Shinkansen speed. Japanese railway miracle - Shinkansen train

Illustration copyright Thinkstock

This year marks 50 years since the first Shinkansen bullet train left the train platform in Tokyo. talks about the project that became the basis for the development of rail transport throughout the world.

Nine days before the opening of the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Emperor Hirohito attended the opening ceremony of the first high-speed train linking the Japanese capital with Osaka. The blue and white express, whose outline resembled a bullet, rushed along the railway tracks past the picturesque Mount Fuji at a speed of 210 km per hour, covering the distance between the two megacities in record time.

A special expressway was built for the train. railway track, breaking 108 km of tunnels for this and building more than three thousand bridges. But this was not a one-time PR campaign on the eve of the Olympics.

The Tokaido Shinkansen (which means "new main line" in Japanese) has become not only the fastest railway in the world, but also the busiest.

Today, 16-car Shinkansen bullet trains fire from Tokyo Station platforms every three minutes. Their average speed on the route - 270 km/h. Each train has 1,323 comfortable passenger seats.

Since last year, trains on the Tohoku Shinkansen line, one of six high-speed rail lines built over the past 50 years, have reached speeds of up to 320 km/h in some sections despite Japan's mountainous landscape.

High speed trains almost completely replaced air passenger transportation in Japan between the country's largest cities. They are not only fast, regular and follow the movement schedule down to the second. According to a government report on the state of Japan's ground transport, emission carbon dioxide emission into the atmosphere by such a train is only 16% of the emissions of a car making the same journey.

Illustration copyright Getty Image caption There have only been two accidents on high-speed trains in Japan, and no one was injured in them. One of two cases in front of you: there was heavy snowfall, the train derailed.

These trains are kept perfectly clean. But more importantly, since the day Emperor Hirohito blessed the first train in 1964, there has not been a single accident on Japanese expressways. fatal. In 50 years, two trains derailed - one during the 2004 earthquake, the second during heavy snow last year. But both times there were no casualties.

50 years ago, against the backdrop of the new Shinkansen bullet train, all other railways in the world suddenly seemed outdated.

It was October 1964 - the height of Beatlemania. At that time, the fastest British locomotive could reach a speed of 160 km/h, and even then only on small modernized sections of the railway, built in the Victorian era.

Japanese bullet trains, so named because of the pointed nose that characterized the first O series, became the basis for the development of the French TGV, German ICE and Italian Pendolino. But all these trains were born only many years later.

Renaissance of Japan

Japan's global leadership in rail services was the result of the country's impressive economic and cultural revival in the first 20 years after its political and military defeat in 1945.

Then Emperor Hirohito is the same one who opened the Tokaido Shinkansen line in 1964 and Olympic Games- stated on the radio that as a result of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, “the military situation did not necessarily develop in favor of Japan.” Then the Japanese first heard his voice on the radio.

Illustration copyright Getty Image caption Arnold Schwarzenegger, while governor of California, visited Japan and was shown the Falcon train.

Less than 20 years later, guests of the Tokyo Olympics saw a completely different country - full of energy, with a rich culture, modern architecture and magnificent highways. Japan was already famous for its high-end motorcycles and cameras, advanced cinema and many, many more achievements. So, in addition to the high-speed railway itself, the Japanese even then had something to show the world.

It is not surprising that Japan then became an extremely fashionable country. Leading musicians, from Ella Fitzgerald to the Beatles, flocked to Tokyo to tour. But all these remarkable achievements and cutting-edge developments fit harmoniously into the rich and extremely distinctive Japanese culture.

In commercials, high-speed trains zipped along the Tokaido Shinkansen line past thickets of cherry blossoms and snow-capped mountains. It was a fascinating combination of two worlds - the old imperial and the new democratic.

Illustration copyright Thinkstock Image caption Japanese high-speed trains are never late.

