N700 Series Shinkansen

The is a Japanese Shinkansen high-speed train with tilting capability developed jointly by JR Central and JR West for use on the Tōkaidō and Sanyō Shinkansen lines, and also used on the Kyushu Shinkansen line.

N700 series trains have a maximum speed of , and tilting of up to one degree allows the trains to maintain even on radius curves that previously had a maximum speed of . Another feature of the N700 is that it accelerates quicker than other shinkansen trains, with an acceleration rate of 2.6 km/h/s. This enables it to reach in only three minutes. Because of these improvements, trains can travel between Tokyo and Osaka on a Nozomi run in as little as 2 hours and 25 minutes (5 minutes faster than before).

N700 series trains are presently replacing 300, 500 and 700 series-operated Nozomi runs on a regular basis. By the end of February 2009, the N700 were responsible for 74 Nozomi services per day.

All Nozomi through runs (over the full route between Tokyo and Hakata) were scheduled to use the N700 exclusively by 2009. By 2011, all regularly scheduled Nozomi services, including runs limited only to the Tokaido Shinkansen, will be operated by the N700.

The N700 is also used on select Hikari services during the day, as well as some early-morning and late-night Kodama runs between Tokyo and Mishima/Hamamatsu.

Since March 2009, the N700 series trains have been equipped with wireless internet available for use between...
Read More