The Shinkansen: Japan's Bullet Train — Everything You Need to Know
The World’s Most Reliable Train On October 1, 1964 — timed precisely to coincide with the opening of the Tokyo Olympics — Japan launched the world’s first high-speed rail service: the Tokaido Shinkansen between Tokyo and Osaka. Running at up to 210km/h on its debut, it was unlike anything the world had seen. Six decades later, the Shinkansen network spans 3,000+ kilometers, connects Hokkaido to southern Kyushu, and carries over 150 million passengers per year. Its average delay? Under 54 seconds — measured across all delays, including weather events and accidents. For pure operational precision, nothing in the world matches it. ...