It is not surprising that the first expressway was not cheap for the Japanese. During construction, its cost doubled. Because of this, the President of Japan railways Shinji Sogo and his chief engineer Hideo Shima were forced to resign. They were not invited to the grand opening of the railroad they created.

This financially risky project began in 1959, when Hideo Shima was asked to design and build a new railway line, create a train and the necessary infrastructure.

Shima and his team came up with the idea of ​​a completely new train. It had to walk on elevated tracks like highways and laid over viaducts. It was necessary to smooth out the angles of inclination as much as possible and minimize the number of turns and bends of the railway track.

Old trains were prohibited from running on these tracks. Although this was impossible in any case - previous generations of Japanese trains used a narrower gauge. The Shinkansen adopted the European and American standard railway gauge of 1.4 m wide. This made it possible to achieve greater stability of the train at high speeds.

Illustration copyright AP Image caption "Nozomi" is one of the fastest trains, running almost non-stop. Translated from Japanese, "nozomi" means "hope".

The Shinkansen was not the first train designed by Hideo Shima. This engineer was the designer of several Japanese steam locomotives of the previous generation. One of them set a speed record in 1954.

But the new generation of electric trains from the point of view technical progress represented a huge leap forward. And although Hideo Shima was disgraced due to budget overruns, he still enjoyed great authority as a specialist and later became the head of the Japanese National Space Development Agency.

In twenty years, Hideo Shima has made his way from steam locomotives to space technology. Today he is revered as the father of the Shinkansen and many other high-speed electric trains that run on highways in the most different countries peace.

Comfortable trip

Over the past 50 years, trains have become even faster. Total number The passengers they carried on the Tokaido Shinkansen alone reached 5.5 billion.

The most modern models With their extraordinarily long pointed noses, hidden wheels and shiny green or blue bodies, these E5 and E6 trains are stunning to look at. They resemble mechanical alien eels, and their performance is as impressive as their design.

Illustration copyright Thinkstock Image caption Japanese trains are very comfortable

When fired from stations, these bullet trains are capable of reaching a speed of 270 km/h in three minutes. On some sections of the road they rush at a speed of 320 km/h. At the same time, the cabin is quiet and no shocks or vibrations are felt.

These trains boast comfortable and perfectly clean toilets, as does almost all of Japan. Seats with reclining backs are located along the train. The conductors serve drinks and neat boxes of bento - Japanese breakfasts and snacks. All service personnel are impeccably dressed. Polite manners are valued and encouraged here.

Meanwhile, white-gloved drivers sitting in air-conditioned cabins ensure strict adherence to train schedules.

The unusually elongated noses of these trains help not only to develop speed, but also to reduce the noise level that the train produces - especially when it leaves the tunnel. So-called "tunnel noise" has been a source of frustration for many Japanese living near the Shinkansen, but it has been significantly reduced thanks to the aerodynamic design.

The Shinkansen rail network continues to grow. Last generation bullet trains currently operate between the southern islands of Honshu and Kyushu. In 2016, a sea tunnel will connect the Japanese with the northern island of Hokkaido, and in 2035 a line will be built to Sapporo.

Illustration copyright Getty Image caption Magnetic levitation (maglev) train either travels or flies

By then, the first Chuo Shinkansen line should open, connecting Tokyo and Osaka. This is a fundamentally new railway based on the principle of magnetic levitation (Maglev). The trains, literally floating in the air, will travel (fly?) from Tokyo to Osaka in just over an hour, reaching a speed of approximately 500 km/h. This is more than twice as fast as the first Shinkansen trains.

Creating a railway system on which trains run at a speed of 320 km/h and at the same time at the same intervals as in the London Underground is outstanding achievement by any standards. They are also much cleaner and more reliable than the London Underground.

Whatever the ups and downs of the Japanese economy over the past 50 years, the Shinkansen has been business card new Japan - a country that conquered the world with its cameras, radios, music systems, cars, motorcycles, films, comics and fashion.

