Opened in 1964, not 1967
The Tokaido Shinkansen opened on 1 October 1964, linking Tokyo and Osaka, and it is widely regarded as the world’s first high-speed railway. It began running days before the Tokyo Olympics opened on 10 October 1964. So the milestone belongs to 1964. By 1967 the line was a familiar fixture, and the more interesting question is what it had already shown.
Why a new line
The Tokaido corridor, running along Japan’s Pacific coast between Tokyo and Osaka and passing through Nagoya and Kyoto, was already the most heavily used route in the country. The existing railway, built to a narrow gauge and following a winding path, was close to its capacity after the Second World War. Faster trains were hard to run on it, since they had to share the track with slower passenger and freight services.
Japanese National Railways, the state railway, decided on a new line built to a different standard. Construction began in April 1959. Shinji Sogo, the railway’s president, and Hideo Shima, its chief engineer, are the two figures most often associated with the project. The work was costly, and the project ran over its first budget, which led to political controversy.
How the line was built
The engineering choices explain why it worked:
- A separate track. The Shinkansen runs on its own dedicated line, with no level crossings and no mixing with slower trains. The name means “new trunk line”.
- Standard gauge. Its track is 1,435 millimetres wide, wider than the 1,067 millimetre gauge on most of Japan’s older lines. Wider gauge helps stability at high speed.
- Gentle curves and tunnels. The route was planned with wide curves and many tunnels and viaducts, so trains could keep up speed.
- Electric multiple units. Instead of one locomotive pulling coaches, the train had motors spread along its length, with power fed through overhead wires. This gave strong acceleration and reduced the weight on each axle, which is easier on the track.
- Cab signalling. Automatic train control showed the driver signals in the cab and could apply the brakes if a limit was exceeded. Drivers cannot reliably read trackside signals at those speeds.
The first trains, later known as the 0 Series, had a rounded nose that is often said to resemble a bullet, hence the English nickname “bullet train”.
Speeds and journey times
The line is about 515 kilometres long. At its opening the fastest trains were allowed a top speed of 210 kilometres per hour (about 130 miles per hour) and the journey from Tokyo to Osaka took about four hours. From November 1965 the quickest service took about three hours and ten minutes, once the operators had gained experience and track conditions were judged safe. By comparison, the fastest conventional trains on the same corridor before it had taken considerably longer.
Why timing around the Olympics mattered
The Olympics gave the project a deadline and a showcase. The 1964 Games were the first held in Asia and a symbol of Japan’s postwar recovery, so having the new line ready for the opening was a matter of national pride. It also meant that visitors and foreign journalists saw it. The Olympic movement used the Games to present Japan to the world, and the Shinkansen became one of the lasting images of that effort.
What it meant by 1967
By 1967 the Shinkansen had been running for a little over two years and had gone from a risky bet to a commercial success. It was carrying very large numbers of passengers. Commonly cited figures say it reached its hundred-millionth passenger in 1967, but readers should treat exact figures with caution. It also showed an excellent safety record in its early years, with no passenger deaths in train accidents over the decades that followed, according to commonly stated accounts.
Its example was not lost on other countries. Railways in Europe and North America, which were then losing passengers to cars and aircraft, took note. Japan extended the network westwards in later years, with services reaching Okayama in 1972 and Hakata in 1975. In Europe, France’s TGV followed in 1981.
The line also changed what people expected of rail. The Boeing 707 had made air travel faster for long distances, but on a busy route of about 500 kilometres a train that ran every few minutes and took a few hours could compete. In 1967 the Boeing 747 and Concorde airliner were reaching the public eye as new aircraft, and the Shinkansen was a reminder that trains could still be modern.
A note on “first”
“First high-speed train” is a matter of definition. Fast trains had run in several countries earlier, including record-setting runs and fast express services. What was new in 1964 was a whole line designed from the start for sustained high speed and used for regular, frequent passenger service. In that sense the Tokaido Shinkansen is usually counted as the first.