Tetsuo Shimomae - Birth of the Shinkansen: The Origin Story of the World-First Bullet Train

Measurement work at the trackside (1963) (provided by RTRI)

Series 0 twelve-car train about to open for business, Tokyo station (1964) (provided by RTRI)

On October 1, 1964, the worlds first high-speed commercial train, known as the Shinkansen (which means new trunk line), began operating. It was the first in the world to operate at a speed of more than 200 km/h. In Europe at the time, the maximum operating speed for trains was 160 km/h, and the general consensus was that maximum speeds of 200 km/h were unrealistic. Therefore, the start of the Shinkansen operation was an epoch-making event that opened up a new world of railways.

The Shinkansen came into being when railways were deemed to be an unstable industry worldwide. In Japan, many people believed that the country should invest in highways and aircraft, which were thought to be the travel modes of the future, rather than the outdated railways. However, the success of the Shinkansen changed public opinion, and since its opening, the Shinkansen has continued to grow; as of 2016, the Shinkansen line was 3,000 km long.

Inspired by the success of the Shinkansen, European countries began to develop their own high-speed trains. In the UK, in 1976twelve years after the opening of the Shinkansenthe IC125 train began operating at a maximum speed of 201 km/h. The TGV began operating in France in 1981 (260 km/h), the ETR in Italy in 1988 (200 km/h), the ICE in Germany in 1991 (280 km/h), and the AVE in Spain in 1992 (300 km/h). In Asia, technology transfer from Europe and Japan led to the opening in 2004 of the KTX in Korea, and in 2007, the CRH in China and the 700T in Taiwan. More than 20 countries now operate high-speed trains.