The nine Shinkansen lines take you in different directions around Japan. From Tokyo to the south runs the Tokaido Shinkansen line, connecting the capital with Osaka. The Sanyo Shinkansen line connects Osaka with Fukuoka and, from there, the Kyushu Shinkansen line runs through the island of Kyushu from north to south. The other six lines either take you north or inland from Tokyo. The Hokkaido line takes you the furthest north, all the way to Hokkaido island. The Japan Rail Pass allows you to make a free reservation for these two types of trains, but you still need to pay for the ticket.
They make just a few more stops than the express trains. On each of the Shinkansen lines there are fast trains, semi-fast trains, and local trains.
The fast trains only stop at the main stations, semi-fast trains make a few more stops, and local trains stop at every station. For instance, on the Tokaido Shinkansen line which links Tokyo to Osaka the fast train makes 6 stops, the semi-fast train makes between 7 and 12 stops, and local trains stop at all See the " Shinkansen lines " section below for more information.
JR Pass holders can catch the semi-fast and local trains on these lines instead. The semi-fast trains take just a little longer than the Nozomi and Mizuho trains. The Shinkansen railway network includes several lines that cover most of Japan and connect all the main cities. Thanks to this great railway system you can travel quickly and comfortably throughout the country without too much of a second thought.
The companies that make up the JR Group operate a total of 9 lines, 7 Shinkansen lines, and 2 mini-shinkansen lines. Each line offers different train services.
From Aomori you can cross the sea that separates the main island from Hokkaido, thanks to the Hokkaido Shinkansen. It connects the three biggest metropolitan areas of the country: Tokyo to Yokohama, Osaka to Kyoto, and Nagoya.
Three categories of trains operate on this line: Nozomi, Hikari, and Kodama. The Japan Rail Pass does not cover the Nozomi bullet train. The Hikari train connects Tokyo to Shin-Osaka in exactly minutes. Kodama is the slowest of the three trains which operate on the Tokaido Shinkansen line. This is due to the larger number of stops in comparison to the other two bullet trains on this line. The Kodama train stops at every station and takes almost four hours to reach Shin-Osaka.
Completed in , it is the second oldest Japanese Shinkansen line. The majority of Hikari trains are formed of 16 cars though some have 8. There are three Green Class cars on the coach Hikari train. It takes a little over an hour to reach Okayama from Shin-Osaka. This is the slowest train service on the Sanyo line, as it stops at all train stops until it reaches its final destination. Because of this, Kodama trains take almost five hours to arrive at Hakata station from Osaka.
The trains have 8 cars but no Green Class cars. There are both reserved and non-reserved seating areas on the Kodama train service. This is one of the fastest train services operating on the Sanyo Shinkansen line. It operates with 8-car trains with both reserved and non-reserved sections. There are also some Green Class seats on one of the cars. The Tohoku Shinkansen line connects Tokyo with Aomori.
There are two branch lines - the Akita and Yamagata lines which go to the Akita and Yamagata prefectures. There is a direct train connecting Tokyo to Shin-Aomori in just minutes. Yamabiko is a high-speed Shinkansen. There is a direct train service that will take you to Morioka in exactly minutes.
The Hayate trains connect Tokyo with Morioka. Unlike Yamabiko trains, they do not stop between Sendai and Omiya. The Nasuno serves all the stations between Tokyo and Koriyama. It is the slowest type of train on the Tohoku Shinkansen line and it is designed for commuters who travel from the Fukushima and Tochigi Prefectures. The Komachi Shinkansen is the only type of train which runs on the line. It is an E6 series, also known as the Super Komachi.
All seats on the Komachi train services requires seat reservation. There is a direct train service from Tokyo to Akita which takes exactly minutes. The Komachi train services are operated by E6 series trains with 7 coaches. Between Tokyo and Morioka, the Komachi trains are coupled with Hayabusas Shinkansens to form car trains. The Komachi trains detach from the Hayubasas at Morioka and run to Akita. Yamagata Shinkansen is a Tohoku Shinkansen branch line. Tsubasa is the only type of train that runs on the Yamagata line between Tokyo and Shinjo.
