Tōkaidō Shinkansen

Tōkaidō Shinkansen
A JR West N700 series train passing Maibara Station on the Tokaido Shinkansen in January 2011
Overview
Native name	東海道新幹線
Type	Shinkansen
Locale	Japan
Termini	Tokyo Shin-Osaka
Stations	17
Operation
Opened	1 October 1964
Owner	JR Central
Operator(s)	JR Central
Depot(s)	Tokyo, Mishima, Nagoya, Osaka
Rolling stock	700 series N700 series
Technical
Line length	515.4 km (320.3 mi)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)
Electrification	25 kV AC, 60 Hz, overhead catenary
Operating speed	285 km/h (175 mph)
Route map

Tōkaidō Shinkansen route map

Aomori( Tōhoku Shinkansen) 0.0 km Tokyo 6.8 km Shinagawa Tama River 25.5 km Shin-Yokohama Sagami River 76.7 km Odawara 95.4 km Atami 111.3 km Mishima 135.0 km Shin-Fuji Fuji River 167.4 km Shizuoka Abe River Ooi River 211.3 km Kakegawa Tenryu River 238.9 km Hamamatsu Lake Hamana 274.2 km Toyohashi 312.8 km Mikawa-Anjō 342.0 km Nagoya 367.1 km Gifu-Hashima 408.2 km Maibara 476.3 km Kyoto 515.4 km Shin-Ōsaka Hakata( Sanyō Shinkansen)

The Tōkaidō Shinkansen (東海道新幹線) is a Japanese high-speed Shinkansen line, opened in 1964 between Tokyo and Shin-Ōsaka. Since 1987 it has been operated by the Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central), prior to that by Japanese National Railways (JNR). It is the most heavily travelled high-speed rail route in the world by far; its cumulative ridership of 5.3 billion passengers dwarfs all other systems and lines worldwide.^[1][2]

The line was named a joint Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark and IEEE Milestone by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers in 2000.^[3][4]

Train services

Mt. Ibuki and the Tokaido Shinkansen

•      Nozomi: limited-stop services, since March 1992
•      Hikari: semi-fast services
•      Kodama: all-stations shuttle services

There are three types of trains on the line: from fastest to slowest, they are the Nozomi, Hikari, and Kodama. Many Nozomi and Hikari trains continue onward to the Sanyō Shinkansen, going as far as Fukuoka's Hakata Station.

700 series and N700 series train sets operate on the line in any of the three service patterns. The Hikari run from Tokyo to Osaka took four hours in 1964; this was shortened to 3 hours 10 minutes in 1965. With the introduction of high-speed Nozomi service in 1992, the travel time was shortened to 2 hours 30 minutes. The introduction of N700 series trains in 2007 further reduced the Nozomi travel time to 2 hours 25 minutes. As of 14 March 2015, after a speed increase to 285 km/h (177 mph), the fastest Nozomi service now takes 2 hours 22 minutes from Tokyo to Shin-Osaka.

As of August 2008, Hikari services travel from Tokyo to Shin-Osaka in approximately 3 hours, with all-stopping Kodama services making the same run in about 4 hours.

Nozomi trains cannot be used by tourists using the Japan Rail Pass.^[5]

Stations

Kodama trains stop at all stations. Nozomi and Hikari trains have varying stopping patterns (some Hikari trains stop at stations marked "▲"). All trains stop at Tokyo, Shinagawa, Shin-Yokohama, Nagoya, Kyoto, and Shin-Osaka.

