Articles: Auto Tech – Speedos – 55

Speedos
Joe Raeburn samples the delights of the Japanese transport system

Public transport isn’t normally anything to write home about. What’s so great about skody suburban buses, LPG-sipping taxis, and the financially shaky Overlander? But in Japan, the mighty Shinkansen (Bullet Train) carves through Japanese cities with finesse; these beasts are just too cool.

These babies can scream up to 300 km/h – and I do mean scream. You can certainly hear one pass the station, like a bat out of hell. Rumour has it that but for the noise pollution they could ride much faster, although from the inside it’s whisper quiet and comfortable.

Most services run on the quick but ugly-faced 700 series train. At least she’s beautiful on the inside, doing a whopping 275 km/h, and substantially cheaper than the original high-speed, high-tech 500 series. The real differentiator between express services is the number of stops.

The fastest service, ‘Nozomi’, barely rests between Tokyo and Osaka; it covers the 515 km journey in 2.5 hours. If you want to get off at one of the Japan’s many smaller cities (with, say, a million people), you’ll want to opt for a ‘Hikari’ service, which stops at a varying assortment of stations, or the slowest ‘Kodama’ class which takes in every stop.

So what would it be like if the North Island had a dedicated Bullet Train? Well, first of all, there’d be a big impact on the countryside. Even with the latest tilt-assisted cornering, the fundamental track design is to go over (via overpasses) and under (via tunnels) the landscape – never around. Contrary to popular belief, they run normal, standard gauge track, though the Japanese engineers can push well past 500km/h on fancy electro-magnetic rails.

If we did manage to hook up a straight-ish route between Auckland and Wellington, the country would be in for a revolution. Charging through the 700kms would take under 3.5 hours. It may not sound flash, but as trains could run straight into the city, the overall journey time compares favourably with flying. In air-conditioned, cellphone-and internet-enabled comfort and luxury (see ‘Don’t think…’, left) you could get to the mountain in less than two hours – sign me up!

And what’s more, these trains are even environmentally friendly. Cranking out the equivalent of 50 kilos of CO2 per passenger for the North Island journey, rather than a whopping 380kg for flying or 100kg for driving, you can feel that little bit better about owning a 300 horsepower beastie for tanking about on weekends. Shinkanwhen?
Don’t think, just drink… on the Shink
Sitting on such an amazing machine, it’s nice to know the simple things in life aren’t forgotten. On every Shink (westerner slang for ‘Shinkansen’), you’ll be treated to a visit from the food and drinks trolley (Hogwarts Express Style!).S Among the hot coffee, Pringles and rice crackers, there’s the real treasure – beer! At only 270 yen per can, you’re paying less than NZ $3.50 to make the journey pass even faster.

This article is from Tone issue 55.