Birth of the Shinkansen

The Origin Story of the World-First Bullet Train

Tetsuo Shimomae (Autor)

Buch | Softcover

302 Seiten

2023 | 1st ed. 2022
Springer Verlag, Singapore
978-981-16-6540-0 (ISBN)

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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.

Tetsuo Shimomae received his Master's degree in Electrical Engineering from Nagoya Institute of Technology in 1966 and joined the Japanese National Railways (JNR) the same year. In1967, he started working with the Railway Technical Research Institute (RTRI), developing an overhead catenary equipment inspection vehicle and improving the Shinkansen pantograph. In 1974, he received the Ohm Award from the Promotion Foundation for Electrical Science and Engineering. In 1987, when JNR was split into several private companies, he belonged to the JR Central Company which took over the Tokaido Shinkansen. There, he served as head of the Shinkansen division's electrical department, deputy general manager of the Engineering Department, manager of the Safety Management Department (director), and Shizuoka Branch President (managing director). After leaving the company, he served as president and chairman of Shinsei Technos Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of JR Central in charge of construction and maintenance of railway electrical equipment. In 2008, he became chairman of the Japan Railway Electrical Engineering Association whose members are railway electrical engineers, manufacturers, and associated construction companies, and has been an advisor since 2012.

Basic study of railways after World War II.- Commemorative lecture on the possibility of high-speed railways.- Decision of constructing a Shinkansen line and technological problems.- Technological development to realize Shinkansen.- Breakdowns after the opening.- Shinkansen in 2020.

Erscheinungsdatum	03.06.2023
Zusatzinfo	121 Illustrations, color; 220 Illustrations, black and white; XIX, 302 p. 341 illus., 121 illus. in color.
Verlagsort	Singapore
Sprache	englisch
Maße	155 x 235 mm
Themenwelt	Technik ► Bauwesen
	Technik ► Fahrzeugbau / Schiffbau
	Technik ► Maschinenbau
ISBN-10	981-16-6540-0 / 9811665400
ISBN-13	978-981-16-6540-0 / 9789811665400
Zustand	Neuware