Station	Japanese	Distance (km)	Nozomi	Hikari	Transfers	Location
Tokyo	東京	0.0	●	●	Tōhoku Shinkansen, Jōetsu Shinkansen, Hokuriku Shinkansen, Yamanote Line, Chūō Main Line, Sōbu Main Line, Keihin-Tōhoku Line, Tōkaidō Main Line, Keiyō Line, Yokosuka Line Tokyo Metro Marunouchi Line (M-17)	Chiyoda, Tokyo
Shinagawa	品川	6.8	●	●	Yamanote Line, Keihin-Tohoku Line, Tokaido Main Line, Yokosuka Line Keikyu Main Line	Minato, Tokyo
Shin-Yokohama	新横浜	25.5	●	●	Yokohama Line Yokohama Municipal Subway Blue Line	Kōhoku-ku, Yokohama
Odawara	小田原	76.7	｜	▲	Tokaido Main Line, Shonan-Shinjuku Line Odakyu Odawara Line, Izu-Hakone Railway Daiyuzan Line, Hakone Tozan Line	Odawara, Kanagawa
Atami	熱海	95.4	｜	▲	Tōkaidō Main Line, Ito Line	Atami, Shizuoka
Mishima	三島	111.3	｜	▲	Tōkaidō Main Line Izuhakone Railway Sunzu Line	Mishima, Shizuoka
Shin-Fuji	新富士	135.0	｜	｜		Fuji, Shizuoka
Shizuoka	静岡	167.4	｜	▲	Tōkaidō Main Line Shizuoka Railway Shizuoka-Shimizu Line (Shin-Shizuoka Station)	Aoi-ku, Shizuoka
Kakegawa	掛川	211.3	｜	｜	Tōkaidō Main Line Tenryū Hamanako Line	Kakegawa, Shizuoka
Hamamatsu	浜松	238.9	｜	▲	Tōkaidō Main Line Enshu Railway Line (Shin-Hamamatsu Station)	Hamamatsu, Shizuoka
Toyohashi	豊橋	274.2	｜	▲	Tōkaidō Main Line, Iida Line Meitetsu Nagoya Main Line, Toyohashi Atsumi Line (Shin-Toyohashi Station), Toyohashi Tramway (Ekimae Station)	Toyohashi, Aichi
Mikawa-Anjō	三河安城	312.8	｜	｜	Tōkaidō Main Line	Anjō, Aichi
Nagoya	名古屋	342.0	●	●	Tōkaidō Main Line, Chūō Main Line, Kansai Main Line, Takayama Main Line Nagoya Subway: ■Higashiyama Line (H08), ■Sakura-dori Line (S02), Nagoya Main Line (Meitetsu Nagoya Station), Kintetsu Nagoya Line (Kintetsu Nagoya Station), ■ Aonami Line (AN01)	Nakamura-ku, Nagoya
Gifu-Hashima	岐阜羽島	367.1	｜	｜	Meitetsu Hashima Line (Shin-Hashima Station)	Hashima, Gifu
Maibara	米原	408.2	｜	▲	Tōkaidō Main Line, Biwako Line (part of Tōkaidō Main Line, for Kyoto), Hokuriku Main Line Ohmi Railway Main Line	Maibara, Shiga
Kyoto	京都	476.3	●	●	Biwako Line (for Maibara), JR Kyoto Line (part of Tōkaidō Main Line, for Osaka) Sagano Line (part of Sanin Main Line), Nara Line Kintetsu Kyoto Line, Kyoto Municipal Subway: Karasuma Line (K11)	Shimogyo-ku, Kyoto
Shin-Ōsaka	新大阪	515.4	●	●	Sanyō Shinkansen (through service), JR Kyoto Line Osaka Municipal Subway: Midōsuji Line (M13)	Yodogawa-ku, Osaka
Through service to Hakata on the Sanyo Shinkansen

Rolling stock

• 700 series 16-car sets, since March 1999 (owned by JR Central and JR West)
• N700A series 16-car sets, since 1 July 2007 (owned by JR Central and JR West, modified from original N700 series sets)
• N700A series 16-car sets, since 8 February 2013 (owned by JR Central and JR West)
• N700S 16-car sets, to be introduced by JR Central from fiscal 2020^[6]

All Tokaido Shinkansen services are scheduled to be operated by N700A series or N700A series trainsets by the end of fiscal 2019.^[7]

• 
  JR Central 700 series
• 
  JR Central N700 series

Past rolling stock

• 0 series 12/16-car sets, 1 October 1964 to 18 September 1999 (owned by JR Central and JR West)
• 100 series 16-car sets, 1 October 1985 to September 2003 (owned by JR Central and JR West)
• 300 series 16-car sets, March 1992 to March 2012 (owned by JR Central and JR West)
• 500 series 16-car sets, November 1997 to February 2010 (owned by JR West)

• 
  0 series, May 1967
• 
  JR Central 100 series, May 2003
• 
  JR Central 300 series, February 2011
• 
  500 series, May 2008

Timeline

History

The back cover of the first English-language timetable with the Tokaido Line Shinkansen service which launched on 1 October 1964.

