Shinkansen
Japanese high-speed rail system
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| April 2025 |
E5 and H5 Series Shinkansen
Japan announced it will provide India with two Shinkansen train sets (E5 series and E3 series) free of cost to support testing and inspection of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail corridor.
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| March 2025 |
N700 Series Shinkansen
Completion of the first N700 series trainset (K4) conversion to 8-car P set formation, with the trainset re-designated as P4.
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| March 2025 |
N700 Series Shinkansen
Completion of the first trainset (K4) conversion to an 8-car P set, marking the start of the fleet modernization process for JR West.
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| March 2025 |
Nozomi
Nozomi services will begin operating with only two unreserved cars instead of three outside of peak periods, due to increased popularity of online train reservations.
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| March 2025 | A second decoupling incident took place on a train servicing the Tohoku Shinkansen line. |
| 2025 |
N700S Series Shinkansen
Projected peak production of 2,816 total N700S Series Shinkansen trains: 2,576 by JR Central, 192 by JR West, and 48 by JR Kyushu
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| January 29 2025 |
Doctor Yellow
The T4 set of Doctor Yellow made its final run from Tokyo Station to Hakata Station, marking its retirement from JR Central Services. The train was specially decorated with 'ありがとうT4' (Thank You T4) on its windows to commemorate the occasion.
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| January 29 2025 |
Doctor Yellow
Car 923 (Set T4) was retired.
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| January 2025 |
ALFA-X
The Hindustan Times reports potential simultaneous service of ALFA-X (production version E10) in Japan and on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed rail corridor in 2029 or 2030, citing anonymous sources.
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| January 2025 | East Midlands Railways is expected to deploy new Class 810 trains into service early in the year, continuing the expansion of Hitachi A-train family trains in the United Kingdom. |
| 2024 | A contract to purchase up to 24 modified E5 Series Shinkansen train sets is expected to be signed, with delivery anticipated approximately 24 months later. The train sets will be modified to operate efficiently in temperatures up to 50 degrees Celsius and include enhanced features like larger luggage spaces. |
| 2024 | E8 Series Shinkansen trains will replace the E3 series trains on the Yamagata Shinkansen, with an increased speed capability in the Spring. |
| 2024 | Introduction of the E8 series as a replacement for the E3 series on Tsubasa services. |
| 2024 |
Chūō Shinkansen
JR Central President Shunsuke Niwa announced that the 2027 opening is now impossible, with the project expected to open no earlier than 2034.
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| 2024 |
N700S Series Shinkansen
Substantial production increase to 1,416 total trains: 1,296 by JR Central, 96 by JR West, and 24 by JR Kyushu
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| December 2024 |
N700 Series Shinkansen
Conversion of the first N700 series trainset (K4) began, transforming it into an 8-car P set with the new N700-6000 series designation.
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| December 2024 | Announced delay of Hokkaido Shinkansen extension to Sapporo, pushing completion to the end of fiscal year 2038. |
| September 2024 | A decoupling incident occurred on a train servicing the Tohoku Shinkansen line. |
| August 27 2024 | Japan Railways Group and Hitachi attended an industry briefing for potential high speed rail development in Australia. |
| July 24 2024 |
N700 Series Shinkansen
JR West announced additional plans to convert ten more 16-car N700 series sets to 8-car sets, scheduled for conversion from 2026 to 2029.
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| July 24 2024 |
500 Series Shinkansen
JR West further announced plans to retire the final two 500 series Shinkansen sets by 2027, completing the phaseout of this train series.
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| June 2024 |
N700S Series Shinkansen
JR Central announced that Doctor Yellow inspection trains would be replaced by standard N700S trainsets with special monitoring equipment.
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| June 13 2024 |
Doctor Yellow
JR Central announced the termination of Doctor Yellow trains on the Tōkaidō Shinkansen line, with planned retirement in January 2025 and upcoming farewell events.
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| May 26 2024 |
Chūō Shinkansen
Yasutomo Suzuki, described as a 'Maglev Proponent', won the gubernatorial by-election in Shizuoka Prefecture, with expectations of expediting the project.
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| April 2 2024 |
Chūō Shinkansen
Governor Kawakatsu announced his resignation, which sparked discussions about potential approval of tunnel construction by his successor.
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| March 2024 |
E5 and H5 Series Shinkansen
Japan plans to sign a deal for the first six E5 series Shinkansen trains to be exported to India for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed rail corridor by the end of March.
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| March 2024 |
Nozomi
Smoking rooms were eliminated from all Tokaido, San'yo, and Kyushu Shinkansen trains and station platforms.
