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The Shinkansen

新幹線

The Shinkansen is Japan's network of high-speed railway lines, colloquially known in English as the "bullet train."

The name means "new trunk line," and that is literally what it is: a family of purpose-built standard-gauge railways, largely separate from Japan's older narrow-gauge network, with maximum operating speeds ranging from 260 to 320 km/h. When the first line opened in 1964 it was the first high-speed railway in the world. Its success influenced railways in Europe and the United States.

History

The Tōkaidō Shinkansen began service on 1 October 1964, between Tokyo and Shin-Ōsaka, shortly before the opening of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics on 10 October. It was operated by 0 series trains, which were running at up to 210 km/h by 1965, the first trains in the world to run in commercial service at that speed; the limit was later raised to 220 km/h. The English nickname "bullet train" is a literal translation of dangan ressha (弾丸列車), a name applied from 1939 to the early high-speed rail plans; it became attached to the Shinkansen through the trains' speed and the bullet-like profile of the 0 series. The new line dramatically shortened journeys along what was then Japan's most important trunk route and was an immediate success.

What made it revolutionary was as much the engineering philosophy as the speed. Rather than upgrade the existing 1,067 mm narrow-gauge lines, Japan built entirely new tracks to the international 1,435 mm standard gauge, completely grade-separated from road traffic so that the new lines have no level crossings. Power is distributed across electric multiple units — on the 0 series every axle was driven — rather than concentrated in a single heavy locomotive, which improves acceleration and spreads weight on the track. Safety and spacing are managed by an Automatic Train Control (ATC) system that signals the driver in the cab, eliminating the need for trackside signals at high speed.

From that first line the network spread across the country. The Sanyō Shinkansen extended high-speed service westward, reaching Okayama on 15 March 1972 and Hakata (Fukuoka) on 10 March 1975, linking the capital region to Kyūshū. In 1982 two new lines opened: the Tōhoku Shinkansen between Ōmiya and Morioka on 23 June, and the Jōetsu Shinkansen to Niigata on 15 November. Expansion has continued for decades — the Hokuriku Shinkansen opened toward Nagano in 1997 and reached Tsuruga in 2024, the Kyūshū Shinkansen to Kagoshima was completed in 2011, and the Hokkaido Shinkansen crossed the Seikan Tunnel to reach Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto on 26 March 2016.

Speeds have climbed steadily alongside the network's reach. The Sanyō Shinkansen runs at up to 300 km/h, and the fastest services today reach 320 km/h on the Tōhoku Shinkansen between Utsunomiya and Morioka, worked by the E5 series introduced in 2011. The Tōhoku line itself only reached its northern terminus at Shin-Aomori on 4 December 2010, decades after its first section opened, illustrating how the system has been extended in stages rather than all at once.

The Shinkansen's safety and reliability are central to its reputation. Over more than half a century of operation, no passengers have been killed in train accidents such as derailments or collisions — a record built on the dedicated, grade-separated tracks and the ATC system, and reinforced by an earthquake early-detection system that applies the brakes automatically when it detects a quake's first tremors (P-waves). Punctuality is equally celebrated: on the Tōkaidō Shinkansen the average delay per train was measured at about 12 seconds in 2019, even though the line runs up to nearly 400 services a day. The Tōkaidō Shinkansen alone has carried more than 6.5 billion passengers since opening in 1964.

The network is still evolving. The N700S series entered service in 2020 on the Tōkaidō and Sanyō lines. Looking further ahead, the Chūō Shinkansen is under construction as a superconducting maglev (SCMaglev) line designed for commercial running at 505 km/h. Its first phase will link Shinagawa in Tokyo with Nagoya over 285.6 km, with construction having commenced in 2014; the same L0 series maglev technology set a world speed record of 603 km/h for a crewed train on 21 April 2015.

Timeline
  • 1964Tōkaidō Shinkansen opens between Tokyo and Shin-Ōsaka on 1 October — the world's first high-speed railway, worked by 0 series trains.
  • 1972Sanyō Shinkansen opens from Shin-Ōsaka to Okayama on 15 March.
  • 1975Sanyō Shinkansen extended from Okayama to Hakata (Fukuoka) on 10 March.
  • 1982Tōhoku Shinkansen opens between Ōmiya and Morioka on 23 June; Jōetsu Shinkansen opens to Niigata on 15 November.
  • 1985Tōhoku Shinkansen extended south to Ueno on 14 March.
  • 1991Tōhoku Shinkansen reaches Tokyo Station on 20 June.
  • 1997Hokuriku Shinkansen opens toward Nagano on 1 October.
  • 2004Kyūshū Shinkansen begins service on its first section on 13 March.
  • 2010Tōhoku Shinkansen reaches its northern terminus, Shin-Aomori, on 4 December.
  • 2011Kyūshū Shinkansen opens in full between Hakata and Kagoshima-Chūō; the E5 series enters service on the Tōhoku Shinkansen.
  • 2015The L0 series maglev sets a world speed record of 603 km/h for a crewed train on 21 April.
  • 2016Hokkaido Shinkansen reaches Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto through the Seikan Tunnel on 26 March.
  • 2020The N700S series enters revenue service on the Tōkaidō and Sanyō Shinkansen.
  • 2024Hokuriku Shinkansen extended to Tsuruga on 16 March.
  • PresentThe Chūō Shinkansen, a superconducting maglev (SCMaglev) designed for 505 km/h, is under construction between Shinagawa and Nagoya (285.6 km), begun in 2014.

Sources

Last updated 16 October 2026.

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