The top speed of the Nozomi bullet train will be raised to 285 kph next March from 270 kph on the Tokaido Shinkansen Line, thanks to new brakes, Central Japan Railway Co. said Friday. | JR TOKAI/KYODO

Business / Corporate

Top speed of Nozomi bullet trains to hit 285 kph

Kyodo

Central Japan Railway Co. (JR Tokai) said Friday it will raise the maximum speed of the Nozomi bullet train service to 285 kph between Tokyo and Shin-Osaka stations next year thanks to advances in braking technology.

JR Tokai, which operates the Tokaido Shinkansen Line, usually caps the Nozomi’s top speed to 270 kph but will raise the limit for 37 runs per day starting March 14. It will be the first time the speed limit has been raised on the line since March 1992.

JR Tokai said the change was made possible by the introduction of the N700A, a new type of shinkansen that boasts an improved braking system. The faster runs will link the nation’s two biggest business centers in two hours and 22 minutes, cutting three minutes off the current travel time, JR Tokai said.

West Japan Railway Co., operator of the Sanyo Shinkansen Line, which links Shin-Osaka Station to Hakata Station over in Fukuoka, said the fastest Nozomi will do the Tokyo-Hakata run in four hours and 47 minutes, also three minutes faster.

At present, the highest rail speed allowed in Japan is 320 kph on the Tohoku Shinkansen Line run by East Japan Railway Co. (JR East).

GET THE BEST OF THE JAPAN TIMES
IN FIVE EASY PIECES WITH TAKE 5

JOIN THE CONVERSATION

LATEST BUSINESS STORIES

A woman chooses an onigiri (rice ball) at a 7-Eleven store in Tokyo.

Japan convenience store sales rose in August for first time in three months: Japan's convenience store sales rose 0.8 percent in August from a year earlier for the first increase in three months as temperatures helped boost sales of beverages and ice cream, an industry body...

The United States is unlikely to remove tariffs on Japanese car parts in a trade agreement expected to be signed by President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York next week.

U.S. unlikely to remove tariffs on Japan auto parts in trade deal: The United States is not expected to remove tariffs on imports of Japanese automobile parts in a trade agreement that the two governments plan to sign next week, sources familiar with bilateral ...

Mitsubishi unit in Singapore loses $320 million on unauthorized trades: Major Japanese trading house Mitsubishi Corp. said Friday it was carrying out an investigation after its Singapore-based subsidiary lost $320 million because of unauthorized trades by an employee. ...