Feature 40 Years of High-speed Railways

High-speed Railways: The Last 10 Years Ryo Takagi

in the latest 2003 survey. The Japanese Hakata on the San’yo , Introduction shinkansen held the lead until 1981 when marking Japan’s return to the leading opened the TGV Sud-Est with position in the World Speed Survey. 1 October 2004 is the 40th anniversary operations at a maximum speed of However, average speeds in both Japan of the opening of the Tokaido Shinkansen, 270 km/h. France and Japan then and France have since shown signs of the world’s first high-speed railway that indulged in friendly competition with reaching a ‘saturation’ level and some marked the start of the era of high-speed each other through the 1980s and early flagship services in Japan are actually rail travel. Ten years ago, the October 90s (see JRTR 3, pp. 45–48), resulting in becoming slower due to increases in the issue of JRTR 3 published a special feature rapid improvements in their operating number of intermediate stops. entitled 30 Years of High Speed Railways. speeds. France was the first to achieve High-speed operations are becoming This article summarizes the events in high- operations at 300 km/h in 1989, but this increasingly widespread in countries other speed railways in the last 10 years and was followed by a long interval with no than Japan and France; jumped from discusses their future prospects. further increases until 2003 when speeds well behind to third position in the 1993 reached 320 km/h over a limited section survey after the start of their AVE high- Speed Increase—History of the TGV Méditeranée. This relatively speed railway, which is largely an and Recent Trends small speed increase had little general imported version of the French TGV. impact and is not reflected in Railway Another example is the improved speeds Railway Gazette International, the Gazette International’s latest survey. of some international services; in 1995, leading journal on world railways, In Japan, after JR Central introduced services between London and publishes a World Speed Survey every the Series 300 Nozomi flagship reached 171.5 km/h; in 1997, 2 years. The main part of this survey is a services operating at a maximum speed services from and to Brussels recorded league table that ranks countries based of 270 km/h on the Tokaido Shinkansen speeds exceeding 200 km/h. In the latest on the fastest average speed between in 1992, the two other shinkansen 2003 survey, Germany leapfrogged into intermediate stops of regularly scheduled operators (JR East and JR West) joined the third position with the opening of the revenue-service . Figure 1 is based competition to develop new high-speed Cologne–Rhein/Main high-speed line on these surveys and shows past trends rolling stock. In 1997, JR West began (NBS). High-speed lines are expected to from 1975 for 11 countries ranked as operating their Series 500 Nozomi at open in more European countries, trains operating at more than 150 km/h 300 km/h between Shin and because the EU is planning to expand its Trans-European high-speed Network (TEN) initiative eastwards following the Fastest Start-to-Stop Average Railway Speed for 11 Countries addition of 10 new member states. In April 2004, Korea Railroad (Korail), the (Km/h) 260 former Korean National Railroad, opened its KTX between Seoul and Busan, using 240 technology based on the TGV. Korea is now the 8th country with trains operating 220 at 300 km/h and only the second in the 200 Far East after Japan. However, this will change when the High Speed Rail 180 Corporation opens the Taiwanese high- 160 speed railway between and in 2005, becoming the first 140 operator outside Japan to adopt shinkansen 120 technology. Not only will Korea and

1975 1977 1979 1981 1983 1985 1987 1989 1991 1993 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 Taiwan both be joining future league tables, Japan France International Germany Spain Sweden UK but China will soon be a player when the Italy USA Finland China planned high-speed line between Source: Railway Gazette International, World Speed Survey and materializes. To summarize, high-speed railways are

4 Japan Railway & Transport Review 40 • March 2005 Copyright © 2005 EJRCF. All rights reserved. accepted that increases in maximum speed over 300 km/h will result in a sharp increase in consumed energy, mainly because of increased aerodynamic drag. This certainly leads to the conclusion that any further great increase in operating speed is now very unlikely. Apart from the problem of the global environment, high-speed railways also face problems regarding trackside noise. Although European high-speed railways enjoy lower trackside population densities than Japan, increasing lengths of high sound barriers along the tracks prevent

