The Shinkansen bullet train, launched 60 years ago, has revolutionized high-speed transportation not only in Japan but also in many other countries around the world.
On the morning of October 1, 1964, a sleek blue and white train glided through the urban landscape of Tokyo. The elevated tracks carried the train south towards Osaka. This marked the dawn of the “bullet train” era in Japan, symbolizing the country’s remarkable recovery after World War II. Alongside the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, this technological marvel of the 1960s marked Japan’s return as a global powerhouse, according to CNN.
In the six decades since that first train, the Shinkansen, meaning “new trunk line”, has become synonymous with speed, transportation efficiency, and modernity, recognized globally. Japan remains a leader in railway technology, with major corporations like Hitachi and Toshiba exporting billions of dollars’ worth of trains and equipment worldwide each year.
Bullet train running on elevated tracks in central Tokyo. (Photo: AFP).
The Shinkansen network has steadily expanded since the completion of the 515 km Tokaido line connecting Tokyo with Shin-Osaka in 1964. Trains travel at speeds of approximately 322 km/h on lines radiating from Tokyo towards cities like Kobe, Kyoto, Hiroshima, and Nagano to the north, south, and west.
The Shinkansen is not just a symbol of recovery; it has also served as a tool for Japan’s continuous economic development and a transformative agent in a traditional society. The evolution of the bullet train is intertwined with Japan’s early railway history. Instead of the 143.5 cm gauge used in North America and most of Europe, Japan opted for a narrower gauge of 106.7 cm. Although this choice reduced construction costs and made installation easier in mountainous terrain, it limited capacity and resulted in lower speeds.
With Japan’s four main islands stretching nearly 3,000 km from one end to the other, traveling between major cities was initially long and exhausting. In 1889, the journey from Tokyo to Osaka took 16.5 hours by train, a significant improvement from the three weeks it took to walk just a few years earlier. By 1965, the Shinkansen reduced that travel time to just 3 hours and 10 minutes.
Demand for standard gauge rail began in the 20th century, but it was not until the 1940s that construction began on an ambitious project to connect Japan with Korea and Russia through tunnels beneath the Pacific Ocean. The defeat in World War II delayed new railway construction plans until the mid-1950s, when Japan’s economy rebounded strongly and intercity travel became essential.
While the majority of the network serves the most populous regions of Honshu, Japan’s largest island, undersea tunnels allow the bullet trains to travel hundreds of kilometers to Kyushu in the south and Hokkaido in the north. Japan’s rugged terrain and diverse climate, from frigid winters in the north to humid tropics in the south, have turned its engineers into pioneers seeking solutions to new challenges as they expand the boundaries of railway technology.
One such challenge is seismic activity. Japan is one of the most geologically unstable places on Earth, prone to earthquakes and tsunamis, and is home to 10% of the world’s volcanoes. This makes safe operation of high-speed trains much more challenging.
Despite these challenges, not a single passenger has been injured or killed on the Shinkansen network due to derailments in its operational history. The next generation of bullet trains, named ALFA-X, is currently being tested at speeds nearing 400 km/h, although the maximum operational speed is capped at 362 km/h.
Distinctive features of the ALFA-X and many other Shinkansen trains include a very long nose, designed not only to improve aerodynamics but primarily to eliminate the sonic boom caused by the “piston effect” when the train enters a tunnel, compressing waves out the other side at supersonic speeds. This has been a particular issue in densely populated urban areas, where noise from Shinkansen trains has long been a concern. The ALFA-X test train is also equipped with new safety technology designed to reduce vibrations, noise, and derailment risks during major earthquakes.
Today, over 10 billion passengers travel on the Shinkansen with comfort and high speed. The trains’ stability and punctuality have turned high-speed transportation into a daily routine and the preferred choice for many. In 2022, more than 295 million people traveled on the Shinkansen across Japan.
It is no surprise that many other countries have followed Japan’s lead and built new high-speed rail lines over the past four decades. Perhaps the most famous example is in France, which has operated the Train à Grande Vitesse (TGV) between Paris and Lyon since 1981. Like Japan, France has successfully exported its technology to other countries, including the longest high-speed rail network in Europe in Spain, as well as to Belgium, South Korea, the UK, and Morocco. The TGV network in France has been extremely successful, significantly reducing travel times between major cities while increasing capacity, making high-speed transportation affordable and accessible to the public.
Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Taiwan, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia now all operate trains on routes connecting major cities, directly competing with airlines on domestic and international routes.
In the UK, the high-speed Eurostar runs from London to Paris, Brussels, and Amsterdam. The closest version of a bullet train for British passengers is the Intercity Express manufactured by Hitachi, which utilizes technology based on the Shinkansen, although it only operates at a maximum speed of 201 km/h. Meanwhile, India and Thailand are planning to expand their own high-speed rail networks.
In recent years, China has developed the world’s longest high-speed rail network, reaching nearly 45,000 km by the end of 2023. These rail lines are not just a means of transportation; they spread across the vast country, driving economic development. Utilizing technology from Japan and Western Europe, and then advancing its own increasingly sophisticated railway industry, China has rapidly become a leader in high-speed rail. The country is also developing maglev trains that could run at speeds close to 644 km/h.
Japan has also been testing its own maglev trains since the 1970s and is constructing a 286 km route between Tokyo and Nagoya. Scheduled to open in 2034, this line will extend to Osaka, reducing travel time to just 67 minutes.
