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
E5 Series Shinkansen E5 Series Shinkansen The is a Japanese Shinkansen high-speed train type operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East) on Tohoku Shinkansen services since 5 March 2011 and on Hokkaido Shinkansen services since 26 March 2016. A total of 59 10-car sets are on order, with three sets in service in time for the start of new "Hayabusa" services to Shin-Aomori in March 2011. Technology incorporated in these trains is derived from the experimental Fastech 360S train tested by JR East. The initial maximum speed in service was , but this was raised to between Utsunomiya and Morioka from the