This book discusses the Shinkansen the world's first high-speed railway which was born in
Japan in 1964 and how it has developed up to the present day. In the 1950s some European
railways were trying to increase the commercial operating speed up to 160 km h and it was
considered difficult to raise it to 200 km h. Japanese engineers with excellent engineering
ability post World War ll moved from the military to the railways to overcome the technological
challenges realizing the high-speed railways using new approaches. The book discusses the
technological barriers in speeding up the railway at that time and how these engineers overcame
them in non-computer days. In the five decades since the Shinkansen began operating there have
been significant developments enabling high-speed safe and frequent train operation with high
punctuality while conserving the environment. The book also describes today's highly evolved
Shinkansen. The Shinkansen which runs 440 000 km a day has carried 13.3 billion people
without a single fatality in 56 years. The book overviews factors that contributed to the
Shinkansen's high safety record. This book is an excellent guide for those interested in the
history of the world's first high-speed railway.
