The big takeaway from 60 years of Shinkansen trains

A Japanese bullet train is passing a station on a. curve.

One of the Alliance’s top objectives is to help get one high-speed line running in North America in this decade. Two lines are now under construction: one in California’s Central Valley and one from Las Vegas to the outskirts of Los Angeles. Japan’s example demonstrates what a difference it will make to have one line actually up and running.

At the Alliance’s annual luncheon in Chicago this week, Naohisa Kitada discussed lessons from that story. Kitada is the general manager of the Washington, D.C., office of Central Japan Railway (JR Central), which owns and operates Japan’s Tokyo – Osaka Tokaido Shinkansen.

The system’s launch in 1964 coincided with Tokyo’s hosting of the Summer Olympics that year. It was a double win for Japan, symbolizing its recovery from the devastation of World War II and its re-emergence on the global stage.

Going all-in on high-speed trains was a bit of a gamble in the 1950s. The US had embraced a car-centric paradigm, which it would rapidly export to the world over the next few decades. And commercial aviation was taking off globally.

So it wasn’t clear that high-speed trains were the future. The smashing successes of Japan’s first high-speed line, from Tokyo to Osaka, proved that they were.

The trains cut the travel time for the 310-mile journey from 6 hours (minimum) to about 3 hours for the express service. (The same trip took 16 hours by train in the late 1800s.) And ridership grew every year for the next decade, spiking from about 10 million riders in 1964 to 80 million by 1970 and 120 million by the mid-1970s. Ridership peaked at more than 170 million in 2020. The fastest travel time in the corridor was about two hours, and trains ran at a maximum speed of about 177 mph.

While the network has steadily has expanded across Japan over the past six decades, Shinkansen trains have resulted in no fatalities or injuries, and the system’s on-time performance is stellar.

The system’s advantages

JR Central’s Kitada noted that a key difference between the Japanese and American models of railroad development is that US systems aim to minimize damage from crashes, while the Shinkansen system aims to avoid crashes altogether.

This “crash avoidance” model depends on two key factors: a dedicated, grade-separated high-speed line and automatic train control (ATC). The first eliminates interactions with cars as well as freight traffic; both are a continual source of delays and crashes in the US. The second, ATC, means that computers control the speed, spacing, and braking of trains, which eliminates crashes and delays caused by human error.

The payoffs of the crash avoidance model go way beyond just a stellar safety record.

Because minimizing damage in a crash isn’t a key design consideration, the trains can be much lighter. The weight of a Shinkansen Series N700 trainset, for example, is about .5 tons per passenger seat. For a German ICE3 trainset, it’s about one ton. For an Acela Express trainset, it’s about two tons.

In other words, Acela trains are four times heavier (per passenger seat) than Shinkansen trains. The downstream consequences are immense.

Lighter trains are energy efficient. Powering them consumes far less fuel than heavier trains. And they accelerate and decelerate rapidly, which makes them faster. They also result in less wear and tear on tracks, and they require (at least in some cases) less robust infrastructure, which lowers maintenance and construction costs.

Looking ahead

The Shinkansen system’s combination of speed, safety and cost-effectiveness has had a decisive impact on the fate of HSR.

Its success inspired countries like France to adapt its model and create their own systems. And success has allowed Japan to steadily upgrade and expand the existing system while experimenting with new and exciting possibilities.

For example, Japan and JR Central are currently at the cutting edge of maglev (short for “magnetic levitation”) technology, which harnesses magnetic force to propel trains. In 2015, a Japanese maglev train broke the land speed record (for rail vehicles) by going more than 600 km (375 miles) per hour. Shinkansen’s first maglev line—from Tokyo to Nagoya—is now under construction and is expected to launch by 2034. It will cut the current rail trip from about 90 minutes to 40 minutes. A Tokyo to Osaka maglev line is expected to open in 2037; it will reduce the travel time to less than an hour.

The takeaway here?

One success story can have long-term, globe-shaping consequences. All of this began, after all, with a single high-speed line from Tokyo to Osaka in 1964. Even at relatively slow speeds (by current standards), it proved popular. Ridership spiked. Over time, the system’s safety record and on-time performance became legendary. The world took note. Global high-speed rail was born.

We don’t know yet what the US will contribute to this story. But HSR projects in Georgia, Illinois, the Pacific Northwest, and Texas are in various stages of planning and development. And soon, projects in California and Nevada will give Americans their first experience of true high-speed rail.

Like the Shinkansen system in 1964, Brightline West’s launch of a high-speed line from Las Vegas to LA is set to coincide with the Summer Olympics in 2028. It’s a nice coincidence and a good omen. What happens in Vegas never stays in Vegas. And in this case—if history is any guide—it could revolutionize American transportation.

The Latest from HSRA

Our Latest Blog Posts

Check out the latest news, updates, and high speed rail insights from our blog!

Newsletter 2/14/25: Bills to Expand Illinois Railway Program

Newsletter 2/14/25: Bills to Expand Illinois Railway Program

Bills to Expand Illinois Railway Program Announced Illinois has always been at the heart of America’s rail network, and it is uniquely poised to lead the country towards great trains. Because of its political heft and Chicago’s role as the nation’s rail hub, a growing...

Illinois Needs an Integrated Railway Program

Illinois Needs an Integrated Railway Program

Illinois Needs an Integrated Railway Program Great trains will change the way the world sees Illinois   Help make it happenBuilding on Success, Planning for the Future Traveling by train and bus across Illinois should be convenient, comfortable, and affordable....

A group of friends is talking at a table on a moving train.

It takes an Alliance to make great trains!

Join thousands of members working to transform travel across the U.S.

Become a Member