Shinkansen Shinkansen The , meaning "new trunkline," but colloquially known in English as the bullet train, is a network of high-speed railway lines in Japan. Initially, it was built to connect distant Japanese regions with Tokyo, the capital, in order to aid economic growth and development. Beyond long-distance travel, some sections around the largest metropolitan areas are used as a commuter rail network. It is operated by five Japan Railways Group companies. Starting with the Tōkaidō Shinkansen () in 1964, the network has expanded to currently consist of of lines with maximum speeds of , of Mini-Shinkansen lines with a maximum
Hokkaido Shinkansen 2015, and is scheduled to be completed by March 2021. The extension will be approximately 76% in tunnels, including major tunnels such as Oshima (), Teine () and Shiribeshi (). When the section to Sapporo will open, the estimated journey time from Tokyo to Sapporo will be 5 hours and 1 minute. Hokkaido Shinkansen The is a Japanese high-speed shinkansen rail line that links up with the Tōhoku Shinkansen in northern Aomori Prefecture in Honshu and continues on into the interior of Hokkaido through the undersea Seikan Tunnel. Construction started in May 2005, and the initial to section opened on