The mesmerizing sight of the Shinkansen bullet train rushing by at full speed against the backdrop of fields with cherry blossoms and picturesque Japanese mountains remains the same impressive sight as it was half a century ago.

About the author: Jonathan Glancy is a journalist and television producer. He has worked as an architecture and design correspondent for the Guardian and as design editor for the Independent. He writes articles for the Daily Telegraph and collaborates with the BBC on radio and television documentaries. His books include "History of Architecture", "Lost Buildings", "Biography of the Spitfire", "Nagaland and the Giants of Steam".

Broad gauge supporters managed to bring their projects to life on the railway laid by the Japanese in the early 30s. in colonized Southern Manchuria. In 1934, the legendary Asia Express was launched between the cities of Dalian and Changchun (700 km), an indicative symbol of the Japanese imperialist power of that time. Capable of reaching speeds of over 130 km/h, it was far superior to China's railway system at the time, and was even much faster than the fastest express train in Japan itself. And on a global scale, Asia-Express had impressive characteristics. For example, the world's first air-conditioned carriages were equipped there. The dining car was equipped with refrigerators, and there was also a special carriage - an observation deck with windows along the entire perimeter, furnished with leather chairs and bookshelves.

This example probably became the final argument in favor of broad gauge and gave rise to the first high-speed rail projects in Japan. In 1940, the Japanese government approved a project of incredible scale. Even then, the project envisaged the creation of a train capable of reaching speeds of up to 200 km/h, but the Japanese government did not intend to limit itself to laying lines only on Japanese territory. It was supposed to lay underwater tunnel to the Korean Peninsula and extend the route all the way to Beijing. Construction had already partially begun, but the outbreak of the war and the subsequent deterioration of Japan's military and political positions put an end to imperial ambitions. In 1943, the project was curtailed; the same year was the last for Asia-Express. However, some sections of the Shinkansen lines in operation today were built in the pre-war years.
They started talking about the construction of the Shinkansen again 10 years after the war. Rapid economic growth has created great demand for freight and passenger transportation throughout the country. However, the idea to revive the project turned out to be completely unpopular and was sharply criticized. At that time, there was a strong opinion that road and air transport would soon replace railway transport, as happened, for example, in the USA and some European countries. The project was again in jeopardy.

In 1958, between Tokyo and Osaka, on a still narrow gauge, the direct ancestor of the Shinkansen, the Kodama business express, was launched. With a maximum speed of 110 km/h, it covered the distance between cities in 6.5 hours, making one-day business trips possible. In Japan, where business culture is based on face-to-face meetings, this was a very convenient solution. However, he did not serve very long. The incredible popularity of the Kodama left no one in any doubt about the need for high-speed lines, and less than a year later the government finally approved the Shinkansen construction project.

The high-speed rail network in Japan is exactly what I dreamed of seeing with my own eyes. These bullet trains are fired from Japanese train platforms every three minutes. Their average speed on the route is 270 km/h, the maximum is not worth mentioning - new records are broken too often.

Below the cut is a very short post about the main competitor to air travel and the most punctual passenger transport on the planet - the Shinkansen.

The long-awaited acquaintance with " Japanese miracle” took place at Odawara Station, where our journey through Japan begins. Hikari No. 503 promised to take us to Kyoto in just an hour and a half.
1.

"Shinkansen" literally translated from Japanese as "new main line" is common name high-speed railways connecting the most important cities in Japan. This road was called the “New Line” because Japanese builders for the first time, when laying the Shinkansen, moved away from the practice of narrow gauge railways - the standard gauge became 1435 mm. Before that, everything was Japanese railway network was narrow-gauge (track width - 1067 mm).

2.

The first section of the Shinkansen Tokyo-Osaka (“Tokaido Shinkansen”), 515 km long, was opened in 1964, on the eve of the opening of the XVIII Summer Olympics in Tokyo. The first trains reached speeds of 220-230 km/h.