The Tokaido Shinkansen line was originally conceived in 1940 as a 150 km/h (93 mph) dedicated railway between Tokyo and Shimonoseki, which would have been 50% faster than the fastest express train of the time. The beginning of World War II stalled the project in its early planning stages, although a few tunnels were dug that were later used in the Shinkansen route.

Construction of the line began on 20 April 1959 under JNR president Shinji Sogō and chief engineer Hideo Shima. It was completed in 1964, with the first train travelling from Tokyo to Shin-Osaka on 1 October 1964 at 210 km/h (130 mph). The opening was timed to coincide with the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, which had already brought international attention to the country. Originally, the line was called the New Tokaido Line in English. It is named after the Tokaido route of Japan, used for centuries. Speeds have been increased to 285 km/h (177 mph), except for lower limits applying between Tokyo and Shin-Yokohama and in densely populated urban areas around Nagoya, Kyoto and Shin-Osaka stations.^[8]

A new Shinkansen stop at Shinagawa Station opened in October 2003, accompanied by a major timetable change which increased the number of daily Nozomi services.

All Tōkaidō Shinkansen trains to and from Tokyo make station stops at Shinagawa and Shin-Yokohama. (Before March 2008, alternating Nozomi and Hikari services stopped at either or both of these stations.)

A new station, Minami-Biwako, was planned to open in 2012 between Maibara and Kyoto to allow a transfer to the Kusatsu Line. Construction started in May 2006, but in September 2006, the Ōtsu district court ruled that the ¥4.35 billion bond that Rittō city had issued to fund construction was illegal under the local finance law and had to be cancelled. The project was officially cancelled in October 2007.^[9]

Ridership

From 1964 to 2012, the Tokaido Shinkansen line alone has carried some 5.3 billion passengers,^[2] making it by far the most heavily used HSR line in the world. Ridership has increased from 61,000 per day in 1964^[10] to 391,000 per day in 2012.^[2]

Future developments

An ultra-fast (500 km/h (311 mph) plus) maglev system, the Chūō Shinkansen, has been committed to construction, with a target date of 2020 for the line to start partial operation, and 2027 to connect Tokyo with Nagoya.^[13]

It was announced in June 2010 that a new shinkansen station in Samukawa, Kanagawa Prefecture was under consideration by JR Central. If constructed, the station would open after the new maglev service begins operations.^[14]

In December 2013, JR Central president Yoshiomi Yamada announced the operating company's intentions to raise the maximum line speed beyond 270 km/h, with a revised timetable to be introduced in spring 2015.^[15] In February 2014, JR Central announced that, from spring 2015, the maximum speed would be increased to 285 km/h (175 mph) for services using N700A or modified N700 series trains.^[16] Initially, just one service per hour will run at 285 km/h, with more services gradually added later.^[16]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tōkaidō Shinkansen.

• JR Central website

Shinkansen
Lines in service	Main lines Tokaido San'yō Tohoku Joetsu Hokuriku Kyushu Hokkaido Mini-shinkansen Yamagata Akita
Future lines	Chuo (2027)
Cancelled lines	Narita
Service names	In service Asama Hakutaka Hayabusa Hayate Hikari Hikari Rail Star Kagayaki Kodama Komachi Mizuho Nasuno Nozomi Sakura Tanigawa Toki Tsubame Tsubasa Tsurugi Yamabiko Discontinued Aoba Asahi
Trainsets	In service 500 series 700 series N700 series 800 series E2 series E3 series E4 series E5 series E6 series E7 series W7 series H5 series On order L0 Series Retired 0 series 100 series 200 series 300 series 400 series E1 series
Export trainsets	THSR 700T CRH2A & CRH2B
Non-revenue earning trainsets	Class 1000 Class 951 Class 961 Class 962 Doctor Yellow WIN350 STAR21 300X Fastech 360 Gauge Change Train MLX-01
Operators	Current operators JR East JR Central JR West JR Kyushu JR Hokkaido Former operators JNR (1964–87)
People	Hideo Shima Shinji Sogō
Japan transit: Tokyo Osaka Nagoya Fukuoka Hakone Fuji Izu Hokkaido Sendai Niigata Toyama Nagano Okayama Hiroshima Shikoku Metro systems Shinkansen trams (list) aerial lifts (list)

