EAST Japan Railway (JR East) has revealed its new series of bullet trains called Series E8 Yamagata Shinkansen. The bullet train series will operate the Tsubasa services on the Yamagata Shinkansen, which is on the part of the route of the Tokyo - Aomori Tohoku Shinkansen and the Ōu conventional line. The bullet trains are made in a small profile that only carries 352 passengers with a 2+2 seating arrangement, unlike a regular bullet train.
The bullet train is made of aluminum alloy with single-arm low-noise pantographs. There are a total of five powered cars and two trailer cars that can operate under both 20kV and 25kV 50 Hz electrification. In terms of velocity, the maximum operating speed that this bullet train is allowed to be on is from 275km/h to 300km/h between Utsunomiya and Fukushima. In comparison, the conventional section remains at only 130km/h. The Series E8 Yamagata Shinkansen will begin operating in the Spring of 2024.
Image Credit: Hitachi
What Makes This Trend Stand Out
- Small-profile Bullet Trains
- Small and efficient bullet trains with lower capacity and alternate seating arrangements.
- Low-noise Pantographs
- Adoption of single-arm low-noise pantographs for trains that operate under both 20kV and 25kV 50 Hz electrification.
- Dual Electrification Trains
- Bullet trains that can operate under both 20kV and 25kV 50 Hz electrification.
Sectors Adopting This
- Transportation
- Opportunity to introduce smaller bullet trains with greater efficiency and lower capacity.
- Railway Technology
- Opportunity to improve train technology by introducing low-noise pantographs.
- Environmental Technology
- Opportunity to explore dual electrification as a solution to reduce carbon footprint and make bullet trains more eco-friendly.
