high speeds, the Shinkansen in Japan has proven itself to be an extremely reliable mode of transport: over the years of operation, starting in 1964, not a single fatal accident (excluding suicides) has been recorded. The “punctuality” of Japanese high-speed trains is also exceptionally high: the average annual delay is less than a minute, and even at peak loads it is no more than 3-4 minutes. Having become a convenient and affordable mode of transport, the Shinkansen is in many cases today the most optimal way to travel around Japan. At the same time, the traffic interval during morning and evening rush hours is 5-6 minutes!

Now high speed trains is the same symbol of modern Japan as high-quality electronics, reliable and durable cars.

High-speed trains here are much more popular than air travel within the country, since to travel on the Shinkansen there is no need to waste time on the road to the airport, check-in, etc. Shinkansen saves time in everything!
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These high-speed trains are also called bullet trains.
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A little higher, I already noted that these trains compete with airplanes only in time savings. Comfort and price are about the same! Yes, riding Shinkansen trains is not cheap - a short trip can cost a decent amount. What should a tourist do?

The most economical way to travel around Japan is the Japan Rail Pass. Such a travel ticket is simply necessary for an independent traveler.

The Japan Rail Pass allows unlimited travel on JR roads, buses and ferries (not valid on the Nozomi Super Express). This ticket is valid for 7, 14 or 21 days and can be purchased only outside Japan.

The JR Pass can only be purchased by foreigners, and only before arriving in Japan. Prices for the regular JR Pass Ordinary “adult” JR Pass are $237,438 and $562 for 7, 14 and 21 days, respectively. Naturally, the criminal JR Pass Green 1st Class will be more expensive - about $150.

So if you are planning to travel around Japan a lot, I advise you to purchase such a pass in advance.

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No one goes beyond the yellow line on the platform.
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N700 trains reach speeds of up to 300 km/h, and the tilt capability allows them to maintain speeds of 270 km/h on curves with a radius of up to 2,500 m, where speeds were previously allowed at 255 km/h. Another feature of the N700 is that it accelerates faster than other Shinkansen trains, with an acceleration of 0.722 m/s², allowing it to reach a speed of 270 km/h in just 3 minutes.
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Magnetoplane trains are currently being tested in full force in Japan. In April 2015, a magnetic levitation maglev train broke its own speed record, reaching 603 km/h during tests near Fuji. JR Central, which owns the trains, aims to have them on the Tokyo-Nagoya route by 2027. The distance of 280 kilometers is planned to be covered in just 40 minutes.

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I didn't take any photos inside the train. I will only note very comfortable seats, personal sockets and sealed smoking capsule rooms. A country for people!
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N700. Each such train has 16 carriages and 1323 comfortable passenger seats.
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And here is another video about the N700 series Shinkansen flying over:

If you want to know everything about Shinkansen trains, then you should come to Varlamov.

Japanese railway miracle "Shinkansen"

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Exactly 50 years ago, in October 1964, the world's first high-speed train, the Shinkansen (aka bullet-train), was launched in Japan, capable of reaching speeds of up to 210 km/h and forever becoming one of the symbols of the “new” Japan and its growing economic power. The first line connected the two largest Japanese cities - Tokyo and Osaka, reducing the minimum travel time between them from 7.5 to 4 hours.

I express my deep gratitude for the opportunity to visit different parts of Japan. Representative office of the National Tourism Office of Japan in Vladivostok and S7 Airlines.

More materials from the trip:

If the weary soul of a traveler becomes completely sad in the realities of a modern metropolis, you can always go on vacation in Hakone. Hakone is a resort area located near Tokyo, within national park Fuji-Hakone-Izu, between Mount Fuji and the Izu Peninsula. In good weather and under favorable circumstances, in general, if luck smiles on you, you can observe the famous Fuji-san - in fact, this is what many travelers come here for.

In the vicinity of Hakone there are also many thermal springs- It’s not for nothing that this town not far from Tokyo has been one of the most popular resorts in Japan since time immemorial. Today, there are more than a dozen hot springs in the region, feeding the baths of many hotels and ryokans in Hakone. About everything in order under the cut.