JR West’s Series 700 Rail Star running on San’yo Shinkansen (JR West) passengers enjoying the scenery. In Korea, it has been reported that the initial spreading around the world where they develop shinkansen trains capable of intention of imposing the same strict noise are widely recognized as a safe, reaching 360 km/h on the existing Tohoku limits used in Japan on the KTX was dropped environment-friendly and efficient mode Shinkansen (see article on pp. 14–17). because the new TGV-based rolling stock of transport. However, speed saturation However, although these facts suggest that simply could not meet the limits. is starting to appear at the top of the table. there will be further gradual increases in These facts suggest that reducing energy There are two major reasons why speeds maximum speed, the EU European consumption and trackside noise will be increases are flattening out. First, the Research website says that, ‘Although there the next major advances in high-speed proportionally smaller speed increases no are, no doubt, some who dream of trains rail—areas where Japanese shinkansen longer cut journey times by more than a achieving even higher speeds, this is not a are leading the way. minute or two so the impact on realistic prospect. Noise, vibration, the cost attractiveness to passengers and of maintaining the and rolling stock, Privatization and Competitive concomitant increases in passenger and energy consumption (up by 50% for Transport Market numbers are too small to justify the an increase in train speed from 300 km/h additional costs. Second, privatization to 360 km/h) would all increase excessively Following the successful privatization and and other rail industry shake-ups have for just a marginal time-saving.’ division of Japanese National Railways seen increasing emphasis on encouraging Recently, some critics have argued that (JNR) in 1987, many EU countries people to travel by rail for its convenience railways are losing the environmental privatized their railways in the 1990s. The rather than just on speed for its own sake. advantage they are said to have enjoyed new organizational structures and effects previously. For example, Roger Ford varied from country to country. Although Rail Loses Environmental quotes Professor Roger Kemp of some delays in construction of new high- Advantage? Lancaster University in the UK and states speed lines might be attributed to that if a north-of-London Eurostar train privatization, the overall impact of Today, the fastest speed of any scheduled set is used on a hypothetical 350 km/h privatization on this type of investment is service on conventional railways using high-speed line between London and generally hard to quantify. steel wheels on steel rails is 330 km/h (for Edinburgh (600 km), the energy So-called low-cost airlines are becoming recovering from timetable disruptions) on consumption (estimated at 57 kWh/seat) increasingly popular in Europe because the Cologne–Rhein/Main NBS. France converted to a crude-oil equivalent is more they offer exceptionally low fares through also has a limited section of the TGV than that of an Airbus A321 short-haul various cost-cutting measures, such as Mèditerranèe where 320 km/h is aircraft flying between the same two cities. narrower seats, shorter airport turnaround permitted, but the TGV Est is being built The author believes that Ford’s times, internet booking, use of small to a design speed of 350 km/h, as is the conclusion that railways have lost their airports on the outskirts of larger cities like –Madrid AVE line in Spain. In environmental advantage is not generally London, Paris, etc. High-speed railways Japan, JR East has unveiled plans to true at the moment, but it must be now have to compete with these new

Copyright © 2005 EJRCF. All rights reserved. Japan Railway & Transport Review 40 • March 2005 5 40 Years of High-speed Railways

market players, undoubtedly requiring cost reductions. In Japan, flagship high-speed services are becoming ‘slower’ because of more intermediate stops. The initial concept of the Nozomi on the Tokaido Shinkansen was that it should link Tokyo Station and Shin Osaka in 2 hours and 30 minutes. However, following the opening of the new Shinagawa Station south of Tokyo Station, the journey time actually increased to 2 hours and 36 minutes, and new stops, such as Shin Kobe, also increase the journey time west of Osaka. But despite the slightly longer journey times, these new stops are contributing to increased ridership by offering passengers DB AG’s ICE 3 standing at Cologne Station (Author) more opportunities to ‘catch the train.’ This demonstrates that passengers view a reliable. In terms of punctuality (which is asynchronous traction motors and a reduction in total door-to-door journey a reflection of reliability), Japanese Variable Voltage Variable Frequency time as being much more important than railways have achieved outstanding (VVVF) control system with a lightweight just travelling at high speed between two levels. For example, the shinkansen has aluminium-alloy monocoque body and stations on a shinkansen line. A valuable an average delay of only 6 s, which is bolsterless . lesson can be learned from Switzerland especially significant in combination with Although the distributed traction system where public transport operates to a its top position as the world’s fastest train. has two great merits of offering more regular-interval timetable and Swiss However, Japanese punctuality comes payload space because there is no need Federal Railway’s Rail 2000 project aims with some lack of flexibility. For example, for power , and better adhesion at further improvements by investing in all train sets introduced after 1992 for the because more axles are powered, it is the better connections at transport ‘hubs.’ Tokaido Shinkansen have exactly the regenerative braking at high speeds that Obviously intermediate stops are same number of seats (1323); this may gives distributed traction it overwhelming undesirable for passengers not wanting to have made it easier to deal with advantage. During regenerative braking, embark or disembark, and in addition to disruptions at Tokyo Station, which has the traction motors are used as generators increasing travel time, they also increase limited capacity compared to the huge and the generated energy is returned to train energy consumption. Information transport demand, but made it impossible the catenary via the pantographs. The technologies (IT) offer the possibility of to provide the variety of services offered system is lightweight; all electric developing systems that strike a better by many main-line railways, making the equipment— including the AC balance between riding opportunities and Tokaido Shinkansen more like ‘a high- asynchronous traction motors—require speed and there are a number of proposals speed metro.’ almost no maintenance; pads and in Japan, including CyberRail (JRTR 32, discs suffer reduced wear, leading to less pp. 28–34) and Intelligent Passenger maintenance; and the system is safer Assistance for Public Transport (IPASS) in Ongoing R&D because no component gets very hot. which IT is used to provide passengers The successful Series 300 demonstrated with intelligent guidance while making it The Series 300 shinkansen entered these advantages and was soon followed possible for the railway system to collect revenue service in 1992 and achieved by the German ICE 3. Even the design of detailed information about passengers significant weight reduction compared to the next-generation French AGV is (JRTR 36, pp. 37–41). its predecessor Series 0 and Series 100 expected to follow suit by adopting These new technologies will permit more trains. The major contributors to distributed traction. efficient operation of railway systems but the lower weight were a new distributed Despite these new competitors, the to be successful, they must be highly traction system, as well as combining AC Japanese shinkansen still has significant

