If you've never looked at a train and thought "Wow!" then you've never set eyes on
Japan's iconic bullet train, or as it's known here the Shinkansen.
This is the best place to get a free view of the Shinkansen as she glides
through central Tokyo. I'm on the third floor balcony of the Kotsu kaikan
shopping center in Ginza.
There's literally a train every few minutes but if you want to get up close you
need to go to the station!
This is Tokyo Station and this is the hub of the Shinkansen Network. From here trains
speed north south and west. You can just buy a platform to can come up here
watch the trains but let's face it you're going to want to get on board.
It's expensive though. A one-way fare to Osaka will set you
back 13,500 yen.
the best way to travel is with a JR Rail Pass. If you are doing any kind of travelling
within Japan buy the rail pass before you get here,
and you can travel the length and breadth of the Shinkansen Network
I've done it before and it's extremely easy to use. On this trip though I've only been in and around
Tokyo so I haven't got one. What I've done is gone for the cheapest
alternative, a single ticket to the next stop outside of Tokyo, the
little city of Odawara, 73 kilometers away.
Better try not to do that then!
It's like stepping into the future isn't it, especially if you're more used to
British railways!
This is the latest model of the 700 series which does the route south
to Nagoya, Osaka and Hakata. It's like Concorde was reconfigured into a
train!
So why are there different styles and different colours? Well it's because
Japan's railway network is split into various private companies and they've all
gone for something slightly different. The Green one for example, with the
ridiculously long nose, goes north towards Hokaido.
You can have no doubt that the train will leave to the second.
The average annual delay over the whole of the Shinkansen Network is around one minute.
Of course there are barely any delays over the whole of the Japanese network.
Whilst I've been here I haveve seen one of two announcements but they weren't for driver shortage or signal
failure. The excuse given was typhoon damage!
That's the cleaning crew. They can turn these trains around in about five minutes.
Got my Pocari Sweat Let's go and catch the train!
We should get up to speeds of 200mph, although it can go much faster.
Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the Shinkansen. This is the Kodama Super Express bound for Shin Osaka
The Train I have just taken runs on the Tokaido line which was the first,
inaugurated way back on the 1st of October 1964 linking Tokyo
with Kyoto and Osaka. It's now the busiest of the Shinkansen network.
During the day there are up to 13 trains per hour in each direction...
which if you consider that they're doing 200 miles an hour is an astonishing
feat of logistics.
One of the great advantages of Odawara station is that not every train stops
there so you get the chance to see them hurtling through at close quarters.
Well now I'm here I might as well go and check out the 15th century castle! Before that -
one last thing. "Shinkansen" - what does it mean? Well the Japanese translation is
"fly like the wind"! No it's not really, it's new trunk line which is really
disappointing isn't it? I think we should stick with "Bullet Train"!