Once completed, the high-speed rail line — using Japanese Shinkansen technology — would allow trains to complete the Hanoi – Ho Chi Minh City journey in less than six hours, compared to around 30 hours taken on the existing railway.

Shinkansen literally means new trunk line, referring to the tracks, but the name is widely used inside and outside Japan to refer to the trains as well as the system as a whole.

The Tōkaidō Shinkansen is the world's busiest high-speed rail line.

The Shinkansen name was first formally used in 1940 for a proposed standard gauge passenger and freight line between Tokyo and Shimonoseki that would have used steam and electric locomotives with a top speed of.

However, some construction did commence on the line ; several tunnels on the present-day Shinkansen date to the war-era project.

With an average of 23, 000 passengers per hour per direction in 1992, the Tōkaidō Shinkansen is the world's busiest high-speed rail line.

Since 1970, development has also been underway for the Chūō Shinkansen, a planned maglev line from Tokyo to Osaka.

Japan celebrated 40 years of high-speed rail in 2004, with the Tōkaidō Shinkansen line alone having carried 4. 16 billion passengers.

Along the route of the Jōetsu Shinkansen, winter snow can be very heavy, with snow depths of two to three metres, so the line is equipped with stronger sprinklers and slab track, to mitigate the effects of deep snow.

It was introduced upon completion of the Tokaido Shinkansen ( literally " new line ") in 1964.

The projects funded by Etsuzankai included the Tadami River hydroelectric power project, the New Shimizu Tunnel, and, perhaps most infamously, the Joetsu Shinkansen high speed rail line.

Nagano was host to the 1998 Winter Olympics, which gained the prefecture international recognition and a Shinkansen line to Tokyo.

These included the Jōetsu Shinkansen high-speed rail line and the Kanetsu Expressway to Tokyo.

JR West's highest-grossing line is the Sanyō Shinkansen high speed rail line between Osaka and Fukuoka.

The company also operates Hakata Minami Line, a short commuter line with Shinkansen trains in Fukuoka.

For the first four years of its existence, JR West leased its highest-revenue line, the Sanyō Shinkansen, from the separate Shinkansen Holding Corporation.

Starting with the opening of the first Shinkansen line between Tokyo and Osaka in 1964, high-speed rail transport, functioning at speeds up and above 300 km / h, has been built in Spain, France, Germany, Italy, the People's Republic of China, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, South Korea, Scandinavia, Belgium and the Netherlands.

The high-speed Tōkaidō Shinkansen runs largely parallel to the line.

The line runs on viaducts or through tunnels for most of its length, with technology based mainly on Japan's Shinkansen system mixed with European standards and system components.

is a train station located on the Sanyō Shinkansen line serving the city of Kobe, Japan and the surrounding area.

* Tōkaidō Shinkansen, a high-speed railway line of Central Japan Railway Company

The trains were the first Shinkansen trainsets built to run on Japan's new Tōkaidō Shinkansen high-speed line which opened in Japan in 1964.

Fukushima Station is where the Ōu Main Line separates from the Tōhoku Main Line and the Tōhoku Shinkansen separates from the Yamagata Shinkansen.

Though largely a long-distance transport system, the Shinkansen also serves commuters who travel to work in metropolitan areas from outlying cities.

The cost of constructing the Shinkansen was at first estimated at nearly 200 billion yen, which was raised in the form of a government loan, railway bonds and a low-interest loan of US $ 80 million from the World Bank.

The conventional Limited Express service took six hours and 40 minutes from Tokyo to Osaka, but the Shinkansen made the trip in just four hours, shortened to three hours and ten minutes by 1965.

Shinkansen routes are completely separate from conventional rail lines ( except Mini-shinkansen which goes through to conventional lines ).

The Shinkansen is very reliable thanks to several factors, including its near-total separation from slower traffic.

The Shinkansen has used the electric multiple unit configuration from the outset, with the 0 Series Shinkansen having 100 % motored axles.

Shinkansen connectivity has rejuvenated rural towns such as Kakegawa that would otherwise be too distant from major cities.

Many passengers from central Kobe however use Shin-Ōsaka Station to the east instead of Shin-Kobe Station to ride on the Shinkansen because, although Shin-Kōbe station is closer, it is often more convenient to use Shin-Ōsaka Station which is easily accessible by JR Kobe Line and more trains leave at Shin-Ōsaka for Tokyo, the capital of the country.

* 1982: the Tohoku Shinkansen extended to Morioka from Omiya.

The initial shinkansen fleet delivered for use on Hikari and Kodama services on the Tōkaidō Shinkansen from 1 October 1964 consisted of 30 12-car sets formed of 1st-and 2nd-batch cars.

Following their removal from front-line service, 100 series sets were later reformed into smaller 4 and 6 car sets for the slower Kodama services on the Sanyō Shinkansen line.

With the introduction of newer 700 series and N700 series equipment, the 300 series sets were gradually demoted to slower Hikari and Kodama services, and were completely withdrawn from Tōkaidō and Sanyō Shinkansen services by the start of the revised timetable on 17 March 2012.

The was a Japanese Shinkansen high-speed train type operated by East Japan Railway Company ( JR East ) between 1992 and 2010 on Tsubasa services on Japan's first Mini-shinkansen line, the Yamagata Shinkansen branch from the main Tōhoku Shinkansen.

With the steady increase in the number of N700 Series Shinkansen since 2007, the 500 series were gradually retired from the Nozomi services.

With continuing deliveries, 700 series trains were also introduced on Tōkaidō Shinkansen Hikari services from late 2000.

The Tōkaidō Line's rapid success prompted an extension westward to Hiroshima and Fukuoka ( the Sanyō Shinkansen ), which was completed in 1975.

Japan has six main regional passenger railway companies, known collectively as Japan Railways Group or simply as JR. Four JR companies operate the " bullet trains " on very fast and frequent Shinkansen lines that link all the larger cities, including Tokyo, Yokohama, Nagoya, Kyoto, Osaka, Hiroshima, Fukuoka and many more.

But Korail and JR West have a joint rail pass () which includes discounted KTX and Shinkansen ticket with Busan-Shimonoseki / Fukuoka ferry ticket.

* March 10 – Sanyo Shinkansen open between Osaka and Fukuoka.

* 13 March – Kyushu Shinkansen opens between Hakata of Fukuoka and Shin-Yatsushiro, with Osaka and Kagoshima direct bullet train starting.