Japan’s new bullet train, named the ‘Hayabusa’ is set to be rolled out for service on Saturday March 5th. The new high speed Shinkansen service will operate between Tokyo and Shin-Aomon, stopping at areas inbetween. With a top speed of 300km per hour, the journey between the two destinations will be just over 3 hours on the fastest service.
The Tohoku Hayabusa Series E5 Shinkansen features a ‘unique extended nose design’ and ‘the train exterior proudly boasts the JR East green and white corporate colours.’
East Japan Railway Company claim that the train is ‘designed inside and out for a better environmental performance.’ Test runs for the new train are now complete and the train has been heavily advertised both on Japanese television and in poster form around the areas the train will be servicing.
The new shinkansen Hayabusa services will use 10-car E5 series sets operating at a maximum speed of 300 km/h between Utsunomiya and Morioka. The maximum speed is scheduled be raised to 320 km/h from 2012.
It has been reported that Brazil and California, among others, are presently in negotiations with Japanese companies for the provision of high speed services.
The interior of the new bullet train is particularly impressive, the ‘Ordinary’ car is spacious and features extended leg room, whilst the ‘GranCar’ is extremely luxurious.