Finally, the time has come to write reports on the results of the trip to beautiful Japan. The first point of my trip, of course, was the huge metropolis and capital of Japan - Tokyo. Below the cut I suggest you look at pictures about my two days in the most modern metropolis in the world.

On April 28, a new direction was added to the route network of S7 Airlines - a direct regular flight connected Vladivostok and the Japanese city of Osaka. I was among the first passengers on this flight.

Flights to Osaka now operate weekly on Wednesdays and Fridays. The plane departs from Knevichi airport at 13:30, and arrives in Osaka at 14:40 local time, that is, two hours in the air - and you are in Japan. The plane departs back to Vladivostok from Osaka Kansai Airport at 15:45, and arrives at its destination at 19:05. Flights on the new flight are carried out on Airbus A320 aircraft equipped with economy and business class cabins. Below the cut is a little about the airport and the new flight of the green grasshopper plane of S7 airlines.

For obvious reasons, Japan has always been one of the most popular foreign destinations for business and tourist trips for residents of the Far East. This year, due to the significant simplification of the visa regime, interest in this country should grow significantly. Well, it's time for me to visit too.

Yes, it turns out there is still a Far Easterner who has never been to Japan :))

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Since invention railway Hundreds of years have already passed. Railway transport has overcome a long evolutionary path of development from hand-pulled massive trolleys to modern super-high-speed express trains operating on the principle of magnetic levitation, which have already become commonplace in many countries around the world. This selection will feature the fastest trains that can reach speeds of at least 300 km per hour.

11th place. HSL 1 (High-Speed Line 1)- speed 300 km/h
HSL 1 is a Belgian high-speed electric train of the TGV series (Train à Grande Vitesse - "high-speed train" in French), whose operating speed is 300 km/h, runs on a high-speed railway line connecting Brussels with the French railway line LGV Nord. It was put into operation in December 1997.

10th place. - speed 300 - 315 km/h
THSR 700T is a high-speed train on the island of Taiwan, developed based on Japanese Shinkansen trains. The train, which has a maximum operating speed of 300 km/h, connects northern Taipei and southern Kaohsiung. It consists of 12 comfortable carriages and can accommodate 989 passengers. The speed record for this train was set in 2005 and is 315 km/h.

9th place. - speed 320 km/h
ICE are high-speed trains common in Germany and neighboring countries. On the Strasbourg-Paris line, InterCity Express reaches speeds of up to 320 km/h. Today, ICEs are the main long-distance train type offered by German Railways. These trains are also supplied to Russia, where they are used on high-speed railway lines Moscow - Nizhny Novgorod and Moscow - St. Petersburg.

8th place. - speed 300 - 334.7 km/h
Eurostar or British Rail Class 373 is a British high-speed electric train of the TVG series, running between the UK, Belgium and France through the English Channel Tunnel, which is the second longest railway tunnel in the world. The train's capacity is 900 passengers, its operating speed reaches 300 km/h, and the speed record for this train was set in 2003 and is equal to 334.7 km/h. The journey from London to Paris by Eurostar takes 2 hours 16 minutes.

7th place. - speed 305 - 352 km/h
Sancheon, formerly known as KTX II, entered service in South Korea in 2009. It was built by Hyundai Rotem based on technology from French TGV trains and is owned by Korail, the national rail operator South Korea. Although it can reach speeds of up to 352 km/h (the record was set in 2004), for safety reasons it does not go faster than 305 km/h. The comfortable train with a capacity of 363 passengers operates on the route Yongsan - Gwangju - Mokpo and Seoul - Busan.

6th place. - speed 300 - 362 km/h
For the ETR-500 electric train, released in Italy in 1993, the operating speed reaches 300 km/h, and the speed record was set in 2009 in the tunnel between Bologna and Florence and is 362 km/h. The train covers the distance from the center of Bologna to Milan in 56 minutes. The release of six ETR-1000 trains is planned for 2014, which will reach speeds from 360 to 400 km/h.

