Bullet train

The invention: An ultrafast passenger railroad system capable of
moving passengers at speeds double or triple those of ordinary
trains.
The people behind the invention:
Ikeda Hayato (1899-1965), Japanese prime minister from 1960 to
1964, who pushed for the expansion of public expenditures
Shinji Sogo (1901-1971), the president of the Japanese National
Railways, the “father of the bullet train”
Building a Faster Train
By 1900, Japan had a world-class railway system, a logical result
of the country’s dense population and the needs of its modernizing
economy. After 1907, the government controlled the system
through the Japanese National Railways (JNR). In 1938, JNR engineers
first suggested the idea of a train that would travel 125 miles
per hour from Tokyo to the southern city of Shimonoseki. Construction
of a rapid train began in 1940 but was soon stopped because of
World War II.
The 311-mile railway between Tokyo and Osaka, the Tokaido
Line, has always been the major line in Japan. By 1957, a business express
along the line operated at an average speed of 57 miles per
hour, but the double-track line was rapidly reaching its transport capacity.
The JNR established two investigative committees to explore
alternative solutions. In 1958, the second committee recommended
the construction of a high-speed railroad on a separate double track,
to be completed in time for the Tokyo Olympics of 1964. The Railway
Technical Institute of the JNR concluded that it was feasible to
design a line that would operate at an average speed of about 130
miles per hour, cutting time for travel between Tokyo and Osaka
from six hours to three hours.
By 1962, about 17 miles of the proposed line were completed for
test purposes. During the next two years, prototype trains were
tested to correct flaws and make improvements in the design. The entire project was completed on schedule in July, 1964, with total construction
costs of more than $1 billion, double the original estimates.
The Speeding Bullet
Service on the Shinkansen, or New Trunk Line, began on October
1, 1964, ten days before the opening of the Olympic Games.
Commonly called the “bullet train” because of its shape and speed,
the Shinkansen was an instant success with the public, both in Japan
and abroad. As promised, the time required to travel between Tokyo
and Osaka was cut in half. Initially, the system provided daily
services of sixty trains consisting of twelve cars each, but the number
of scheduled trains was almost doubled by the end of the year.
The Shinkansen was able to operate at its unprecedented speed
because it was designed and operated as an integrated system,
making use of countless technological and scientific developments.
Tracks followed the standard gauge of 56.5 inches, rather than the
more narrow gauge common in Japan. For extra strength, heavy welded rails were attached directly onto reinforced concrete slabs.
The minimum radius of a curve was 8,200 feet, except where sharper
curves were mandated by topography. In many ways similar to
modern airplanes, the railway cars were made airtight in order to
prevent ear discomfort caused by changes in pressure when trains
enter tunnels.
The Shinkansen trains were powered by electric traction motors,
with four 185-kilowatt motors on each car—one motor attached to
each axle. This design had several advantages: It provided an even
distribution of axle load for reducing strain on the tracks; it allowed
the application of dynamic brakes (where the motor was used for
braking) on all axles; and it prevented the failure of one or two units
from interrupting operation of the entire train. The 25,000-volt electrical
current was carried by trolley wire to the cars, where it was
rectified into a pulsating current to drive the motors.
The Shinkansen system established a casualty-free record because
of its maintenance policies combined with its computerized
Centralized Traffic Control system. The control room at Tokyo Station
was designed to maintain timely information about the location
of all trains and the condition of all routes. Although train operators
had some discretion in determining speed, automatic brakes
also operated to ensure a safe distance between trains. At least once
each month, cars were thoroughly inspected; every ten days, an inspection
train examined the conditions of tracks, communication
equipment, and electrical systems.
Impact
Public usage of the Tokyo-Osaka bullet train increased steadily
because of the system’s high speed, comfort, punctuality, and superb
safety record. Businesspeople were especially happy that the
rapid service allowed them to make the round-trip without the necessity
of an overnight stay, and continuing modernization soon allowed
nonstop trains to make a one-way trip in two and one-half
hours, requiring speeds of 160 miles per hour in some stretches. By
the early 1970’s, the line was transporting a daily average of 339,000
passengers in 240 trains, meaning that a train departed from Tokyo
about every ten minutes The popularity of the Shinkansen system quickly resulted in demands
for its extension into other densely populated regions. In
1972, a 100-mile stretch between Osaka and Okayama was opened
for service. By 1975, the line was further extended to Hakata on the
island of Kyushu, passing through the Kammon undersea tunnel.
The cost of this 244-mile stretch was almost $2.5 billion. In 1982,
lines were completed from Tokyo to Niigata and from Tokyo to
Morioka. By 1993, the system had grown to 1,134 miles of track.
Since high usage made the system extremely profitable, the sale of
the JNR to private companies in 1987 did not appear to produce adverse
consequences.
The economic success of the Shinkansen had a revolutionary effect
on thinking about the possibilities of modern rail transportation,
leading one authority to conclude that the line acted as “a
savior of the declining railroad industry.” Several other industrial
countries were stimulated to undertake large-scale railway projects;
France, especially, followed Japan’s example by constructing highspeed
electric railroads from Paris to Nice and to Lyon. By the mid-
1980’s, there were experiments with high-speed trains based on
magnetic levitation and other radical innovations, but it was not
clear whether such designs would be able to compete with the
Shinkansen model.