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
800 Series Shinkansen covers. Sets U007 and U009 include track condition monitoring equipment and are numbered in the 800-1000 series, while set U008 features overhead wire and signal monitoring equipment and is numbered in the 800-2000 series. Cars 2 and 5 are equipped with PS207K single-arm pantographs. 800 Series Shinkansen The is a Japanese Shinkansen high-speed train type operated by Kyushu Railway Company (JR Kyushu) on the Kyushu Shinkansen high-speed rail line. Built by Hitachi, the trains were introduced on the "Tsubame" services from March 2004. The 800 series has a maximum speed of in service, although its maximum design speed is .