5th place. - speed 330 - 365 km/h
AVE (Alta Velocidad Española) is a trademark of the Spanish Railways operator Renfe-Operador. The abbreviation is also a play on the word "bird" (ave) in Spanish. All AVE class trains are high-speed, but the electric train AVE Talgo-350 with a capacity of 318 passengers, accelerating up to 330 km/h on the routes Madrid - Valladolid and Madrid - Barcelona, is especially fast. In 2004, during testing, the train reached a speed of 365 km/h. Because of appearance, similar to a duck's beak, the AVE Talgo-350 was nicknamed Pato (duck in Spanish).

4th place. - speed 380 - 486.1 km/h
The Chinese train CRH380A is designed for a maximum operating speed of 380 km/h, while the speed record for such a train is 486.1 km/h. The production of these iron monsters is carried out by the largest railway manufacturer in China - CSR Qingdao Sifang Locomotive and Rolling Stock Company. The high-speed 8-car train with an “airplane-style” interior can accommodate 494 passengers. In September 2010, the CRH-380A was put into operation for the first time on the Shanghai - Nanjing route. It later began operating daily flights on the Wuhan-Guangzhou and Shanghai-Hangzhou lines.

3rd place. - speed 431 - 501 km/h
The Shanghai Maglev is a Chinese high-speed maglev train that has been operating in Shanghai since 2004. The maximum speed of the express train is 431 km/h, which allows you to cover the distance from the city center to the airport (30 km) in just 7-8 minutes. In a test run on November 12, 2003, this train reached a speed of 501 km/h. The developers of the train are not the Chinese, but the Germans. The prototype of the Shanghai Maglev Train was the Transrapid SMT model.

2nd place. - speed 320 - 574.8 km/h

These French TVG series trains operate between France and Switzerland and between France and Germany. Operating speed - 320 km/h. At the same time, the TGV POS model holds the speed record among rail trains - in 2007, this train was able to accelerate to 574.8 km per hour.

1st place. Shinkansen series trains- speed 320 - 581 km/h
Shinkansen (Shinkansen - "new line" in Japanese) is a network of Japanese high-speed trains, often called "bullet" trains, and for good reason - the Shinkansen speed record for conventional railway lines is 443 km/h (the record was set in 1996 ), A maglev 581 km/h, which is an absolute world record for trains(the record was set in 2003). The first high-speed train in Japan went into operation in 1964. Today, Shinkansen express trains, consisting of sixteen cars, cover the distance between Osaka and Tokyo in 2 hours and 25 minutes. The train has a peculiar elongated nose, thanks to which it received the nickname “platypus”. By the way, Shinkansen trains have the status of not only one of the fastest trains, but also the safest - in 40 years of operation there has not been a single major accident.

Asia and Europe are complete opposites. It is very difficult for a European to understand how an Asian builds his life, what he thinks about, what rules he obeys. But still eastern countries attract tourists with their beauty and originality, and many Asian countries can boast high level life and new technologies introduced into the life of ordinary residents. Japan is especially interesting in this regard. Those who have had the pleasure of traveling around the Land of the Rising Sun will never be able to forget Japanese trains, covering many kilometers in literally a matter of minutes.

Japan is a country of high technology and patriarchal traditions

Japan is located in East Asia and occupies almost seven thousand islands. This geographical feature influences the entire way of life of the locals. The country's population of 127 million lives in big cities. Only less than five percent of all Japanese can afford to live outside the metropolis, and this division is very arbitrary. After all, in Japan it is difficult to find an area that would not be used for the benefit of the state. The Japanese are trying to build up every millimeter of land with various buildings; as a result, only coastal strips remain free, subject to periodic flooding.

But the Japanese have learned to deal with this misfortune; for many years now they have been moving deeper into Pacific Ocean and the South China Sea, creating artificial islands. The severe shortage of free land forced Japan to develop a high-tech program for the settlement of water areas, which has shown itself very well over the past decades.

