This is how a Shinkansen Bullet Train Factory is made in Japan
[ Intro Music ]
So today we are in Hamamatsu,Shizuoka
and I got a special one for you
I'm taking you to a Shinkansen Bullet Train factory today
and I'm gonna take you on a full tour
So I've never done this before I've never
gone inside of a train factory in fact
I've kind of always wanted to do this
and now today we get to do it
So I'm super super excited for this
But before I start if you guys want to see
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Let's get started with this factory tour let me take you inside
So I'm here at the JR Central Hamamatsu Workshop
aka Train Factory
It's the one and only location in Japan that conducts
a complete overhaul inspection that
fully disassembles repairs and
reassembles the Tokaido Shinkansen bullet trains
The most popular and busiest train line in Japan
It started as a repair shop in 1912 for steam
locomotives and over time as technology
evolved so did the workshops
servicing trains across the ages from electronic
locomotives electric trains and now Shinkansen
Today there are a total of
about 1300 hard-working JR central staff
and affiliated workers who come together
at the workshop to ensure that all of
their Shinkansen trains are operated at
peak performance and safety
and what do you know
I'm the first YouTube content creator to ever visit this workshop
So we're going Shinkansen long with this one
Alright so I made it inside but
Today I think I'm gonna be wearing
something a little bit different
Let's see what I'm going to wear
There you go let's go inside of the factory now
So I've got my helmet on and time to find the trains
Hi ! Can you show me inside ?
WOW !! The Shinkansen workshop is so massive
and why I want to call it a train factory or even train maintenance
plant to better capture its scale
The entire property is about 318,000 square meters
Just over 78 acres
Oh ! There's a Shinkansen coming into the plant
Right after the train arrives
it goes through its first inspection and
diagnostic which determines what types
of extra maintenance and service is required
So I got into this area
Let's see what's going on here
[Music]
After the initial inspection
The train is ushered into the Maesagyoba
pre-maintenance area
A Shinkansen train usually consists of 16 carriage cars
But coming into this area it's already been
separated into four stripped down carriage cars
In order to maintain and
service the Shinkansen the workers must
take it apart section by section
and then piece by piece
as each must go through a strict and rigorous inspection process
This requires for each piece to
be transported to various areas of the
plant so different teams can work on the
different sections simultaneously
Hence the requirement for so much space
In fact the workers are divided into four teams
Body, Parts, Undercarriage and Inspection
and each worker required to
master a unique set of skills for their
section before being allowed to service the train
[Music]
Oh they're disassembling the seats now
It seems like there's a lot for them to do
In fact there's so much work that
takes place in the Maesagyoba
That it requires about 60 workers to finish one carriage
WOW !! Everything's gone
So I'm inside of the train right now and you can see that
it's all taken apart it's pretty awesome
Oh cool let's go see what's up here
[Music]
so I'm just above the train right now
I climbed the stairs and you can see it's
a little bit dirty but by the time it
gets out of here it's going to be
polished and cleaned up
Once the four carriage cars have been stripped
They're individually separated
and moved to the dismantling warehouse
So I think I've just arrived a little bit early
But the train should be coming here
and they're gonna separate the body and the wheelbase
In order to move the train carriages onto the service tracks
They're attached to powerful orange vehicles called train pullers
which can pull up to four carriages at one time
Oh and that's a traverser which moves the trains from
one warehouse to the next
Damn !! I don't know what it is though but for some
reason watching a Shinkansen moving laterally is so mesmerizing
Depending on the warehouse location
The entire moving process could take up to 15 mins
To say the least
is a massive effort to move these train cars
so it's always performed slowly and
cautiously to ensure safety of all of the workers
The Hamamatsu Workshop Factory
works on up to 4 Shinkansen at one time
In fact they inspect and repair about 50 shinkansen
800 carriages each year
Now that the carriage is safely secured
inside of the dismantling warehouse
A new team of workers can start their tasks
First the entire train carriage is
raised up via specifically designed
lifts to allow for safe undercarriage access
These powerful machines can lift
a train that weighs up to 40 tons about
two and a half meters high
Let's go talk to that person
Hi ! What are you doing ?
So, What's your favourite thing about the entire process ?
Thank You !!
