Tokaido Shinkansen From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The Tokaido Shinkansen is a Japanese high-speed Shinkansen line, opened in 1964 between Tokyo and Shin-Osaka. Since 1987 it has been operated by the Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central), and prior to that, by Japanese National Railways (JNR). It is the most heavily travelled high-speed rail route in the world by far; its cumulative ridership of 5.3 billion passengers dwarfs all other systems and lines worldwide. The line was named a joint Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark and IEEE Milestone by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, respectively, in 2000. Train services There are three types of services on the line: from fastest to slowest, they are the Nozomi, the Hikari, and the Kodama. Many Nozomi and Hikari services continue onward to the Sanyo Shinkansen, going as far as Fukuoka's Hakata Station. 700 Series and N700 Series train sets operate on the line in any of the three service patterns. The Hikari run from Tokyo to Osaka took four hours in 1964; this was shortened to 3 hours 10 minutes in 1965. With the introduction of the high-speed Nozomi service in 1992, the travel time was shortened to 2 hours 30 minutes. The introduction of the N700 Series trains in 2007 further reduced the Nozomi's travel time to 2 hours 25 minutes. As of March 2008, Hikari services travel from Tokyo to Shin-Osaka in approximately 3 hours, with all-stopping Kodama services making the same run in about 4 hours. Nozomi services cannot be used for free by tourists using the Japan Rail Pass. Stations Kodama trains stop at all stations. Nozomi and Hikari trains have varying stopping patterns. All trains stop at Tokyo, Shinagawa, Shin-Yokohama, Nagoya, Kyoto, and Shin-Osaka. Tokyo Station, at Chiyoda, Tokyo, 0.0 km, transfers to Tohoku Shinkansen, Joetsu Shinkansen, Nagano Shinkansen, Yamanote Line, Chuo Main Line, Sobu Main Line, Keihin-Tohoku Line, Tokaido Main Line, Keiyo Line, Yokosuka Line, and Tokyo Metro Marunouchi Line (M-17); Shinagawa Station, at Minato, Tokyo, 6.8 km, transfers to Yamanote Line, Keihin-Tohoku Line, Tokaido Main Line, Yokosuka Line, and Keikyu Main Line; Shin-Yokohama Station, at Kohoku, Yokohama, 25.5 km, transfers to Yokohama Line and Yokohama Municipal Subway Blue Line (No. 3 Line); Odawara Station, at Odawara, Kanagawa, 76.7 km, transfers to Tokaido Main Line, Shonan-Shinjuku Line, Odakyu Odawara Line, Izu-Hakone Railway Daiyuzan Line, and Hakone Tozan Line; Atami Station, at Atami, Shizuoka, 95.4 km, transfers to Tokaido Main Line and Ito Line; Mishima Station, at Mishima, Shizuoka, 111.3 km, transfers to Tokaido Main Line and Izu-Hakone Sunzu Line; Shin-Fuji Station, at Fuji, Shizuoka, 135.0 km; Shizuoka Station, at Aoi, Shizuoka, 167.4 km, transfers to Tokaido Main Line and Shizuoka Railway Shizuoka-Shimizu Line (at Shin-Shizuoka Station); Kakegawa Station, at Kakegawa, Shizuoka, 211.3 km, transfers to Tokaido Main Line and Tenryu Hamanako Line; Hamamatsu Station, at Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, 238.9 km, transfers to Tokaido Main Line and Enshu Railway Line (at Shin-Hamamatsu Station); Toyohashi Station, at Toyohashi, Aichi, 274.2 km, transfers to Tokaido Main Line, Iida Line, Meitetsu Nagoya Main Line, Toyohashi Atsumi Line (at Shin-Toyohashi Station), and Toyohashi Tramway (at Ekimae Station); Mikawa-Anjo Station, at Anjo, Aichi, 312.8 km, transfers to Tokaido Main Line; Nagoya Station, at Nakamura, Nagoya, 342.0 km, transfers to Tokaido Main Line, Chuo Main Line, Kansai Main Line, Takayama Main Line, Nagoya Subway Higashiyama Line (H08), Nagoya Subway Sakura-dori Line (S02), Nagoya Main Line (at Meitetsu Nagoya Station), Kintetsu Nagoya Line (at Kintetsu Nagoya Station), and Aonami Line (AN01); Gifu-Hashima Station, at Hashima, Gifu, 367.1 km, transfers to Meitetsu Hashima Line (at Shin-Hashima Station); Maibara Station, at Maibara, Shiga, 408.2 km, transfers to Tokaido Main Line, Biwako Line (as part of Tokaido Main Line, bound for Kyoto Station), Hokuriku Main Line, and Ohmi Railway Main Line; Kyoto Station, at Shimogyo, Kyoto, 476.3 km, transfers to Biwako Line (as part of Tokaido Main Line, bound for Maibara), JR Kyoto Line (as part of Tokaido Main Line, bound for Osaka), Sagano Line (as part of Sanin Main Line), Nara Line, Kintetsu