Oct. 1 will be the 50th anniversary of the inauguration of the shinkansen super-express trains. The shinkansen has become the envy of the world, studied, imitated and emulated, but never quite matched. Though the younger generation may take it as a given, the "bullet train" will continue to be an important part of Japanese life and society in the future.
The service has continued to work well. The overall average delay, according to Central Japan Railway, is an astoundingly low 0.6 minute. The Tokaido Shinkansen has maintained a flawless record of no passenger fatalities or injuries due to train accidents. Even with competition from airlines, which have taken the market share for travel distances over four hours, the shinkansen remains punctual, clean, efficient and reasonably affordable.
Nowadays, the travel time between Tokyo and Osaka is just two hours and 25 minutes, down from the original four hours. The Tokaido Shinkansen, which is not only the country's but the world's busiest high-speed line, offers 323 trains per day carrying an average of 391,000 passengers per day. Up to 13 trains per hour run between Tokyo and Osaka.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.