Tokaido Shinkansen speed up in spring 2015

[bikkuri bahn]

Central Japan Railway Co. (JR Tokai) said it will raise the maximum speed on the Tokaido Shinkansen Line from 270 kph to 285 kph next spring, the first such increase in 23 years.

The greater speed under the revised timetables will cut two to three minutes off the fastest service between Tokyo and Shin-Osaka stations, which currently takes 2 hours and 25 minutes.

The transport ministry in July authorized JR Tokai to increase the maximum operating speed of its N700 Series and N700A Series bullet trains on the Tokaido Line.

“We’ve improved the motor power output, train controls, braking systems and noise reduction capabilities of the Shinkansen, step by step,” a JR Tokai official said. “The increase of the maximum speed by 15 kph was achieved through the accumulation of these efforts.”

 

http://ajw.asahi.com/article/behind_news/social_affairs/AJ201409180073

 

*not mentioned here, but mentioned in the original Japanese print article, the actual main purpose of the speed-up is not to reduce the total travel time (though that is the general public advertising point) , but rather to facilitate faster timetable recovery in instances of accidents, bad weather, etc.  Back in JNR days, the average delay in shinkansen services (in one year) typically ranged over two minutes, while this past decade, this has been reduced to under a minute- in the case of 2003, six seconds.  However, last year, the average delay figure rose to 54 seconds.  Presumably this technical development will help get that number back down again.

Edited September 21, 2014 by bikkuri bahn

[Shinkansenrailfan]

I've seen this post a long way back in the first half of 2014. The JR Central Chairperson did announce that back in December last year. One train per hour (I assume a Nozomi) will travel at 285km/h. More will be added later.

 

I believe that the reduction in time could be between 5-10 minutes , considering many parts of the Tokaido Shinkansen have to be traveled at 255km/h - 270km/h and maybe lesser.

 

The fastest connection is Nozomi 1 at 2 hours 25 minutes from Tokyo to Shin-Osaka. I'm I guessing it'd be reduced to 2 hours 15 minutes maybe? But if the Nozomi didn't have to stop at Shinagawa and Shin-Yokohama just like before , I'm sire the travel time may be lesser than 2 hours. That's what I think.

[Sacto1985]

I wonder has JR Central thought about running a small number of Nozomi trains that only stop at Shin-Yokohama Station after leaving Tokyo Station? 

 

Actually, I can foresee by 2016 all Nozomi trains switched to the N700A and all Hikari and Kodama trains between Tokyo and Shin-Yokohama switched to N700 and (slowly retiring) 700 Series trainsets. This may allow all Nozomi trains to achieve speeds as high as 300 km/h in certain parts of the Tokaidō line, which may make it possible for travel times between Tokyo and Shin-Yokohama somewhere between 2 hours 10 minutes and 2 hours 15 minutes if my suggestion for skipping Shinagawa Station is possible.

[railsquid]

Ah, but the question then arises, at what point do higher end-to-end times to shave a few minutes off the already comparatively short journey time benefit people more than loss of access to Shinagawa? I'm sure JR Tokai will have done the sums on this.

[Sacto1985]

Well, the other option is to skip Shin-Yokohama after Shinagawa, since there is less line interchange at Shin-Yokohama than at Shinagawa. It will probably also allow trains to accelerate faster heading west after Shinagawa Station.

[Shinkansenrailfan]

Well, the other option is to skip Shin-Yokohama after Shinagawa, since there is less line interchange at Shin-Yokohama than at Shinagawa. It will probably also allow trains to accelerate faster heading west after Shinagawa Station.

I don't care much if trains skip Shinagawa as they are traveling at max 85km/h between Tokyo and Shinagawa. However , trains do pass Shin-Yokohama at 170km/h. So skipping Shin-Yokohama will definitely save time. Skipping both will be best , like the previous fastest Hikari and early Nozomi Services that stops at Tokyo , Nagoya , Kyoto and Shin-Osaka

[Mudkip Orange]

the actual main purpose of the speed-up is not to reduce the total travel time (though that is the general public advertising point) , but rather to facilitate faster timetable recovery in instances of accidents, bad weather, etc.

IIRC SF BART is designed similarly, in that the normal operating speed limit of most track is 70mph, but the actual design speed is 80mph and trains can be sped up in event of schedule issues.

 

I'm not saying this is how it actually works in practice, just that I recall that being the idea.

[katoftw]

I've seen this post a long way back in the first half of 2014. The JR Central Chairperson did announce that back in December last year. One train per hour (I assume a Nozomi) will travel at 285km/h. More will be added later.

 

I believe that the reduction in time could be between 5-10 minutes , considering many parts of the Tokaido Shinkansen have to be traveled at 255km/h - 270km/h and maybe lesser.

 

The fastest connection is Nozomi 1 at 2 hours 25 minutes from Tokyo to Shin-Osaka. I'm I guessing it'd be reduced to 2 hours 15 minutes maybe? But if the Nozomi didn't have to stop at Shinagawa and Shin-Yokohama just like before , I'm sire the travel time may be lesser than 2 hours. That's what I think.

2-3 minutes saved on the fastest service.  Read first post of thread.

[katoftw]

IIRC SF BART is designed similarly, in that the normal operating speed limit of most track is 70mph, but the actual design speed is 80mph and trains can be sped up in event of schedule issues.

 

I'm not saying this is how it actually works in practice, just that I recall that being the idea.

