Subscribe to RSSExperience what Auckland is missing out on (Video & Images)
After yesterday’s trip out west at dial-up -speed, it’s a shock to experience the super fibre speed of Japanese’s newish duck-shaped bullet train.
Reader James sent in this video he took on the N700 Series which can go at a speed of 300km an hour. The train has fast acceleration - from standstill to 270 km/h in about 3 minutes.
Take a ride with James below.
The train was developed by Central Japan Railway Co. (JR Tokai) and West Japan Railway Co. on the Tokaido Shinkansen and Sanyo Shinkansen lines.
James says: “As a tourist you can only take it at certain times and not normally using the weekly railpass. Some of the limited express trains are run on N700s which are normally reserved for the full express. The train was quiet and like being on an aircraft - but on rails!”
He took it from Kyoto to Hiroshima leaving at 8am taking an hour and a half for the 386k journey. Ours manage with luck to get maybe from Britomart to Westfield by the same time.
It is better environmentally - using 19% less electricity than the previous electric trains.
We are expecting the bullet train in Auckland in the year 5093.
Thanks for sending in the photos and video James as I may not be around then!
2 Comments
N700 is nice, but I’ve always thought the 500 series which went a little faster and was more pointy was better. God how I miss Japanese trains…
Me too! Mind you these trains are intercity and not suburban trains so we can`t really compare. A better comparison would be with the Overlander. No change in the result of the comparison though there either!
BTW 500 series goes a little faster but is very narrow so the seating is not as comfortable or so my Japanese friends have told me.
I do have a short video of a commuter train from JR West. Of course compared to the Shinkansen it only does a paltrey 120~130km/h (oops that`s faster than cars on our highways and double the speed of our commuter trains isn`t it) but I think I could just about live with that!