An era has come to an end in Japan: the "0-Series" Bullet Train, first launched back in 1964, has made its last run as the venerable series is officially brought out of service. It was during Japan's heady postwar growth period that the government made a proposal to build a high-speed train line to handle the increasing passenger load on the Tokaido Line between Tokyo and Osaka, and slowly things got under way. With the impending Tokyo Olympics only a few years off, the project was kicked into high gear so that the line would be opened in time for foreign visitors to oo and ah over. It was a big success, and the speedy trains helped improve Japan's international image like no other symbol of the postwar period. The 0-Series is considered the Mother of the Bullet Train by rail fans, and all told they've traveled enough miles to circumnavigate the globe 30,000 times -- wow! Tickets on the last 0-series were snapped up in record time by train otaku who wanted to be present on that last journey, and as the train pulled out, hundreds of fans were there with cameras to record the moment. During my years as an ESL teacher I had many students who loved train more than anything, and after school vacations they'd have all kinds of interesting stories for me about taking a long trip to some rural corner of the country to ride their favorite train.
4 comments:
It's funny because I thought the shinkansen was the coolest thing ever until I took the train from Shinano Omachi to Matsumoto after I did the alpine route. It was an older train akin to the one that takes you from Kamakura to Enshima.
It cut through major countryside, with train stations being no more than a three foot high block of concrete. I ended up seeing all kinds of people get on an off - kids off school, an older lady carrying a massive fruit bag and the ride included fantastic scenery as the sun was setting behind the mountains.
While the bullet trains made me gape in awe, there was nothing like seeing a little slice of real life on a regular, old clunker train.
Yes, old id also cool. I love old trains that run on one track, not two side by side, of which there are several out where I live, in Gunma. Of course, the 0-series gives you both old and new, since it's old, but is kind of retro cool.
Here are some pics of the Shinkansen 0-series being retired.
I'm a bit confused - was this a specific 44 year old train that was retired, or have they done away with the bullet trains entirely (like the Concorde)?
Adrian, it was just a specific model of train: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/0_Series_Shinkansen. Bulle trains are still very much in use.
Japan without bullet trains would probably be a signal of the apocalypse.
Post a Comment