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
H5 Series Shinkansen H5 Series Shinkansen The is a Japanese Shinkansen high-speed train type owned by Hokkaido Railway Company (JR Hokkaido) for use on Tohoku and Hokkaido Shinkansen services since 26 March 2016. Based on the earlier E5 series trains, a total of four 10-car sets were built by Hitachi and Kawasaki Heavy Industries at a cost of approximately 18 billion yen. The first two sets were delivered in October 2014. , H5 series trainsets work in a pool with similar JR East E5 series trainsets, and are used on the following services on the Tohoku and Hokkaido Shinkansen lines: The H5 series