The high-speed network is controlled by the Japan Railways Group. JR Group is the backbone of Japan's railway network (controls 20,135 of the 27,268 km of roads, which is ~74% of all highways). It accounts for a large share of intercity and suburban railway communication. Initially, the Shinkansen lines carried freight and passengers day and night. Now they serve only passengers, and from midnight to 6 a.m. traffic is stopped for maintenance and repair work. There are very few night trains left in Japan, and they all still run on the old railway, the tracks of which are laid parallel to the tracks of the “bullet train” and connect major cities countries.

Today there are three categories of high-speed trains in use in Japan: nozomi, hikari and kodama. Nozomi Express is the fastest. The 500 series trains running on these lines resemble spaceships. Their appearance on Japanese railways completely changed the standards for high-speed roads. In some areas, the “nozomi” reaches speeds of up to 300 km/h and stops only in large populated areas. “Hikari”, the second fastest, makes stops at intermediate stations, and “kodomi” - at all stations. However, the speed of the “kodomi” exceeds 200 km/h, although when passing through some areas and settlements Shinkansen speed is limited to 110 km/h.

3.

Despite the high speeds, the Shinkansen in Japan has proven itself to be an extremely reliable mode of transport: over the years of operation, starting in 1964, not a single fatal accident (excluding suicides) has been recorded. The “punctuality” of Japanese high-speed trains is also exceptionally high: the average annual delay is less than a minute, and even at peak loads it is no more than 3-4 minutes. Having become a convenient and affordable mode of transport, the Shinkansen is in many cases today the most in the best possible way traveling around Japan. At the same time, the traffic interval in the morning and evening hours peak is 5-6 minutes!

4.

Now high-speed trains are as much a symbol of modern Japan as high-quality electronics and reliable and durable cars.

5.

High-speed trains here are much more popular than air travel within the country, since to travel on the Shinkansen there is no need to waste time on the road to the airport, check-in, etc. Shinkansen saves time in everything!
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These high-speed trains are also called bullet trains.
7.

A little higher, I already noted that these trains compete with airplanes only in time savings. Comfort and price are about the same! Yes, riding Shinkansen trains is not cheap - a short trip can cost a decent amount. What should a tourist do?

The most economical way to travel around Japan is the Japan Rail Pass. Such a travel ticket is simply necessary for an independent traveler.

The Japan Rail Pass allows unlimited travel on JR roads, buses and ferries (not valid on the Nozomi Super Express). This ticket is valid for 7, 14 or 21 days and can be purchased only outside Japan.

8.

The JR Pass can only be purchased by foreigners, and only before arriving in Japan. Prices for the regular JR Pass Ordinary “adult” JR Pass are $237,438 and $562 for 7, 14 and 21 days, respectively. Naturally, the criminal JR Pass Green 1st Class will be more expensive - about $150.

So if you are planning to travel around Japan a lot, I advise you to purchase such a pass in advance.

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No one goes beyond the yellow line on the platform.
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N700 trains reach speeds of up to 300 km/h, and the tilt capability allows them to maintain speeds of 270 km/h on curves with a radius of up to 2,500 m, where speeds were previously allowed at 255 km/h. Another feature of the N700 is that it accelerates faster than other Shinkansen trains, with an acceleration of 0.722 m/s², allowing it to reach a speed of 270 km/h in just 3 minutes.
13.

Magnetoplane trains are currently being tested in full force in Japan. In April 2015, a magnetic levitation train broke its own speed record, reaching 603 km/h during tests near Fuji. JR Central, which owns the trains, aims to have them on the Tokyo-Nagoya route by 2027. The distance of 280 kilometers is planned to be covered in just 40 minutes.

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I didn't take any photos inside the train. I will only note very comfortable seats, personal sockets and sealed smoking capsule rooms. A country for people!
16.

N700. Each such train has 16 carriages and 1323 comfortable passenger seats.
17.

