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The ''Shinkansen'' (way lines in Japan . The first line, the Tōkaidō Shinkansen , the world's first and most heavily used, was opened in 1964 . The network has since expanded to link most major cities on the islands of Honshu and Kyushu with running speeds of up to 300 km/h (186 mph), in an earthquake and Typhoon prone environment. Test run speeds have been in excess of 400km/h (249 mph) for conventional rail, and up to 580 km/h (360 mph) for Maglev trainsets. NAMING The popular English name bullet train is a Western translation of the Japanese term ''dangan ressha'' (弾丸列車), which was the name given to the project while it was initially being developed in the 1940s. The modern name ''Shinkansen'' literally means "New Trunk Line" and hence strictly speaking refers only to the tracks, while the trains themselves are officially referred to as "Super Express" (超特急 ''chō-tokkyū''). In practice, however, the distinction is rarely made even in Japan. When building the Shinkansen network, it was not often feasible to build the line to connect to an already existing station and therefore a new second station was built. Many Shinkansen stations (eg. Shin-Yokohama Station and Shin-Osaka Station ) thus have the prefix ''shin-'' in their name, but this simply means "new" in Japanese and is not a direct reference to the Shinkansen. HISTORY Japan was the first country to build dedicated railway lines for high speed travel. Due to the largely mountainous nature of the country, the pre-existing network consisted of 3 ft 6 in gauge (1,067 mm) Narrow Gauge lines, which generally took indirect routes and could not be adapted to higher speeds. In consequence, Japan had a greater need for new high speed lines than countries where the existing Standard Gauge or Broad Gauge rail system had more upgrade potential. In contrast to the older lines, Shinkansen lines are Standard Gauge , and use tunnels and Viaducts to go through and over obstacles, rather than around them. Construction of the first segment of the Tōkaidō Shinkansen between Tokyo and Osaka started in 1959. The line opened on October 1 1964 , just in time for the Tokyo Olympics . The line was an immediate success, reaching the 100 million passenger mark in less than three years on July 13 1967 and one billion passengers in 1976. Japan celebrated 40 years of high speed rail in 2004, with the Tōkaidō Shinkansen line alone having carried 4.16 billion passengers. The First Shinkansen Trains ran at speeds of up to 200 km/h (125 mph), later increased to 220 km/h (135 mph). Some of these trains, with their classic bullet-nosed appearance, are still in use for stopping services between Hakata and Shin-Osaka Station s. A driving car from one of the original trains is now in the British National Railway Museum in York. Many further models of train followed the first type, generally each with its own distinctive appearance. Shinkansen trains now run regularly at speeds of up to 300 km/h (186 mph), putting them among the fastest trains running in the world, along with the French TGV , Italian TAV , Spanish AVE , German ICE , and South Korean KTX trains. Originally intended to carry passenger and freight trains by day and night, the Shinkansen lines carry only passenger trains. The system shuts down between midnight and 06:00 every day to allow maintenance to take place. The few overnight trains that still run in Japan run on the old narrow gauge network which the Shinkansen parallels. Trains can be up to sixteen cars long. With each car measuring 25 m (82 ft) in length, the longest trains are 400 m (1/4 mile) from front to back. Stations are similarly long to accommodate these trains. In 2003, JR Central reported that the Shinkansen's average arrival time was within 0.1 minutes or 6 seconds of the scheduled time. This includes all natural and human accidents and errors and is calculated from all of about 160,000 trips Shinkansen made. The previous record was from 1997 and was 0.3 minutes or 18 seconds. Since 1970, development has been underway for the Chūō Shinkansen , a Maglev train by the RTRI of JR Central Railways. It is planned to eventually run from Tokyo to Osaka. On December 2 2003 , the 3 car maglev trainset reached a world speed record of 581 km/h (361 mph). The first derailment of a Shinkansen train in passenger service occurred during the Chūetsu Earthquake on October 23 , 2004 . Eight of ten cars of the ''Toki'' No. 325 train on the Jōetsu Shinkansen derailed near Nagaoka Station in Nagaoka , Niigata . However, there were no injuries or deaths among the 154 passengers. {Link without Title} SAFETY There have been no passenger fatalities associated with operation of the Shinkansen. There have been many injuries and one fatality due to doors closing on passengers or their belongings, but attendants are on hand at each platform to ensure that these are resolved before operation begins. There have been suicides by passengers jumping both from and in front of moving trains. This has resulted in some stations installing barriers preventing passengers from accessing the tracks, although an incident on January 9 1999 in Nagano station showed that even these would not stop determined suicides: a man climbed over a safety barrier to be hit by a non-stop service. In the event of an earthquake, an earthquake detection system can bring the train to a stop very quickly. During the Chūetsu quake in October 2004, a Toki service shinkansen on the Jōetsu line very close to the epicenter was derailed by the earthquake, but no injuries were reported. The next generation FASTECH 360 trains will have ear-like air resistance braking flaps to assist in an emergency stop at high speeds. FUTURE Due to Noise Pollution concerns, increasing speed is becoming more difficult. Current research is primarily aimed at reducing operational noise, particularly the "tunnel boom" phenomenon caused when trains enter tunnels at high speed. Despite this, there are two planned speed increases, one to 350 km/h (217 mph) for new trains on the Sanyō line, and one to 360 km/h (223 mph) using the FASTECH 360 trains currently in testing on the Tōhoku Shinkansen . The . There are also long-term plans to extend the network, Hokkaidō Shinkansen from Aomori to Sapporo (through the Seikan Tunnel ), Kyushu Shinkansen to Nagasaki , and as well as complete a link from Kanazawa back to Osaka, although none of these are likely to be completed by 2020. The Narita Shinkansen project to connect Tokyo to Narita International Airport , initiated in the 1970s but halted in 1983 after landowner protests, has been officially cancelled and removed from the Basic Plan governing Shinkansen construction. Parts of its planned right-of-way will be utilized by the Narita Rapid Railway link when it opens in 2010 . Although the NRR will use standard gauge track, it will not be built to Shinkansen specifications and it would not be feasible to convert it into a full Shinkansen line. LIST OF SHINKANSEN LINES Operating lines The main Shinkansen lines are:
Two further lines, known as Mini-Shinkansen (ミニ新幹線), have also been constructed by upgrading existing sections of line:
There are two standard gauge not technically classified as Shinkansen lines but with Shinkansen services:
Future lines Many Shinkansen lines were proposed during the boom of the early 1970s but have yet to be constructed. These are called ''Seibi Shinkansen'' (整備新幹線) or "planned Shinkansen." One of these lines, the Narita Shinkansen to Narita Airport , has been officially cancelled, but a few remain under development.
Shinkansen Lines Outside Japan Railways using Shinkansen technology are not limited to those in Japan.
LIST OF SHINKANSEN TRAIN MODELS
LIST OF TYPES OF SHINKANSEN SERVICES
FURTHER READING 1 EXTERNAL LINKS
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