The peculiarities of Japanese life force the population to constantly move around the country. Every day, several thousand people travel from the suburbs to work at their offices located in Tokyo or Osaka. The Japanese high-speed train helps you avoid rush hour traffic and save time.

Shinkansen - high speed rail

For Russians, traveling by rail can hardly be called comfortable and fast. The average resident of our country, going on vacation, tries to choose air transport. But in the Land of the Rising Sun, Japanese trains break all records for popularity and demand. This is absolutely special kind transport that can cover a distance of 600 kilometers in just a couple of hours.

High-speed trains and railways in Japan are called Shinkansen. Literally this name can be translated as “new main line”. Indeed, during the construction of this highway, the Japanese used a lot of new technologies and for the first time moved away from the traditional type of railway adopted in those days.

Now the Shinkansen connects almost all the cities of Japan; the length of the line is more than 27 thousand kilometers. Moreover, 75 percent of the railway track belongs to the largest company in Japan - Japan Railwais Group.

Japanese bullet train: first launch

The need for new railway lines arose in Japan before the eighteenth Summer Olympics. The fact is that until that time the railway track was a narrow-gauge railway. This fact did not correspond international standards and significantly slowed down the development of the industry. Therefore, in 1964, the first Shinkansen line was launched, connecting Tokyo and Osaka. The length of the railway was just over 500 kilometers.

It is unknown what the future of Japanese high-speed trains will be, but one thing is certain now - they will be the fastest and most comfortable in the world. Otherwise, in Japan they simply don’t know how.

High-speed trains are an amazing and very convenient means of traveling around Japan. In our daily movements, the main means of transportation was railway transport, and I cannot help but dwell on the topic of Shinkansen (新幹線, Shinkansen), devoting a separate article to it. At first, as usual, I gasp and admire what I saw and felt, and then I move on to the story. You say, what nonsense, she rode the train and is happy. Yes, that's right!

The Shinkansen is the first train of its class, it is comfortable to move, and you don’t feel any shaking or vibration while moving on it. The feeling is similar to that of being on an airplane, it’s like you’re flying, but it’s like you’re standing still. I found a photo on the Internet that when the Shinkansen moves, a 500 yen coin does not fall, I am 100% sure that this is not a montage. Because movement of 300 kilometers per hour is not felt inside the train. High-speed trains

But when two handsome Shinkansen meet at this very speed, you can feel the force with which the train is thrown to the side. This is what kind of force (what? attraction?) must be so that the train does not fly off the rails. I'm not a technician, I don't know how to say it correctly :).

The speed is felt only when you look out the window at the lightning-fast changing landscape, and how quickly the drops dry on the glass, the rain still did not stop.

Traveling on trains of this class is expensive; a trip for a Japanese from Tokyo to Osaka will cost 19,300 yen, at the exchange rate - $177, and this is only one way. Therefore, what a blessing that they came up with such a miracle as the JR PASS for foreign tourists; our ticket was valid for 7 days and we bought it for $230 (if I’m not mistaken). We definitely paid for it several times when we moved towards Osaka. Because there we only had time to travel between cities.

A voucher for purchasing a ticket can only be purchased outside of Japan and only for foreigners with a tourist visa, that is, you need to worry about it in advance, I wrote in more detail. Then, already in Japan, the voucher is exchanged for a travel ticket.

Shinkansen is translated from Japanese as a new highway. That’s right, they began to develop a new type of highway back in 1940, and even then they planned to run trains on a new, standard-width track that could reach speeds of up to 200 kilometers per hour. In Japan, the main length of the railway (22,231 km) is made up of so-called narrow-gauge railways, the width of which is 1067 mm. For the Shinkansen, a highway with a standard European gauge of 1435 mm was required.

During the war, work on the construction of a new highway was suspended, and since 1943 it was completely stopped. IN post-war period, in connection with the gradual restoration of industry and the country's economy, the insufficiency of available transport was increasingly felt. The Japanese government was in no hurry to develop railway transport, since, under the influence of American ideology, it was inclined to the position that railways would be replaced by highways and air travel.

