Shinkansen N700S series to replace 700 series

[Densha]

And I merged yet another new thread with this already existing thread on the N700S...

[Suica]

On 10/20/2018 at 5:08 AM, Sacto1985 said:

But those 8-car 500 Series and 700 Series Hikari Rail Star train sets are starting to get up there in years and need replacement soon. The test of the 8-car N700S train set may be in preparation for eventual operations on Kodama services between Shin-Osaka and Hakata Stations, starting probably as early as 2021.

I think that's pretty unlikely. Ever since the start of Nozomi services, the Kodama has been a good place to "recycle" old trains. Most trains were downgraded after roughly 10 to 15 years of initial service.

Also, this N700S is owned by JR Central, who only operate 16 car Kodama trains. 

JR West has announced to purchase N700S units to replace their N700 fleet and they do own 8-car N700-7000 sets, which are however not used on Kodama services as they're still fairly new.

It's most likely that older N700 series sets will be downgraded and shortened to replace the 700 series Hikari Rail Star and 500 series.

 

Edited October 21, 2018 by Suica

[Shinkansenrailfan]

Sorry for reviving this old post, but based on this website, and Twitter sources from various Railfans, the 700 Series will be officially retired from Kodama runs by 1st December 

 

Currently, only 3 Kodama Services operated by a 700 Series trainset remain on the Tokaido Shinkansen (Kodama 636, 683 and 696). Kodama 683 and 696 will be operated by N700A from December 1st onwards, while Kodama 636 will see the 700 doing the last run on regular Tokaido Shinkansen services on December 1st itself
 

They will still do extra Nozomi runs until their scheduled withdrawal around March. 
 

Website source here: https://news.expnews.net/blog-entry-1127.html

Edited November 18, 2019 by Shinkansenrailfan
Adding info

[Das Steinkopf]

7 hours ago, Shinkansenrailfan said:

Sorry for reviving this old post, but based on this website, and Twitter sources from various Railfans, the 700 Series will be officially retired from Kodama runs by 1st December 

 

Currently, only 3 Kodama Services operated by a 700 Series trainset remain on the Tokaido Shinkansen (Kodama 636, 683 and 696). Kodama 683 and 696 will be operated by N700A from December 1st onwards, while Kodama 636 will see the 700 doing the last run on regular Tokaido Shinkansen services on December 1st itself
 

They will still do extra Nozomi runs until their scheduled withdrawal around March. 
 

Website source here: https://news.expnews.net/blog-entry-1127.html

 

 It was only a matter of time as some of these trains are at least 20 years old, I have ridden on all 3 variants and am rather ambivalent towards the class as a whole, there is nothing special about the B and C sets but on the other hand I quite enjoyed the few trips that I took on the Rail Star Hikari E Sets as they are more comfortable. I'm kind of spoiled though as I have ridden on the 500-7000 Series, all of the N700 and N700A Variants, 800 Series, E5 and E7, out of all of them I would rank the E7 as the most comfortable and stylish of the lot, mind you I quite liked travelling on the E5 at 320km/h between Fukishima and Sendai, they are also very roomy.

Edited November 18, 2019 by Das Steinkopf

[Shinkansenrailfan]

9 hours ago, Das Steinkopf said:

 

 It was only a matter of time as some of these trains are at least 20 years old, I have ridden on all 3 variants and am rather ambivalent towards the class as a whole, there is nothing special about the B and C sets but on the other hand I quite enjoyed the few trips that I took on the Rail Star Hikari E Sets as they are more comfortable. I'm kind of spoiled though as I have ridden on the 500-7000 Series, all of the N700 and N700A Variants, 800 Series, E5 and E7, out of all of them I would rank the E7 as the most comfortable and stylish of the lot, mind you I quite liked travelling on the E5 at 320km/h between Fukishima and Sendai, they are also very roomy.

Honestly, they’re still more appeasing to the eye than a slew of N700As. 
 

I think I sleep the most comfortable onboard any 8-car Sanyo Shinkansen set (be it N700/Rail Star) as their Reserved Seats are larger and more comfortable. Just like you I’ve ridden on all 700 and N700 variants, 500, 800, and everything from E2 to E7.

 

Hayabusa is memorable mostly because of its’ limited stops but other than that they still lose out to the Sanyo Shinkansen 8-car rolling stock slightly 

Edited November 19, 2019 by Shinkansenrailfan

[Sacto1985]

I think JR Central and JR West will phase out the use of the 700 Series (with the exception of the Hikari Rail Star) train sets because I think JR Central may be planning to speed up operations on the Tokaidō Shinkansen line. Don't be surprised if the speeds will be bumped up from 270 to 285 km/h between Shizuoka and Toyohashi and 300 km/h between Maibara and Kyoto, now that all trainsets can max out at 300 km/h on regular service.