It took about 5 years to bring this plan to life, but in 1992 the new Yamagata Shinkansen line started to operate. Apart from widening the track gauge, new trains boasting narrower cross-section had to be introduced, as original Shinkansen trains were not able to go through tunnels along the old lines due to their increased width. Why not convert part of the existing train tracks to the Shinkansen standard and connect them with the famous railway, thus extending the network even further? This concept of converted lines got the name mini-shinkansen.īut converting the lines was not the only problem. It worked wonders, but later another idea occurred. Every day during the rush hour, the line operates 13 trains per hour, each carrying over 20.000 passengers! Impressive, right?Īs mentioned above, Japan was the first country to build special railway lines dedicated to high-speed travel, designed with 1435 mm / 4 ft 8.5 in gauge in contrast to older lines' narrower gauge of 1067 mm / 3 ft 6 in. The very first line that started it all, Tokaido Shinkansen, is among the busiest high-speed rail lines in the world, that carried over 5.6 billion passengers since its first day in service. On the contrary, it was always about proudly leading the way into the future. It was never about keeping up-to-date with modern technology. Over the decades, the system was relentlessly modified and improved. Now the Japanese high-speed rail network is over half a century old, but don't you dare think that it in any way outdated. In fact, Japan's Shinkansen was such a big success that it inspired many European countries to implement very similar technology! Thanks to that, France proudly introduced its first high-speed TGV trains in 1981, followed by Germany's Intercity Express 10 years later. Luckily, Japanese bullet trains proved to be nothing but success on all fronts and became the public's favorites in just a few years.
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