Japan to promote Shinkansen trains in U.S.

An official with the Japanese Transport Ministry will have talks with US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood this month.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid= ... efer=japan

Hitachi Rail and perhaps Kawasaki Heavy could stand to benefit, should the visit be successful.

Interesting news. Thanks for posting the link.

Shinkansen bullet trains are too wide for US clearances, and aren't meant for operation on traditional corridors even for short distances. There's also the matter of low platforms, since the bullet trains are built strictly for high platforms.

PullmanCo wrote:Shinkansen bullet trains are too wide for US clearances, and aren't meant for operation on traditional corridors even for short distances. There's also the matter of low platforms, since the bullet trains are built strictly for high platforms.

I believe JR Central and JR East are intending to market the Shinkansen to completely new systems, such as the one planned in California- rather than say, the lower speed (?), shorter distance, hub and spoke Midwest HSR. Not only is this the optimal way to build an HSR system (completely separated from legacy passenger and freight), but loading gauge can be determined beforehand, and high platform loading can be specified- which is better anyway, as it permits shorter station dwell times (faster passenger boarding with no steps) and is ADA compliant. That said, some forum posters in Japan have opined that trainsets such as the N700 Shinkansen, which the Japanese transport ministry is promoting, may actually be over-spec'ed (and over priced) for North American conditions. If so, Japanese railcar makers are more than competent enough to custom build HSR trainsets matched to local conditions, as per Hitachi's Class 395 for Great Britain's Southeastern Railway.