And here’s another video about the N700 series Shinkansen flying over:

If you want to know everything about Shinkansen trains, then you should come to Varlamov.

Japanese railway miracle "Shinkansen"

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Exactly 50 years ago, in October 1964, the world's first high-speed train, the Shinkansen (aka bullet-train), was launched in Japan, capable of reaching speeds of up to 210 km/h and forever becoming one of the symbols of the “new” Japan and its growing economic power. The first line connected the two largest Japanese cities - Tokyo and Osaka, reducing the minimum travel time between them from 7.5 to 4 hours.

I express my deep gratitude for the opportunity to visit different parts of Japan. Representative office of the National Tourism Office of Japan in Vladivostok and S7 Airlines.

More materials from the trip:

If the weary soul of a traveler becomes completely sad in the realities of a modern metropolis, you can always go on vacation in Hakone. Hakone is a resort area located near Tokyo, within the Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park, between Mount Fuji and the Izu Peninsula. In good weather and under favorable circumstances, in general, if luck smiles on you, you can observe the famous Fuji-san - in fact, this is what many travelers come here for.

In the vicinity of Hakone there are also many thermal springs- It’s not for nothing that this town not far from Tokyo has been one of the most popular resorts in Japan since time immemorial. Today, there are more than a dozen hot springs in the region, feeding the baths of many hotels and ryokans in Hakone. About everything in order under the cut.

Finally, the time has come to write reports on the results of the trip to beautiful Japan. The first point of my trip, of course, was the huge metropolis and capital of Japan - Tokyo. Below the cut I suggest you look at pictures about my two days in the most modern metropolis in the world.

On April 28, a new direction was added to the route network of S7 Airlines - a direct regular flight connected Vladivostok and the Japanese city of Osaka. I was among the first passengers on this flight.

Flights to Osaka now operate weekly on Wednesdays and Fridays. The plane departs from Knevichi airport at 13:30, and arrives in Osaka at 14:40 local time, that is, two hours in the air - and you are in Japan. The plane departs back to Vladivostok from Osaka Kansai Airport at 15:45, and arrives at its destination at 19:05. Flights on the new flight are carried out on Airbus A320 aircraft equipped with economy and business class cabins. Below the cut is a little about the airport and the new flight of the green grasshopper plane of S7 airlines.

Japan for residents Far East for obvious reasons, it has always been one of the most popular foreign destinations for business and leisure travel. This year, due to the significant simplification of the visa regime, interest in this country should grow significantly. Well, it's time for me to visit too.

Yes, it turns out there is still a Far Easterner who has never been to Japan :))

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[:RU]High-speed trains in Japan are called Shinkansen (“new line”) or also “Bullet train,” which translates from English as “bullet train.” These trains depart from Tokyo Station in the Japanese capital and cover almost all of Japan with a wide network. Japan built its first high-speed train back in 1964 with a speed of 210 km/h, and now the length of the Shinkansen high-speed railway network is about 2,500 kilometers. They cover with their network the main Japanese island of Honshu, the southern island of Kyushu, and underwater high-speed routes are already being built to the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido.

In Tokyo, I lived at Shinagawa Station - this is a large transport hub, and the “bullet train” made a short stop there, just 1.5 minutes. Tokyo is a densely populated city and Japanese bullet trains operate with short stops at the city's most important transport hubs and at major intermediate stations between cities. Japan is industrially developed quite evenly and there is life here too in the suburbs, people live, work and move around. It is clear that in Russia, it is not clear why and where the high-speed Sapsan stops on the way from St. Petersburg to Moscow.

2. Shinagawa Railway Station Pavilion.

I was traveling by train from Tokyo to Kyoto, it was an early crossing and in the morning all the Japanese were rushing to work. At the station it was very difficult to squeeze through the crowd of “robots” trying to make it in time for the “first bell.” Indeed, the population density in Tokyo is enormous, even with their extensive transport network, in the morning “biomass traffic jams” occur at stations.