Sounds similar to this speed increase.  They talk about delay times and the ability to go fasater.  So I guess the can get the 54 seconds back per average delay by speeding up 15kph more than normal.

[Sacto1985]

Personally, I think JR Central's goal of trainset allocation I mentioned earlier will allow Nozomi trains to run at faster speeds as much as possible, and may allow even high top speeds for these very limited express trains. I can see N700A's even reach 300 km/h on the following sections:

 

Mishima Station to Shizuoka Station

Kakegawa Station to Toyohashi Station

As it passes near Tokaidō Main Line's Koda Station to near Odaka Station east of Nagoya

Maibara Station to Kyoto Station

 

This, plus eliminating the Shin-Yokohama stop for some Nozomi trains, could cut the travel time between Tokyo and Shin-Osaka to possibly under 2 hours 15 minutes the fastest service.

[JR 500系]

Hhhmmm... That's interesting... While fast is definitely good, it also meant the dismissal of the 700 series more, since max serviceable speed for the 700 series is 270km/h? That just made the line more boring with all white and blues N700 series (includes all varieties of N700 like N700A, N700a etc.) and perhaps even the Railstar will be going? Loved the yellow and black on the 700-7000 Rail Star...

[Sacto1985]

The top speed of the original 700 Series trainsets was 285 km/h (177 mph) on the San'yō Shinkansen route between Shin-Osaka and Hakata. It was the N700's that pushed it to 300 km/h with its narrower front window and other improvements. As such, the N700A's could be adapted for 300 km/h service on parts of the Tokaidō Shinkansen in the near future.

 

As for the Hikari Rail Star 700-7000 trainsets, I expect those to be phased out starting around 2016-2017, replaced by N700 trainsets in the Sakura service.

[Shinkansenrailfan]

Personally, I think JR Central's goal of trainset allocation I mentioned earlier will allow Nozomi trains to run at faster speeds as much as possible, and may allow even high top speeds for these very limited express trains. I can see N700A's even reach 300 km/h on the following sections:

 

Mishima Station to Shizuoka Station

Kakegawa Station to Toyohashi Station

As it passes near Tokaidō Main Line's Koda Station to near Odaka Station east of Nagoya

Maibara Station to Kyoto Station

 

This, plus eliminating the Shin-Yokohama stop for some Nozomi trains, could cut the travel time between Tokyo and Shin-Osaka to possibly under 2 hours 15 minutes the fastest service.

Not very feasible to me with so few sections of the line reachin the top speed. Maybe future rolling stock designs may be adjusted to fit the Tokaido Shinkansen obstacles to achieve such a speed.

 

Also , since Nozomi trains used to skip Shin-Yokohama at 170km/h. Considering time saved from stopover times , acceleration and deceleration , the fastest may save up to about 5 minutes. Also , at 285km/h it might save a further 3-5 for my calculations.

[Shinkansenrailfan]

The top speed of the original 700 Series trainsets was 285 km/h (177 mph) on the San'yō Shinkansen route between Shin-Osaka and Hakata. It was the N700's that pushed it to 300 km/h with its narrower front window and other improvements. As such, the N700A's could be adapted for 300 km/h service on parts of the Tokaidō Shinkansen in the near future.

 

As for the Hikari Rail Star 700-7000 trainsets, I expect those to be phased out starting around 2016-2017, replaced by N700 trainsets in the Sakura service.

Sakura services have almost fully replaced the main use of Hikari Rail Star sets. There are only 1-2 return Hikari Rail Star services on the Sanyo Shinkansen every day. I dint see too much of the retirement of the sets. They are currently mainly operating Kodama Services alongside the 500 series and certain N700-7000/8000 sets. Hikari services from Tokyo operate as all-stop services to Okayama. I see that after the 500 series's retirement by around 2017 , the 700-7000 series sets will have to continue operating until a new set is introduced on the Sanyo Shinkansen.

 

The N700's design speed is 330km/h , by the way

[Densha]

Hhhmmm... That's interesting... While fast is definitely good, it also meant the dismissal of the 700 series more, since max serviceable speed for the 700 series is 270km/h? That just made the line more boring with all white and blues N700 series (includes all varieties of N700 like N700A, N700a etc.) and perhaps even the Railstar will be going? Loved the yellow and black on the 700-7000 Rail Star...

I believe you're mixing up the Tokaido Shinkansen and the Sanyo Shinkansen lines. The Hikari Rail Star runs on the Sanyo Shinkansen only.

[Sacto1985]

The reason why I said the N700A's under the right conditions could be pushed to the 300 km/h speed on the sections of the Tokaidō line is the fast acceleration of these trains and the slight tilting action that allows faster speeds through curves. As such, portions of the Tokaidō line that have gentle curves or long straight running could be certified for 300 km/h service by N700A trainsets.

[Shinkansenrailfan]

The reason why I said the N700A's under the right conditions could be pushed to the 300 km/h speed on the sections of the Tokaidō line is the fast acceleration of these trains and the slight tilting action that allows faster speeds through curves. As such, portions of the Tokaidō line that have gentle curves or long straight running could be certified for 300 km/h service by N700A trainsets.

I don't really see it coming so soon though , also another reason is the pushing of the Chuo Shinkansen by 2027 , so I don't really see 300km/h on the Tokaido Shinkansen. Also , the sections for it to run at top speed is really little , and the distances are very short too.