Japan

Shinkansen - The Bullet train

The Shinkansen also known as the "Bullet Train", is a network of high-speed railway lines in Japan operated by four Japan Railways Group companies. Starting with the Tokaido Shinkansen (515.4km) in 1964, the network has expanded to currently consist of 2,387.7 km of lines with maximum speeds of 240–320 km/h, 283.5 km of Mini-shinkansen lines with a maximum speed of 130 km/h, and 10.3 km of sur lines with Shinkansen services. The network presently links most major cities on the islands of Honshu and Kyushu, with construction of a link to the northern island of Hokkaido underway. The maximum operating speed is 320 km/h (on a 387.5 km section of the Tohoku Shinkansen as of 16 March 2013). Test runs have reached 443 km/h for conventional rail in 1996, and up to a world record 581 km/h for maglev trainsets in 2003. Shinkansen literally means new trunk line, referring to the tracks, but the name is widely used inside and outside Japan to refer to the trains as well as the system as a whole. The name Superexpress initially used for Hikari trains, was retired in 1972 but is still used in English-language announcements and signage. The Tokaido Shinkansen is the world's busiest high-speed rail line. Carrying 151 million passengers per year, it has transported more passengers (over 5 billion, entire network over 10 billion) than any other high speed line in the world. Between Tokyo and Osaka, the two largest metropolises in Japan, up to thirteen trains per hour with sixteen cars each of any High-speed rail network until 2011, when China's high speed rail network surpassed it at 370 million passengers annually. In 2012, Japan Rail Central reported that the Shinkansen's average delay from schedule per train was 36 seconds. This includes delays due to uncontrollable causes, such as natural disasters. The record in 1997, was 18 seconds.

Here are some pictures from the different lines we used on our way through Japan. On the last part we passed the holy mountain Fuji, and we were lucky, the weather was quite good for some good shots. Click on the picture to get a larger version.