Japan's Shinkansen Bullet Train

The Tōkaidō Shinkansen opened shortly before the 1964 Olympics.

Shinkansen is Japan’s high-speed railway network across islands.

The original line connects Tokyo, Yokohama, Nagoya, and Osaka.

The Tōkaidō Shinkansen line is 552.6 kilometres long.

The busiest line carried 161 million passengers in 2023.

Shinkansen trains run at speeds up to 320 kilometres per hour.

The fastest conventional Shinkansen speed reached 443 km per hour.

Maglev trains hit 603 kilometres per hour in 2015 tests.

Shinkansen lines mostly avoid slower conventional train routes.

Japan’s terrain and narrow track spacing limit speed increases.

Streamlined noses reduce loud tunnel booms on Shinkansen trains.

Peak-hour trains have 16 cars seating 1,323 passengers.

The Tōkaidō Shinkansen carried over 6.5 billion passengers total.

The network spans nearly 3,000 kilometres with many lines.

Shinkansen connects Japan’s major cities with speed and style.