But passenger traffic was growing, more and more cargo was required to be transported to different parts of the country, and the existing railways and train fleet could not cope with this flow. In 1957, they started talking about reviving the new highway project, and much of the credit for this goes to the fourth president of the Japanese National Highways, Shinji Sogu.

To obtain government support, Shinji Sog developed a plan that ensured the participation and impossibility of abandonment of the project by the Japanese government.

Despite great resistance, he insisted on building a standard 1435 mm gauge, arguing that this would improve the quality of roads.
He also stated that the maximum speed of trains will be 200 km/h (and not the mind-blowing 300), so as not to focus attention on this issue.
I convinced everyone that this was not new construction or a new highway, but an improvement of the existing one.
The required budget was stated to be significantly lower than required, while to pay for part of the project a loan of $80 million was received from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

Shinji Sog consciously went through these “tricks”, realizing that if he had declared the real cost of the project, he would not have received either approval for the construction of a new expressway or money. As soon as the money was allocated, Shinji Sog, possessing exclusive presidential powers, began to divert funds from other JNR projects for the construction of the expressway.

Of course, the declared funds were not enough exactly twice, but the main work was completed and the direction was set. The 1964 Olympic Games were looming on the horizon, to be held in Tokyo. The project had to be completed by this date. The project cost 400 billion yen. Japan was the first country to build dedicated railway lines for high-speed trains.

In 1963, taking full responsibility for the current situation, Shinji Sog resigned. But his achievements in the construction of high-speed trains in Japan are immortalized with a memorial tablet at Tokyo station.

A week, or rather 9 days, before summer Olympic Games, which took place from October 10 to October 24, 1964, the first expressway between Tokyo and Osaka was opened, with a length of 515 km, with seventeen stations.

The Shinkansen is called the bullet train and it lives up to its name. The first Shinkansen developed a speed of 210-220 km/h, today the maximum speed of trains is 320 km/h, this is of course not the Chinese maglev, which reaches speeds of up to 500 km/h, but also a very impressive speed. In addition, the Japanese are working on their version of maglev, which reaches speeds of up to 603 km/h; this speed was first recorded on April 21, 2015 and is a world record.

The advent of expressways changed business life in Japan. The country's two largest metropolises, Tokyo and Osaka, are located at a distance of " three hours" One-day business trips could now be made. On the Nozomi Shinkansen, which travels faster than usual, this journey will take 2.5 hours.

In addition to speed, I would like to note the ease of movement and stay on bullet trains. The seats are very comfortable, the distance between the seats both in the row itself and between the rows is such that it does not create inconvenience to neighbors. In the Shinkansen, unlike buses, planes, and other trains, it is very comfortable to go about your business while you go to work or a meeting in another city, you can prepare necessary information, work using a computer, all rows have power supply. They often have breakfast, lunch, and dinner in the Shinkansen. Then they must take all the bags with them and throw them away when leaving the train at the station, where there are always several types of containers for sorting waste. And of course, the Shinkansen is very comfortable to sleep in.

If you are traveling big company, then the chairs in front can be turned so that people sit facing each other.

Some figures in the history of the development of high-speed trains in Japan:

Construction of the first section of the new expressway began in April 1959, and the first Shinkansen opened on October 1, 1964.
The length of high-speed rail lines has increased from 515.4 km in 1964 to 2,764.6 km in 2015.
On July 13, 1967, the mark of 100 million passengers using the services of a high-speed train was recorded; in 1976 - 1 billion.
The Shinkansen's maximum speed is 320 km/h; on the section of road between Tokyo and Aomori, speeds of up to 360 km/h are possible.
Japan's busiest railway line, Tokyo-Osaka, carries 151 million passengers a year.
The entire high-speed train line in Japan carries 353 million people a year.
During peak hours, the Shinkansen runs at three-minute intervals and has up to 13 trains with 16 cars in each direction. Each carriage has 1,323 comfortable passenger seats.
The length of each car is 25 meters, with the exception of the head car. The total length of the train is 400 meters
During the construction of the Tokyo-Osaka line, 3,000 bridges and 67 tunnels were built, with a length of 108 km.
When traveling over a distance of up to 800 kilometers, the Japanese prefer the Shinkansen over air travel. Because ticket prices are comparable, while traveling by train is more comfortable, and if you take into account the registration and boarding procedure, as well as the fact that airports are located far from cities, then it is certainly more convenient to arrive at the train departure time and get off at the desired stations are almost in the city center.

