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
E3 Series Shinkansen based at Niigata Depot and formed as shown below, with car 11 at the Tokyo end. Cars 12 and 15 each have one single-arm pantograph. E3 Series Shinkansen The is a Japanese Shinkansen high-speed train type built for "Komachi" services which commenced on 3 June 1997, coinciding with the opening of the new Akita Shinkansen "mini-shinkansen" line, a regular narrow-gauge line between and re-gauged to . Later versions of the E3 series were also introduced for use on Yamagata Shinkansen "Tsubasa" services. Both "mini-shinkansen" lines join the Tohoku Shinkansen, providing services to and from Tokyo. The design of the original