Kyoto Line, and Kyoto Municipal Subway Karasuma Line (K11); Shin-Osaka Station, at Yodogawa, Osaka, 515.4 km, transfers to Sanyo Sinkansen (through-service), JR Kyoto Line (as part of Tokaido Main Line, bound for Kyoto), and Osaka Municipal Subway Midosuji Line (M13) The through service is bound for as far as Hakata on the Sanyo Shinkansen. Rolling stock 700 Series 16-car sets, since March 1999 (owned by JR Central and JR West); N700 Series 16-car sets, since 1 July 2007 (owned by JR Central and JR West); N700A Series 16-car sets, since 8 February 2013 (owned by JR Central and JR West). Past rolling stock include: 0 Series 12/16-car sets, in service from 1 October 1964 to 18 September 1999 (owned by JR Central and JR West); 100 Series 16-car sets, in service from 1 October 1985 to September 2003 (owned by JR Central and JR West); 300 Series 16-car sets, in service from March 1992 to March 2012 (owned by JR Central and JR West); and 500 Series 16-car sets, in service from November 1997 to February 2010 (owned by JR West). History The Tokaido Shinkansen line was originally conceived in 1940 as a 150 km/h (93 mph) dedicated railway between Tokyo and Shimonoseki, which would have been 50% faster than the fastest express train of the time. The beginning of World War II stalled the project in its early planning stages, although a few tunnels were dug that were later used in the Shinkansen route. Construction of the line began on 20 April 1959 under JNR president Shinji Sogo and chief engineer Hideo Shima. It was completed in 1964, with the first train travelling from Tokyo to Shin-Osaka on 1 October 1964 at 210 km/h (130 mph). The opening was timed to coincide with the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, which had already brought international attention to the country. Originally, the line was called the New Tokaido Line in English. It is named after the Tokaido route of Japan, used for centuries. Speeds have been increased to 270 km/h (168 mph), except for a lower limit applying between Tokyo and Shinagawa. A new Shinkansen stop at Shinagawa Station opened in October 2003, accompanied by a major timetable change which increased the number of daily Nozomi services. All Tokaido Shinkansen services to and from Tokyo make station stops at Shinagawa and Shin-Yokohama. (Before March 2008, alternating Nozomi and Hikari services stopped at either or both of these stations.) A new station, Minami-Biwako, was planned to open in 2012 between Maibara and Kyoto to allow a transfer to the Kusatsu Line. Construction started in May 2006, but in September 2006, the Otsu district court ruled that the 4.35 billion yen bond that Ritto city had issued to fund construction was illegal under the local finance law and had to be cancelled. The project was officially cancelled in October 2007. Ridership From 1964 to 2012, the Tokaido Shinkansen alone has carried some 5.3 billion passengers, making it by far the most heavily used HSR line in the world. Ridership has increased from 61,000 per day in 1964 to 391,000 per day in 2012. Tokaido Line Cumulative Ridership Figures (in millions of passengers): 1967, 100; 1976, 1,000; 2004, 4,160; Mar 2007, 4,500; Nov 2010, 4,900; 2012, 5,300. Tokaido Line Ridership Figures (per year, in millions of passengers): 1967, 22; April 1987, 102; April 2007, 151; April 2008, 149; April 2009, 138; April 2010, 141; April 2011, 149; April 2012, 143. Future developments An ultra-fast (500 km/h (311 mph) plus) maglev system, the Chuo Shinkansen, has been committed to construction, with a target date of 2020 for the line to start partial operation, and 2027 to connect Tokyo to Nagoya. It was announced in June 2010 that a new Shinkansen station in Samukawa, Kanagawa Prefecture was under consideration by JR Central. If constructed, the station would open after the new maglev service begins operations. In December 2013, JR Central president Yoshiomi Yamada announced the operating company's intentions to raise the maximum line speed beyond 270 km/h, with a revised timetable to be introduced in spring 2015. In February 2014, JR Central announced that, from spring 2015, the maximum speed would be increased to 285 km/h (175 mph) for services using the N700A or modified N700 Series trainsets. Initially, just one service per hour will run at 285 km/h, with more services gradually added later.