3.

A ticket to Kyoto cost about 130 US dollars. In order to get to the high-speed train platform, you need to go through turnstiles, somewhat reminiscent of the turnstiles of the Moscow metro.

4.

Shinkansen in Japan are usually not late, but arrive minute by minute. After all, if the train stops at the Shinagawa intermediate station for only one and a half minutes, then being late is unacceptable. In 2012, the average deviation of trains from schedule was only 36 seconds. Shinkansen to different destinations arrive at Shinagawa Station approximately every five minutes, and a specially trained Japanese person monitors the departure of these high-speed trains at the station.

5.

Islamic-looking Japanese woman at Shinagawa Station. Shinkansen literally means "new highway" in Japanese. The name "bullet train" is also a literal translation from the Japanese "dangan ressha", this name was originally in the 30s of the 20th century, when Japan's high-speed railways were still in development.

6.

The Japanese are a very law-abiding station and they board the train STRICTLY according to the general queue, and there are even markings on the platform where they should stand and the place where this or that car stops is also written on the platform itself. Squeezing forward, pushing through the line, is considered very uncultural here, and it is unlikely that a law-abiding Japanese would ever do this.

7.

No one rushes anywhere without a queue; everyone gets off or boards high-speed trains in a orderly and measured manner. In 1965, with the launch of the Shinkansen, the Japanese were finally able to make “one day trips” between their two industrial centers - Tokyo and Osaka.

8.

And finally, slowly, our Shinkansen arrives at the station.

9.

Externally, from the front it even looks a little more beautiful than our famous “Sapsan”.

Sometimes Shinkansen can even "kiss".

10.

In the end, I take one last photo of my “hippie Japanese” neighbor and jump on the train to Kyoto.

11.

The doors of the Shinkansen open to the side, like in our Russian metro, after which passengers board. Shinkansen are very, very safe transport in Japan. In its 49 years of existence since 1964, having carried 7 billion passengers, there has not been a single incident human death due to a train derailment or collision. Injuries and one death were recorded when people were pinned by the doors and the train began to move. To prevent this, there is now an employee on duty at each station who checks that the doors of the high-speed train are closed.

Japan is a very earthquake-prone country and all Shinkansen have been equipped with an earthquake prevention system since 1992. If earth vibrations or tremors are detected, the system itself very quickly stops this train. All trains are also equipped new system"anti derailment".

And of course, a train is much more environmentally friendly than a car. If now Shinkansen can reach speeds of up to 320 km/h, but in fact they travel on average 280 km/h, then by 2020 they plan to increase the top speed limit to 360 kilometers per hour.

12.

An example of the layout of a car on a Japanese high-speed train, with three seats on one side and two on the other.

13.

The train has vending machines so beloved by the Japanese. mineral water and tea.

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Urinals on Japanese trains are equipped with transparent glass.

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In addition to urinals, there are also ordinary toilets with a “normal” door, maybe simply because the Japanese believe that women are embarrassed to pee with transparent glass, but men are not)).

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There are also separate small rooms where you can wash your hands.

17.

In addition to water and tea vending machines, trains periodically sell drinks and snacks. Even the cheapest purchase can be paid with a credit card; there will be no problems with “plastic money” in Japan.

18.

You can enjoy cold beer or hot coffee.

19.

In Japan, as well as in Russia, several types of dried squid are sold, I always thought that dried salted squid was a purely Russian theme, but no, in Japan it is also very common. The squid is very tasty, as is the Japanese Asahi beer.

20.

Each seat is also equipped with a power socket, just like on New Zealand trains, meaning you can work on a laptop without time restrictions.

21.

Controllers are also a constant occurrence on Japanese trains, since Shinkansens make virtually no stops along the way; running out onto the platform of an intermediate station and “running around” the controller, as they do here in Russia, will not work in Japan.

