Shinkansen: From Bullet Train to Symbol of Modern Japan
Reliable information on Japanese transport is hard to come by, which makes Dr Christopher Hood’s book on the country’s high speed rail network particularly welcome. This is more a sociological study than a book for transport enthusiasts, but the subject is so fascinating and the wealth of detail so gripping that Shinkansen should appeal to just about anyone with a passing interest in transport, or indeed, Japan.
We’re all familiar with the iconic image of the Japanese Bullet Train tearing past Mount Fuji, and that’s about it. In fact, the Bullet Train, or ‘dangan ressha’, was conceived before the Second World War, and work on the first line was well advanced when the Abombs brought progress to a halt.This first ‘trunk line’ (that’s the shinkansen bit) was planned to relieve the busy Tokaido line between Tokyo and Osaka, and by the 1950s, with the Japanese economy back on its feet, work on the Tokaido Shinkansen was resumed, and finally completed in October 1964. Suddenly, a 61/2 – 10 hour trip along the spine of Jap a n ’s biggest island could be completed in four hours, with trains hitting a then sensational top speed of 160mph. This pioneer line was so successful that plans we re drafted for a massive 7,000km network, some of which has been completed, and some of which (to date) has not.
By the late 1980s, the cost of building the shinkansen network had brought the stateowned Japanese National Railway to its knees, and a rather complicated plan was hatched to privatize the state network (many smaller lines were already private or quasi-private), creating several broadly regional groups, which all sounds horribly familiar.True to form, high speed development work ground to a halt in the next few years, but in marked contrast to British experience, private ownership really does seem to have brought greater efficiency and renewed confidence. Critically, the track,
“…not a single passenger has been killed or injured…[and] trains arrive within six seconds of time…”
stations and trains in each area are owned and maintained by the railway companies, with post-privatisation shinkansen construction being paid for by the state, with the tracks being leased back to the operators. Development work soon restarted and the construction of both track and trains is now proceeding apace, with the industry expecting to pay off the former JNR debts as well.
The shinkansen has had its opponents over the years, mainly politicians whose town had been bypassed, or residents who’d lost their back gardens, and at times costs have been inflated by mild corruption, resulting in the construction of ‘seiji eki’, or ‘political stations’, and even ‘seiji sen’, complete railway lines allegedly built for political reasons. In the credit account, the network has revitalised the conventional rail network, capped the damaging growth in domestic air travel, hugely boosted the Japanese economy and become a source of immense national pride.
New shinkansen lines are straighter, and the trains are lighter, faster (up to 190mph) and – if such a thing can be imagined – safer than the original Tokaido. In more than 40 years of operation, not a single passenger has been killed or injured in a train crash, and the consequent reduction in road traffic continues to save some 1,800 lives a year. Reliability will make British rail commuters swoon – trains on the Tokaido line arrive on average within six seconds of their appointed time. On more slovenly lines – often through areas prone to heavy snowfall or earthquakes – delays can be as much as 40 seconds; disgraceful. Oh, and in case anyone is wondering, most of the Japanese railway companies are claimed to be very profitable, thanks largely to the shinkansen.
Whether the lines are directly profitable or not, for a country with no fossil fuel, the shinkansen is already proving a terrifically valuable resource.According to the Japanese railway industry, primary energy consumption of the high speed trains is about the same as a conventional train, and only one-seventh that of a plane or car. It helps that the shinkansen is all-electric: Japan’s power stations use 59% fossil fuels, 30% nuclear, 8% hydro and 3% other renewables. By modern Western standards, that’s quite a balanced portfolio (the UK stands on 74% fossil, 19% nuclear, 1% hydro, 3.5% other renewables, plus 2.5% imports). If oil prices go through the roof, or serious attempts are made to curb global meltdown, Japan’s cars and airliners will be in trouble, but the fast, efficient shinkansen will really come into its own. Shinkansen has strikingly poor photographs, hardly any maps, and a rather scary cover price, but it’s the best transport book we’ve read for quite a while. If you can’t afford a copy of your own, persuade your local library to get one in. It should be required reading in Government circles, but don’t hold your breath.