Mass transit in the Odawara, Hakone, Izu Peninsula, Yamanashi, and Mount Fuji area
Odakyu Group	Odakyu Electric Railway Odawara Line Hakone Tozan Line Hakone Tozan Cable Car Hakone Ropeway Hakone Sightseeing Cruise
Izuhakone Railway	Daiyūzan Line Hakone Komagatake Ropeway Lake Ashi Excursion Ship Jukkokutōge Cable Car Sunzu Line
JR companies railway lines	Regional (both) Tōkaidō Main Line JR Central Tōkaidō Shinkansen Gotemba Line Minobu Line JR East Tōkaidō Line (Tōkyō - Atami) Chūō Main Line Itō Line
Other	Izu Kyūkō Line (Izukyu) Atami Ropeway Katsuragiyama Ropeway Shimoda Ropeway
Fuji Kyuko Railway Corp	Fujikyuko Line (Fujikyu) Gakunan Railway Line Fujikyu Kawaguchiko Ropeway Mt. Kachi Kachi Ropeway
Miscellaneous	Yamanashi Maglev Shinkansen Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park Shizuoka Airport Transport in Greater Tokyo Rail transport in Japan
Japan transit: Tokyo Osaka Nagoya Fukuoka Hakone Fuji Izu Hokkaido Sendai Niigata Toyama Nagano Okayama Hiroshima Shikoku Metro systems Shinkansen trams (list) aerial lifts (list)

Mass transit in Nagoya (Chūkyō)
Municipal Subway lines	H  Higashiyama   M  Meijō   E  Meikō   T  Tsurumai   S  Sakura-dōri   K  Kamiiida
Meitetsu lines	Owari (Western Aichi)   NH  Nagoya   TB   Tsushima   TB    BS   Bisai   IY   Inuyama   KM   Komaki   ST   Seto Chita Peninsula   TA   Tokoname   TA   Airport   KC   Kōwa   KC   Chita   CH   Chikkō Mikawa (Eastern Aichi)   TK   Toyokawa   MU    MY   Mikawa   TT   Toyota   GN   Nishio   GN   Gamagōri Mino (Southern Gifu)   KG   Kakamigahara   HM   Hiromi   TH   Takehana   TH   Hashima
Kintetsu lines (Osaka-Nagoya Line area)	E   Nagoya   K   Yunoyama   L   Suzuka   M   Yamada   M   Toba   M   Shima
JR Central lines	Shinkansen Tōkaidō Shinkansen Conventional lines Tōkaidō Chūō Kansai Iida Taketoyo Takayama Taita Kisei Sangū Meishō
Other lines	Minor private railway Toyotetsu City line (Azumada) Atsumi Sangi Sangi Hokusei Yōrō Jōhoku The third sector former JNR lines Aikan (Aichi Loop) Akechi Nagaragawa (Etumi South) Tarumi Ise   AN   Aonami (West Nagoya Port) Yokkaichi Asunarou Utsube Hachiōji HSST   L   Linimo (Tobu Kyuryo) Guided bus   Y   Yutorito (Shidami)
Cable and Ropeway	Gozaisho Ropeway
Bus	Transportation Bureau City of Nagoya Nagoya Municipal Bus Key Route Bus (BRT) Meitetsu Group Meitetsu Bus Gifu Bus Chita Noriai Kintetsu Group Mie Kotsu Willer Express (long distance)
Terminals	Rail Nagoya/Meitetsu Nagoya/Kintetsu Nagoya Kanayama Ōzone Sakae/Sakaemachi Gifu/Meitetsu Gifu Toyohashi/Shin-toyohashi/Ekimae Airports Centrair Komaki Ports Nagoya Yokkaichi Kinuura (Handa and Hekinan) Mikawa (Toyohashi)
Miscellaneous	Transport in Greater Nagoya Ferry operators Taiheiyo Ferry (regional) Ise Bay Ferry Meitetsu Tourist Ferry Cards Manaca TOICA Tranpass
Japan transit: Tokyo Osaka Nagoya Fukuoka Hakone Fuji Izu Hokkaido Sendai Niigata Toyama Nagano Okayama Hiroshima Shikoku Metro systems Shinkansen trams (list) aerial lifts (list)