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There is no way to avoid checking purchased tickets.

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When the train travels from Tokyo to Kyoto, 45 minutes after departure everyone runs to take photographs of the famous symbol of Japan - Mount Fuji. The Japanese show their country's national symbol to young children.

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If someone wants to call and doesn't have mobile phone, I wonder if there are still such comrades in the 21st century, then there is a payphone on the train.

29.

WITH detailed instructions by use.

30.

Another feature of high-speed “Japanese” trains is that the seats are not fixed in place, as for example in our “Sapsan”, but can freely rotate around their axis by 360 degrees. The rotating mechanism is activated by pressing a special pedal under the seat. And behind the seats there are special nets in which you can put your things, so someone put away his Canon camera - which, as they say folk wisdom, is the "poor man's Nikon."

31.

You can turn the seat 90 degrees and drive looking straight out the window the whole time.

32.

The population density in Japan is enormous and when you travel from Tokyo to Kyoto you don’t even have time to catch the feeling of changing cities, since the industrial zone seems to never end, and the agricultural land is not visible at all. Outside the windows is the factory of the famous Japanese beer “Kirin”.

33.

If, for example, you’re tired of looking out the window, then you can turn the seats another 90 degrees and play cards with your neighbor.

34.

The Japanese on their high-speed trains have not forgotten about the “smoking junkies”; for them, special “aquarium chambers” have been made on the train, which can accommodate a maximum of two people and, in privacy, they can truly enjoy the vomit smell of nicotine.

35.

It’s not for nothing that they say that time flies on the road. While I was walking around the train, I didn’t notice how I arrived in Kyoto. In Shinkansen, you need to carefully monitor the city of arrival, since stops at train stations, even in big cities, usually no more than 5 minutes, you need to pack your things in advance, get ready, and get off the train at the desired station. The first photos at the station in the Japanese city of Kyoto.

36.

The high-speed train model N700 is now one of the most modern, it began to be used only in 2007.

37.

38.

High-speed trains are also essentially “electric trains”, and they have this type of “contact element on top”. The Shinkansen uses 25,000 volts of alternating current for propulsion.

39.

When the Shinkansen leaves the station, a specially trained dude looks out from the rear control room and makes sure that “no one gets hurt” on the platform.

40.

Arrival in Kyoto.

Hundreds of years have passed since the invention of the railway. Railway transport has overcome a long evolutionary path of development from hand-pulled massive trolleys to modern super-high-speed express trains operating on the principle of magnetic levitation, which have already become commonplace in many countries around the world. This selection will feature the fastest trains that can reach speeds of at least 300 km per hour.

11th place. HSL 1 (High-Speed ​​Line 1)- speed 300 km/h
HSL 1 is a Belgian high-speed electric train of the TGV series (Train à Grande Vitesse - "high-speed train" in French), whose operating speed is 300 km/h, runs on a high-speed railway line connecting Brussels with the French railway line LGV Nord. It was put into operation in December 1997.

10th place. - speed 300 - 315 km/h
THSR 700T is a high speed train on the island of Taiwan, developed based on Japanese trains Shinkansen. The train, which has a maximum operating speed of 300 km/h, connects northern Taipei and southern Kaohsiung. It consists of 12 comfortable carriages and can accommodate 989 passengers. The speed record for this train was set in 2005 and is 315 km/h.

9th place. - speed 320 km/h
ICE are high-speed trains common in Germany and neighboring countries. On the Strasbourg-Paris line, InterCity Express reaches speeds of up to 320 km/h. Today, ICEs are the main long-distance train type offered by German Railways. These trains are also supplied to Russia, where they are used on the Moscow - Nizhny Novgorod and Moscow - St. Petersburg high-speed railway lines.

