700 Series - Blog Posts

Retired: the E4 and 700 Shinkansen

While we were on the topic of trains which will soon be retired, here are two that are out of service today, that I got to see in 2016. These are the 700 Series and the E4 Max Series.

The E4 Max, which stands for "Multi Amenity eXpress", was the second and so far last double-decker high-speed type operated by JR East, and was withdrawn in 2021. With a top operating speed of 240 km/h, they were mainly used on the Jôetsu line between Tôkyô and Niigata. They featured some "commuter" class rooms with 3+3 seating, and two E4 Maxes coupled together could carry a total of over 1600 passengers, the highest capacity for a high-speed service.

But of course, all people will talk about is the very distinctive conk. I didn't take as many pictures of trains at the time, so I didn't walk around to get a better view of this unique vehicle.

The original 700 Series was the first Shinkansen model that JR Tôkai and JR West cooperated on, for joint service on the Tôkaidô and San'yô lines between Tôkyô, Ôsaka and Hakata. Combining knowledge acquired by each company with the 300 and 500 Series, it has formed the basis of new models since then.

To be precise, the 700s which are now retired are the white and blue, 16-car sets, withdrawn in March 2020. Covid caused the cancellation of the type's celebratory final run on the Tôkaidô line. Eight-car trains painted in grey and branded "Hikari Rail Star" can still be found on the San'yô Shinkansen, as well as JR West's Doctor Yellow inspection train (JR Tôkai's set was recently retired).

60 Years of the Tokaido Shinkansen!

On 1 October 1964, a railway line like no other opened. Connecting Tôkyô and Ôsaka, paralleling an existing main line, the Tôkaidô New Trunk Line had minimal curves, lots of bridges, zero level crossings. Striking white and blue electric multiple units, with noses shaped like bullets some would say, started zooming between the two cities as at the unheard-of speed of 210 km/h.

This was the start of the Shinkansen, inaugurating the age of high-speed rail.

The trains, with noses actually inspired by the aircraft of the time, originally didn't have a name, they were just "Shinkansen trains", as they couldn't mingle with other types anyway due to the difference in gauge between the Shinkansen (standard gauge, 1435 mm between rails) and the rest of the network (3'6" gauge, or 1067 mm between rails). The class would officially become the "0 Series" when new trains appeared in the 1980s, first the very similar 200 Series for the second new line, the Tôhoku Shinkansen, then the jet-age 100 Series. Yes, the 200 came first, as it was decided that trains heading North-East from Tôkyô would be given even first numbers, and trains heading West would have odd first numbers (0 is even, but never mind).

Hence the next new type to appear on the Tôkaidô Shinkansen was the 300 Series (second from left), designed by the privatised JR Tôkai to overcome some shortcomings of the line. Indeed, the curves on the Tôkaidô were still too pronounced to allow speeds to be increased, while all other new lines had been built ready for 300 km/h operations. But a revolution in train design allowed speeds to be raised from 220 km/h in the 80s to 285 km/h today, with lightweight construction (on the 300), active suspension (introduced on the 700 Series, left) and slight tilting (standard on the current N700 types).

Examples of five generations of train used on the Tôkaidô Shinkansen are preserved at JR Tôkai's museum, the SCMaglev & Railway Park, in Nagoya, with the N700 prototype lead car outdoors. It's striking to see how far high-speed train technology has come in Japan in 60 years. The network itself covers the country almost end-to-end, with a nearly continuous line from Kyûshû to Hokkaidô along the Pacific coast (no through trains at Tôkyô), and four branch lines inland and to the North coast, one of which recently got extended.

東海道新幹線、お誕生日おめでおう！