6 Japan Railway & Transport Review 40 • March 2005 Copyright © 2005 EJRCF. All rights reserved. advantages, such as lightweight design, government from moving on construction low trackside noise, and superior —The Next Step? of a maglev shinkansen. However, the reliability. Even the major long-time Tokyo–Osaka corridor is the only realistic weakness of current collection has been Apart from conventional railways, possibility for maglev because its impact modified; the early 16- Series 0 Shanghai in China has the Shanghai on a corridor with such huge transport shinkansen had eight pantographs but Maglev operating since 2003 between demand would be far-reaching. now there are just two per train Shanghai International Airport and the city Therefore, a major issue in the interconnected by a high-voltage centre using technology from , development of high-speed rail during the onboard bus (The French TGV has only a German company. After some initial next 10 years will be whether Japan gives one .) Initially, the Series 300 teething problems, it is now operating a green light to the maglev system. I suffered from poor ride characteristics, successfully at a top speed of 430 km/h— including high in-carriage noise, but the the fastest revenue service in the world. Further Reading problems were fixed and the newest However, due to the initial problems and High-speed Europe, News Centre, European Research, Series 700 is probably one of the best in high construction costs, the Chinese EU website 28/08/2002, http://europa.eu.int/comm/ the world. JR Central claims that the government is believed to have research/news-centre/en/tra/02-07-tra01a.html R. Kemp, Environmental Impact of High-speed Rail, Series 700 energy consumption is just abandoned use of this technology for the High Speed Rail Developments (Conference), Institute 14.7 kWh/seat when running between planned Beijing–Shanghai high-speed of Mechanical Engineers, UK, April 2004. Tokyo and Shin Osaka at 270 km/h railway, although the Shanghai Maglev R. Ford, Rail loses the environmental advantage, Informed Sources, Modern Railways, 61, 669, compared to 17.5 kWh/seat for the oldest was built as showcase technology for this pp. 30–31, June 2004. Series 0 running at 220 km/h. Despite new route. There are currently no plans T. Fujita, Outline of Korean High Speed Railway (KTX) the increased operating speeds on the to use the Transrapid technology on any (in Japanese), Railway Pictorial, 54, 7 (748), pp. 91–96, July 2004. Tokaido Shinkansen, the total energy rail corridors in Germany. CyberRail website, http://cyberrail.rtri.or.jp/english/ consumption has decreased over the past In Japan, JR Central is leading the N. Tomii, Ed., Introduction to Railway Systems (in 10 years, while reliability has increased. development of JR Maglev, which uses Japanese), Kyoritsu Shuppan, Tokyo, Japan, 2001. R. Takagi, T. Haraguchi, S. Sone and M. Naito, IPASS— For example, the frequency of incidents superconducting magnet technology. In Intelligent Passenger Assistance System for Public causing delays of 10 minutes or more is December 2003, the test train established Transport, presented at International Conference on 0.01 per million car-km, which compares a world record of 581 km/h on the Developments in Mass Transit Systems, London, UK, April 1998. to the TGV’s record of 8 per million Yamanashi Test Line. Current development R. Takagi, T. Haraguchi and S. Sone, IPASS (Intelligent train-km. (Note train-km and car-km are is focused on further verification of Passenger Assistance for Public Transport) (in Japanese), different units. Also, TGV ‘incidents’ reliability and durability, cost reduction IEE-Japan Technical Meeting on Transportation and Electric Railways, TER-97-50, pp. 49–52, Osaka, Japan, cause delays of 15 minutes or more.) and improvement of aerodynamics. JR December 1997. There is no doubt that competitive Central has improved the old Tokaido Y. Sato, Shinkansen Technologies (in Japanese), development of high-speed railways will Shinkansen to its limit, and maintains a Sankaido Publishing, Tokyo, Japan, 2004. continue, but since the rate of increase in position of promoting maglev technology top speed is tailing off, competition based for the next generation high-speed rail link on energy saving, higher productivity, between Tokyo and Osaka. However, lower trackside noise, lower life-cycle they claim that public funding is vital for costs, and other multi-dimensional the success of the project. comparisons will become more As is well known, Japan is buried under a important. ‘Soft’ technologies will also mountain of public debt, preventing the contribute to better management of railways, through provision of improved Ryo Takagi passenger services. Such developments will see speed Dr Takagi is a research fellow in the School of Engineering at the University of Birmingham, UK. He increases up to 330–360 km/h. obtained his doctorate from the University of Tokyo in 1995 where he worked for several years. He then worked for Tokyo Electric Power Company before taking his current position in 2001.

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