Shinkansen (新幹線) in Japanese means 'new trunk line' or 'new main line', but this word is used to describe both the railway lines the trains run on and the trains themselves. In English, the trains are also known as the bullet train.

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Japan was the first country to build dedicated railway lines for high-speed travel. Because of the mountainous terrain, the existing

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To enable high-speed operation, Shinkansen uses a range of advanced technology compared with conventional rail, achieving not only high speed but also a high standard of safety

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Originally intended to carry passenger and freight trains by day and night, the Shinkansen lines carry only passenger trains. The system shuts down between midnight and 06:00 every

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Trains are up to sixteen cars long. With each car measuring 25 m (82 ft) in length, the longest trains are 400 m (1/4 mile) end to end. Stations are

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Punctuality
The Shinkansen is very reliable thanks to several factors, including its near-total separation from slower

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The main Shinkansen lines are:
In practice, the Tokaido, San'yō, and Kyushu lines form a contiguous west/southbound line from Tokyo, as train services run between the Tokaido and San'yō lines and between the San'yō and Kyushu lines, though the

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