Once fully lifted the workers begin to
separate the train body from the
undercarriage as well as the removal of underfloor equipment
Again all these sections of the parts are destined for a
separate warehouse in the plant
and what's truly amazing about this process is
how much even with such a massive
scale transportation vehicle like a
Japanese bullet train is performed by
worker technical skill and hand
Each worker though is required to engage in a
two and a half month training program at the start of their career
culminating into a strict in-house test
certification that must be passed
plus any additional training and licenses for
jobs like a crane operator
ultimately facilitating an efficient and safe
working environment
Damn !! Look at that train puller go
It guides the undercarriage into this
orange undercarriage traverser
which automatically transports them into a
neighboring warehouse for inspection and maintenance
[Music]
After the undercarriage has been detached
The workers focus on disassembling the electronics
and other equipment under the carriage
This is a critical part in the process that
workers must be diligent in taking
inventory of all the parts removed to
ensure that not a single piece is misplaced
[Music]
As an important piece of their workflow
workers use specialized tablets to track
each individual part and information
about each part so that it properly gets
maintained and reassembled in the correct location
At the same time smaller parts like
bolts and screws are generally replaced with new ones
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Cool !! Let's continue on
While the body is transported to the
cleaning warehouse let's follow the
undercarriage to see what happens to it
in the next building
[Music]
This place literally is just blowing me away
It is a so so massive there's just so much space
but I guess it makes sense when you're
dealing with so many trains that come through here
[Music]
This is amazing you can see just behind me
They're taking the wheels off the base
The Under Carriage - Daisha in Japanese
is composed of the frame chassis wheels
axles and motors
In order for the undercarriage to be fully inspected
Each part must be disassembled to separately
undergo its own exhaustive testing
[Music]
as the components are separated they're
sent to diagnostics and parts like the
axles are inspected via ultrasonic
sensors magnetic particles and fiber
scope to ensure it's free from defects
while wheels are turned and re-profiled
with an accuracy of a tenth of a millimeter
even the smallest of components
such as the bearings are inspected
[Music]
Oh WOW !!
That giant orange crane is used for lifting up the frame
[Music]
alright let's see what's going on here
Oh this is their undercarriage operation inspection room
once all of the undercarriage components pass their
individual inspections
They're reassembled to make a complete undercarriage
which then undergoes a
running test at speeds of 300 kms per hour
or about 186 miles per hour
The same top speed that Shinkansen
would operate on their fastest stretch
on the Sanyo line
Hi !! Can I ask you some questions ?
What are you doing ?
Does it ever fail ?
What do you do when that happens?
So is there anything that you need to be really careful about when doing this task ?
Thank You !
Once the automated test has run its course
and the undercarriage receives a passing result
It must then undergo a manual inspection
In order to move on to the next stage
[Music]
And this is where all of the disassembled equipment
and parts are cleaned and repaired
[Music]
This is kind of interesting
let's see what's behind that door over there
Hey guys !!
What are you doing ?
Why do you have to do this ?
Looking spiffy !!
This room is where the pantograph gets
inspected and maintained
You know the top part of the train that connects to
the electrical power lines
Interestingly all of the components used for equipment inspection
and repair are prepared in advance and a component such as bolts
and packaging are preset in a fixed
position in dedicated trays
In total there are about 450 different component
kit trays to help manage parts
and about 300 unique trays are used in one day
Look at this !!
Even every single tool has their spot
[Music]
So I'm right in front of the lead
Shinkansen train and it's gonna be
polished right now
After the body is thoroughly cleaned and repaired
It's transferred to the Tosou Warehouse - Body Paint
[Music]
So this giant transparently walled area
is where the Shinkansen body gets polished
The Shinkansen is so massive
that automated robot arms are used to
ensure that the paint is applied evenly
and just before this
The lead car of the Shinkansen receives a specialized
automated polishing treatment in this specific area
Due to its unique aerodynamic shape
The polishing creates a more adhesive surface for the paint application
The other carriages are moved to a separate area that's more
equipped for standard sidewalls and roof polishing
[Music]
And here it looks like the body and the
wheelbase has been reattached
This is the Gisoba Warehouse a.k.a Assembly Area
Here the newly painted body
undercarriage and undercarriage
equipment are reassembled also any
components previously removed from the
carriage interior are reinstalled to
create one functioning train guard
[Music]
Once all of the work is complete
It's moved to the final departure warehouse
[Music]
By the way
Each train must pass four levels of periodic inspection
With each level becoming more and more exhaustive
So inspections are performed every 48 hours
Then every 60,000 kms
about 45 days after that every 600,000 Kms
about 18 months and finally
at 1.2 Million kms or every 36 months
which again is the most detailed
inspection as it's a complete teardown
repair and rebuild taking about 14 days to fully complete
And the very inspection that I'm showing you today
The traversal requires two trained workers for operation
one on each end to ensure safety
Today there are a total of
three workers as one of them is a trainee
being instructed on how to safely operate the vehicle
[Music]
So this is where the individual
carriages are finally joined to form one
fully functioning and operational 16 car
Shinkansen bullet train
[Music]
The recoupling process is performed
slowly and carefully as the workers make
small adjustments by hand to ensure a
safe and secure connection
[Music]
After the train is reconnected
workers reaffix the connecting panels and
electrical cables between the carriages
and from here the Shinkansen must still
undergo an additional 1400 tests
in 117 different categories
To ensure it's working properly
and safe for passengers to ride
[Music]
So they're doing their final inspections
right now at the factory and after that
the train is going to leave
[Music]
As part of the final test
the Shinkansen performs a test run
and operates between Hamamatsu and Nagoya
To further ensure a safe and comfortable
ride for passengers the final test
includes items such as acceleration
deceleration stopping vibration in the
cabin and cabin air pressure in tunnels
Only after fully passing all of these tests
is the Shinkansen Bullet Train
reintroduced into operation
[Music]
So that's how a Shinkansen Factory is made in Japan
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