8th place. - speed 300 - 334.7 km/h
Eurostar or British Rail Class 373 is a British high-speed electric train of the TVG series, running between the UK, Belgium and France through the English Channel Tunnel, which is the second longest railway tunnel in the world. The train's capacity is 900 passengers, its operating speed reaches 300 km/h, and the speed record for this train was set in 2003 and is equal to 334.7 km/h. The journey from London to Paris by Eurostar takes 2 hours 16 minutes.

7th place. - speed 305 - 352 km/h
Sancheon, formerly known as KTX II, entered service in South Korea in 2009. It was built by Hyundai Rotem based on technology from French TGV trains and is owned by Korail, the national railway operator of South Korea. Although it can reach speeds of up to 352 km/h (the record was set in 2004), for safety reasons it does not go faster than 305 km/h. The comfortable train with a capacity of 363 passengers operates on the route Yongsan - Gwangju - Mokpo and Seoul - Busan.

6th place. - speed 300 - 362 km/h
For the ETR-500 electric train, released in Italy in 1993, the operating speed reaches 300 km/h, and the speed record was set in 2009 in the tunnel between Bologna and Florence and is 362 km/h. The train covers the distance from the center of Bologna to Milan in 56 minutes. The release of six ETR-1000 trains is planned for 2014, which will reach speeds from 360 to 400 km/h.

5th place. - speed 330 - 365 km/h
AVE (Alta Velocidad Española) is a trademark of the Spanish Railways operator Renfe-Operador. The abbreviation is also a play on the word "bird" (ave) in Spanish. All AVE class trains are high-speed, but the electric train AVE Talgo-350 with a capacity of 318 passengers, accelerating up to 330 km/h on the routes Madrid - Valladolid and Madrid - Barcelona, ​​is especially fast. In 2004, during testing, the train reached a speed of 365 km/h. Because of appearance, similar to a duck's beak, the AVE Talgo-350 was nicknamed Pato (duck in Spanish).

4th place. - speed 380 - 486.1 km/h
The Chinese train CRH380A is designed for a maximum operating speed of 380 km/h, while the speed record for such a train is 486.1 km/h. The production of these iron monsters is carried out by the largest railway manufacturer in China - CSR Qingdao Sifang Locomotive and Rolling Stock Company. The high-speed 8-car train with an “airplane-style” interior can accommodate 494 passengers. In September 2010, the CRH-380A was put into operation for the first time on the Shanghai - Nanjing route. It later began operating daily flights on the Wuhan-Guangzhou and Shanghai-Hangzhou lines.

3rd place. - speed 431 - 501 km/h
The Shanghai Maglev is a Chinese high-speed maglev train that has been operating in Shanghai since 2004. Maximum speed The express train speed is 431 km/h, which allows you to cover the distance from the city center to the airport (30 km) in just 7-8 minutes. In a test run on November 12, 2003, this train reached a speed of 501 km/h. The developers of the train are not the Chinese, but the Germans. The prototype of the Shanghai Maglev Train was the Transrapid SMT model.

2nd place. - speed 320 - 574.8 km/h

These French TVG series trains operate between France and Switzerland and between France and Germany. Operating speed - 320 km/h. At the same time, the TGV POS model holds the speed record among rail trains - in 2007, this train was able to accelerate to 574.8 km per hour.

1st place. Shinkansen series trains- speed 320 - 581 km/h
Shinkansen (Shinkansen - "new line" in Japanese) is a network of Japanese high-speed trains, often called "bullet" trains, and there is a good reason- the Shinkansen speed record for conventional railway lines is 443 km/h (the record was set in 1996), and maglev 581 km/h, which is an absolute world record for trains(the record was set in 2003). The first high-speed train in Japan went into operation in 1964. Today, Shinkansen express trains, consisting of sixteen cars, cover the distance between Osaka and Tokyo in 2 hours and 25 minutes. The train has a peculiar elongated nose, thanks to which it received the nickname “platypus”. By the way, Shinkansen trains have the status of not only one of the fastest trains, but also the safest - in 40 years of operation there has not been a single major accident.