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| March 22 2024 |
N700S Series Shinkansen
J42 set delivered by Nippon Sharyo, continuing the Fiscal 2024 batch of N700S Series Shinkansen trains.
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| March 16 2024 | The Hokuriku Shinkansen was extended from Kanazawa to Tsuruga, marking a significant expansion of the high-speed rail network. |
| March 16 2024 |
Hakutaka
The Hakutaka Shinkansen service was extended past Kanazawa to reach Tsuruga with the completion of the Hokuriku Shinkansen extension.
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| March 16 2024 |
Hikari
Smoking rooms on Shinkansen trains and station platforms were discontinued.
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| March 16 2024 |
Kodama
All onboard smoking rooms on the Tokaido, San'yo, and Kyushu Shinkansen trains were discontinued, as announced by JR Central, JR West, and JR Kyushu on 17 October 2023.
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| March 16 2024 |
N700S Series Shinkansen
J41 set delivered by Nippon Sharyo, starting the early deliveries of the Fiscal 2024 batch.
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| March 15 2024 |
E2 Series Shinkansen
Set J66 with the special 150-year commemoration livery was retired, one day before the revised timetable's start.
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| February 14 2024 |
500 Series Shinkansen
JR West announced plans to retire four of the six remaining 500 series Shinkansen sets from revenue service by the end of 2026, proposing to shorten four existing 16-car N700 series sets into eight-car sets as replacements.
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| January 23 2024 | A massive power outage struck the Tohoku, Hokuriku, and Joetsu Shinkansen lines, causing the cancellation of 283 trains and affecting approximately 120,000 passengers. The outage was caused by a Kagayaki service train touching a dangling overhead power cable, resulting in damage to the train and an explosion during repairs. |
| 2023 | AU$78.8 million allocated to deliver the business case for the Sydney to Newcastle high speed rail section, expected to be completed by the end of 2024. |
| 2023 | Australian Government established the High Speed Rail Authority and committed AU$500 million to progress planning for a future high speed rail network. |
| 2023 |
N700S Series Shinkansen
Production expands to include JR Kyushu, with a total of 664 trains manufactured: 608 by JR Central, 32 by JR West, and 24 by JR Kyushu
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| 2023 |
N700S Series Shinkansen
First two of the newly announced trainsets scheduled to enter service.
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| December 2023 |
Nozomi
JR Central and JR West adjusted Nozomi services to operate completely with reservations during peak travel seasons: New Years, Golden Week, and Obon festival.
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| December 22 2023 |
E2 Series Shinkansen
Set J69, nicknamed the Magical Dream Shinkansen, was introduced with a Disney-themed wrap to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Tokyo Disney Resort.
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| December 22 2023 |
0 Series Shinkansen
The restored vehicle from set R1 was put on display at Tainan HSR station in Taiwan.
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| December 21 2023 |
Chūō Shinkansen
JR Central's President Niwa announced an agreement with Tokyo Electric Power Company to reduce water extraction from the upstream dam, addressing Shizuoka Prefecture's concerns.
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| December 17 2023 |
N700S Series Shinkansen
Nippon Sharyo delivered the fourth 16-car H set (H4) of the N700S-3000 series for JR West.
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| November 2023 |
Chūō Shinkansen
Local governing council endorsed JR Central's proposal for reducing water intake from the Ōi River dam.
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| October 17 2023 |
Hikari
JR Central, JR West, and JR Kyushu announced the discontinuation of onboard smoking rooms on Tokaido, San'yo, and Kyushu Shinkansen trains by Q2 2024.
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| October 17 2023 |
N700S Series Shinkansen
JR Central, JR West, and JR Kyushu announced plans to abolish all onboard smoking rooms on the Tokaido, San'yo, and Kyushu Shinkansen lines by Q2 2024.
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| August 2023 |
N700S Series Shinkansen
JR Kyushu received a fifth 6-car N700S series trainset to allow for one train to be out of service during regular maintenance inspections.
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| July 27 2023 |
N700S Series Shinkansen
Hitachi delivered the third 16-car H set (H3) of the N700S-3000 series for JR West in the fiscal 2023 batch.
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This contents of the box above is based on material from the Wikipedia articles Doctor Yellow, Chūō Shinkansen, E5 and H5 Series Shinkansen, Kodama (train), Nozomi (train), 500 Series Shinkansen, Hakutaka, N700S Series Shinkansen, Hikari (train), E2 Series Shinkansen, 0 Series Shinkansen, Shinkansen, N700 Series Shinkansen & ALFA-X, which are released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.