October 1 marks the 54th anniversary of the Shinkansen high-speed train system – the system that will soon connect North Texas, Houston and the Brazos Valley.
The Shinkansen system, which began operations on October 1, 1964, was the world’s first commercial high-speed train system. Running east to west, it originally connected Tokyo to Shin-Osaka and ran at speeds up to 130 mph, carrying over 60,000 passengers per day.
Over the years, Shinkansen engineers have focused their efforts on rapid technological advancement of the system, emphasizing safety, energy consumption, aerodynamics, biomimicry, system integration and innovation. Because of this meticulous and deliberate attention to detail, Shinkansen trains have moved over 10 billion people throughout their 54 year history safely with no crashes or fatalities from operations, and boast a less than 1 minute average annual delay.
The constant improvement continues and has resulted in its latest generation of Shinkansen technology – the N700 Supreme – which is the lightest, most aerodynamic and energy efficient train series to date.
Today, Shinkansen trains carry more than 424,000 passengers per day at speeds over 200mph. Texas Central is proud to be building upon the Shinkansen’s legacy, and is excited for Texans to experience the Shinkansen’s high-speed innovation right here in the Lone Star State!