On March 26, 2016, the high-speed line connected the islands of Honshu and Hokkaido. Construction of the road began in May 2005 in Aomori (northern Honshu Island) and 11 years later ended in Hakodate (northern Hokkaido Island). The railway track runs at a depth of 240 meters, 100 meters below the seabed. The unique Seikan Tunnel, which connects two islands, is the deepest tunnel in the world and the second longest. The length of Seikan is 53.85 km, its underwater part is 23.3 km.

The speed of the Shinkansen on this section of the road is 360 km/h. From Tokyo to Sapporo you can drive in 3 hours 57 minutes.

Shinkansen is so accurate and punctual that any deviation from the schedule is regarded as an emergency. In 2014, the average train delay was 54 seconds. In 2017, the statistics should have changed for the worse, since personally our train, on which we were supposed to travel to Matsumoto due to the October typhoon Lan, was delayed for 3 hours because a fallen tree damaged the main line. But by the way, an hour later the trains went as usual and we boarded another train, not our own, and moved on.

Shinkansen - safe look transport , despite frequent earthquakes and typhoons, over its more than 50-year history there has not been a single fatality as a result of a collision or. Cases of suicide are not taken into account. Everyone remembers the sensational story in 2015, when a Shinkansen passenger traveling along the Tokyo-Osaka route committed an act of self-immolation on a train carrying 1000 passengers. As a result of this incident, 80 people were injured (minorly, mainly from smoke) and two cases of clinical death were announced.

In Japan, 6% of suicides occur on railway lines. On average, 2,000 people a year jump in front of a train due to the apparent ease of taking their own life. Railroad companies often sue relatives for damages caused by downtime. In turn, measures are being taken to reduce similar cases: the stations are equipped with blue illuminated LEDs, the trains are painted bright green (which, in principle, I haven’t seen often) - this should calm the jumpers. But the most effective thing is that barriers are installed at stations that do not allow you to approach the railway track, and only when the Shinkansen stops do the doors open to allow you to board the train.

At stations in the Kyoto and Osaka area, specifically on expressways, there are such barriers almost everywhere, so I assume that barriers are now being installed everywhere. Of course, it’s not so beautiful to watch the trains coming and going, but it’s safe for people.

A little more about safety.

Two high-speed train crashes have been officially recorded. The first occurred on October 23, 2004 in Chuetsu, in Niigata Prefecture, during a powerful earthquake with a magnitude of 6.6 points. The Shinkansen passed close to the epicenter at a speed of 210 km/h and derailed. Emergency braking was performed within seventy seconds with a braking distance of 1.6 km. There were 155 passengers on the train, none of them were injured.

The second incident occurred on March 2, 2013, on the northern section of roads in Akita Prefecture. At this time, a record amount of snow fell. Due to heavy snowfall, the train was traveling at a minimum speed of 20 mph; upon hearing a loud, uncharacteristic sound, the driver began braking the train. Traffic in the area was immediately stopped. Considering that the train was located far from the tracks, the train passengers, of whom there were 130 people, had to wait for help and evacuation for six hours until the bus arrived. All this time, electricity and heating were turned on in the pastures. None of the passengers were injured. The crash occurred on Saturday; traffic on this section of the road was restored only on Monday.

