Lecture

Bullet Trains: Revolutionizing Speed in Japan

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In course

HUM-324: China, Korea and Japan after World War II

Le cours examine l'évolution des pays d'Asie orientale durant la période de la Guerre froide: la victoire du parti communiste en Chine, la reconstruction et la seconde modernisation du Japon ainsi que les guerres de Corée et, si le temps le permet, du Viet ...

Description

This lecture discusses the innovative bullet trains in Japan, known for their remarkable speed and efficiency. The instructor describes how these trains, referred to as 'the bullet' by locals, challenge conventional notions of train speed. With rail lengths extending a mile, these trains have achieved trial speeds of 150 miles per hour. On regular routes between major cities like Tokyo and Osaka, which spans nearly 500 miles, the bullet trains maintain an impressive speed of 190 kilometers per hour, approximately 120 miles per hour. Even with multiple stops, they significantly reduce travel time to just four hours. The lecture highlights the strategic planning behind the bullet train system, including the deployment of a fleet of thousand-passenger trains, particularly in anticipation of the influx of visitors for the Olympic Games. This advancement in rail technology exemplifies Japan's commitment to enhancing transportation efficiency and passenger experience.

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Related concepts (32)

High-speed rail

High-speed rail (HSR) is a type of rail network utilizing trains that run significantly faster than those of traditional rail, using an integrated system of specialised rolling stock and dedicated tracks. While there is no single standard that applies worldwide, lines built to handle speeds above or upgraded lines in excess of are widely considered to be high-speed. The first high-speed rail system, the Tōkaidō Shinkansen, began operations in Japan in 1964. The system also became known by its English nickname the bullet train.

Higher-speed rail

Higher-speed rail (HrSR), also known as high-performance rail, higher-performance rail, semi-high-speed rail or almost-high-speed rail, is the jargon used to describe inter-city passenger rail services that have top speeds of more than conventional rail but are not high enough to be called high-speed rail services. The term is also used by planners to identify the incremental rail improvements to increase train speeds and reduce travel time as alternatives to larger efforts to create or expand the high-speed rail networks.

Rail transport

Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prepared flat surface, rail vehicles (rolling stock) are directionally guided by the tracks on which they run. Tracks usually consist of steel rails.Rolling stock in a rail transport system generally encounters lower frictional resistance than rubber-tyred road vehicles, so passenger and freight cars (carriages and wagons) can be coupled into longer trains.

Tilting train

A tilting train is a train that has a mechanism enabling increased speed on regular rail tracks. As a train (or other vehicle) rounds a curve at speed, objects inside the train experience centrifugal force. This can cause packages to slide about or seated passengers to feel squashed by the outboard armrest, and standing passengers to lose their balance. Tilting trains are designed to counteract this by tilting the carriages towards the inside of the curve, thus compensating for the g-force.

Train

A train (from Old French trahiner, from Latin trahere, "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and transport people or freight. Trains are typically pulled or pushed by locomotives (often known simply as "engines"), though some are self-propelled, such as multiple units. Passengers and cargo are carried in railroad cars, also known as wagons. Trains are designed to a certain gauge, or distance between rails.

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