Tsubasa services are operated by 7-car E3 series trains. All cars on the Yamagata Shinkansen line are non-smoking. There is a direct train service from Tokyo to Yamagata which takes minutes. The Joetsu Shinkansen line dates back to and connects travelers between Tokyo and the hot springs and leisure resorts of Niigata and the surrounding area.
Toki and Tanigawa are the two train categories that operate on the line. The Toki trains include a range of models including double-decker trains called Max Toki. The Toki Shinkansen takes you from Tokyo to Niigata in just over an hour and a half. This is the slower of the two types of trains which operate on this line Toki and Tanigawa. During the winter season, the train reaches Gala-Yuzawa, getting travelers to the nearby ski resort.
Mizuho trains are not. Tsubame is the slowest of the trains operating on the Kyushu Shinkansen line as it stops at all stations until it reaches its final destination. The facts, however, seem to belie these warnings. In China, HSR lines have proven their profitability, and throughout Asia and Europe, HSR is providing a lower cost and shorter travel time alternative to air travel for many of the shorter routes.
Advocates argue that by increasing the number of cities that have HSR hubs, the network effect will geometrically multiply the utility of HSR to travelers, and hence will provide long-term economic and lifestyle benefits for all citizens. It is not clear whether developing HSR between some U.
The HSR deployments in California will be watched closely by government and business leaders in other U. Despite the increases in projected costs, support for high-speed rail among Californians remains high. Competition with other technologies. Technologies such as magnetic levitation maglev and hyperloop are promising ever faster rail speeds. The line covers 30 km 19 miles in seven minutes. China is currently one of only three countries along with Japan and South Korea that operate a maglev train.
Hyperloop systems, which involve propelling trains through sealed tubes that have been emptied of as much air as possible to reduce air resistance, are still on the drawing board. Maglev and hyperloop systems both require the construction of all new rail lines, which calls into question further investment in more conventional HSR technologies. Nevertheless, advocates point out that HSR is a mature technology, unlike these other rail transport schemes, and so is a much lower risk investment for governments and urban planners.
Both maglev and hyperloop are very costly, and pose potential health and safety risks that conventional HSR does not. HSR advocates further argue that the throughput in terms of numbers of people moved from place to place for a given investment provided by high-speed rail far outpaces those provided by highways or airports.
In the chart to the left, the US High Speed Rail Association depicts how high-speed rail offers significant time savings compared with flying or driving between downtown San Francisco and downtown Los Angeles in California.
Transportation benefits. Many would argue that economic development should not be the main measure of a transportation system, but that its ability to move people and goods should be the primary consideration. That is how highway and airport projects are evaluated. Every country that builds HSR does so for the high capacity, sustainable mobility it delivers, first and foremost, with economic development and better safety as beneficial side effects.
Energy savings. These trains don't max out at or even mph; they travel at speeds of up to mph during testing. Talk about efficiency.
This Japanese train, which is currently being developed and tested by the Central Japan Railway Company JR Central , holds the land speed record for rail vehicles, clocking in at mph. While it may be tempting to book a ticket to Tokyo, keep in mind that this train is still being developed for regular commercial use. The first segment Tokyo to Nagoya is set to open in , before being expanded to Osaka.
When completed, the L0 Series will run at a maximum operating speed of mph, making the trip from Tokyo's Shinagawa Station to Osaka over miles in one hour and seven minutes. The L0 Series technology, called maglev magnetic levitation train , actually makes the train levitate at speeds exceeding around 93 mph.
The technology is currently being employed worldwide see see number four , and there are talks of it being used for a train between Washington, D. France has had high-speed rail travel dialed in for many years. While in regular service, the train reaches a top speed of mph.
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