The expressways of Japan along which the Shinkansen travel are completely separate from the regular highways along which regular trains travel. At each metro station you need to find signs indicating the direction to the exit to the Shinkansen platform. Ticket offices for these trains are also located separately. Having the JR Pass in hand, we tried several times to reserve a seat at such ticket offices, but the queues were always ten or more people long, and we, as usual, were in a hurry to catch the train. So we rushed to the train and boarded free seats in the carriage. Considering that our movement took place mainly during the day, special problems did not arise, that is, it is not at all necessary to reserve seats on a passing train. By the way, in the Shinkansen, inspectors often walk through the carriage and check passengers’ tickets.

The railways themselves for high-speed trains also run separately from regular ones, which allows the shinkensen to move without any delays. Shinkansens carry only passengers and do not transport cargo; operating hours are from six in the morning to midnight.

In addition to speed, cleanliness, comfort and convenience, I was struck by the fact that high-speed trains in Japan are so popular, despite the high cost of tickets. The bulk of the passengers are people, mostly men, in business suits. Therefore, the conclusion suggests itself that they are going to work, on a business trip, and so on to neighboring cities and regions. Children also meet school age already in smaller quantities. And on the line passing through Osaka, Kyoto there are many foreign tourists with huge backpacks. The Japanese prefer suitcases and business briefcases when traveling.

On the platforms, while waiting for the train, the Japanese line up and do not crowd in front of the intended door of the carriage. If the location of the doors (if there is no special fencing) and the car number are drawn on the platform on the floor, then it is in this place that the door will be located when the train stops, everything is accurate and punctual as usual.

I haven’t seen the terrible pictures that are on the Internet about the endless stream of passengers on the subway, but eyewitnesses say that this is really true. This happens on particularly busy lines during rush hour.

Friends, Olga Tanaka wrote voluminous, lively information in the comments to this article, which I found very interesting. Olga lives in Japan and knows not only the pros, but also the cons of high-speed trains. To prevent her information from getting lost in the comments section, I, with the consent of the author, am moving it to the main part of the article, and my answer will be posted in the comments section.

Congratulations on your new interesting and rich article! Of course, having considerable experience of riding in shinkansen, I have some comments:
(1) Personally, I can’t sleep in the Shinkansen. The reason for this is the frequent movement of passengers. The Shinkansen carriage is not a reserved seat, much less a coupe, but rows of seats like in an Aeroexpress. When traveling alone, travel companions change quite often. And the Japanese also have a bad habit of taking with them not only what they need, but also what might be useful. Because of this, they always have a lot of baggage with them. They prefer to place this luggage at their feet. It's probably more reliable this way. Therefore, it is better to sit by the window: you won’t have to miss them. And there is one more thing - the station announcements in the carriages are given in Japanese and English, so they are quite long and loud. This also does not promote sleep. But, probably, this is a prevention of passing your station
(2) Happy is the one who did not take the Shinkansen to O-bon. If you've ever read notes about what it's like to travel on trains in China in China New Year, so this is practically it. Of course, there are no fake tickets or battles for seats on Japanese Shinkansen. However, frantic crowds of people, luggage racks filled to capacity with things and passengers packed like sardines into a barrel, filling all the aisles and vestibules (yes, standing room!!!) Thanks to the efforts of my husband, I was always provided with an armored seat, and sedately watched the poor fellows who, having bought a standing ticket at the price of a seated one, traveled in terrible conditions. In general, I was outraged that the railway workers did not reduce the price of standing places, thereby enriching themselves disproportionately. But my husband objected that it was people’s own fault for not taking care of the ticket in advance. In addition, by allowing them to travel while standing, they have a chance to go to their home prefecture. Otherwise there would not have been such a chance at all.
(3) There are real “Japanese” shinkansen not only in Japan, but, for example, in Taiwan. They bought the technology from the Japanese. But the Chinese are only imitating the Japanese and they do not have the legal right to call their high-speed trains shinkansen.
(4) Personally, I love eating at the Shinkansen. At the station you buy their signature lunch in a box - bento. Always fresh and beautiful. Design itself cardboard box creates the perfect mood for travel. But you can already buy coffee and ice cream from the conductor right in the carriage. Ice cream, mostly of only one type - vanilla, expensive, but so tasty that you will lick your fingers.
In Russia, for subjective reasons, I really don’t like trains, but Japanese trains made me look at railway transport a little differently.

And now a little about bento (lunch packed in a special box). As Olga wrote above, bento is part of the Shinkansen journey.

Bento prepared for consumption during a train trip has a special name - ekiben. This is a single-serve lunch box. Boxes for ekiben can be ceramic, plastic, or wood. The bento comes with chopsticks and, if necessary, spoons. Lunch can be purchased at the train station or on the train itself.

The girls (I wonder what they are officially called) regularly push a cart around the carriage with bento, drinks, dry snacks, ice cream and various goodies and unobtrusively offer passengers to buy what they need. I didn’t see people in our carriage often purchasing goods from a train employee. This probably happens more during lunchtime.

But I noticed what many people eat on the train. Mainly for two reasons: when leaving the train, passengers are holding bags of garbage in their hands, which are thrown out at the station. And sometimes, when you sit down on the seat, you can inadvertently “get into trouble”; not very careful “eaters” leave scattered rice behind them.

The first railroad bento was sold at Utsunomiya Station on July 16, 1885. The bento consisted of two balls of rice and pickled radish, packaged in a bamboo box. But at least seven more railway stations are vying for the role of “first creator” of ekiben. Subsequently, ekiben became more and more popular and each prefecture tried to diversify the menu and bring local flavor to the dishes. Nowadays, there is also a continuing trend that ekibena ingredients consist of local products indigenous to the area.

The golden age for ekiben was the 80s, when trains did not run so fast and the passenger, being long time on the way, I felt the need to refresh myself on the road. Today, the procedure for eating on a train is not widespread.

Broad gauge supporters managed to bring their projects to life on the railway laid by the Japanese in the early 30s. in colonized Southern Manchuria. In 1934, the legendary Asia Express was launched between the cities of Dalian and Changchun (700 km), an indicative symbol of the Japanese imperialist power of that time. Capable of reaching speeds of over 130 km/h, it was far superior to China's railway system at the time, and was even much faster than the fastest express train in Japan itself. And on a global scale, Asia-Express had impressive characteristics. For example, the world's first air-conditioned carriages were equipped there. The dining car was equipped with refrigerators, and there was also a special car - observation deck with windows all around, furnished with leather armchairs and bookshelves.

This example probably became the final argument in favor of broad gauge and gave rise to the first high-speed rail projects in Japan. In 1940, the Japanese government approved a project of incredible scale. Even then, the project envisaged the creation of a train capable of reaching speeds of up to 200 km/h, but the Japanese government did not intend to limit itself to laying lines only on Japanese territory. It was planned to build an underwater tunnel to the Korean Peninsula and extend the tracks all the way to Beijing. Construction had already partially begun, but the outbreak of the war and the subsequent deterioration of Japan's military and political positions put an end to imperial ambitions. In 1943, the project was curtailed; the same year was the last for Asia-Express. However, some sections of the Shinkansen lines operated today were built in the pre-war years.
They started talking about the construction of the Shinkansen again 10 years after the war. Rapid economic growth has created great demand for freight and passenger transportation throughout the country. However, the idea to revive the project turned out to be completely unpopular and was sharply criticized. At that time, there was a strong opinion that road and air transport would soon supplant railway transport, as happened, for example, in the USA and some European countries. The project was again in jeopardy.

In 1958, between Tokyo and Osaka, on a still narrow gauge, the direct ancestor of the Shinkansen, the Kodama business express, was launched. At maximum speed at 110 km/h it covered the distance between cities in 6.5 hours, making it possible one-day business trips. In Japan, where business culture is based on face-to-face meetings, this was a very convenient solution. However, he did not serve very long. The incredible popularity of the Kodama left no one in any doubt about the need for high-speed lines, and less than a year later the government finally approved the Shinkansen construction project.