THE JAPAN NEWS


 

TOKYO (Jiji Press) — Japan’s only existing double-decker Shinkansen bullet train series is set to end its service by the March 2021 end of fiscal 2020.

East Japan Railway Co., or JR East, said Tuesday that it will replace its E4 series double-decker trains on the Joetsu Shinkansen Line with newest E7 series trains in stages between fiscal 2018 and fiscal 2020.

A total of 11 E7 Shinkansen trains, each with 12 cars, will be introduced on the line, which connects Tokyo Station and Niigata Station, in Niigata.
The E7 series is already used on the Hokuriku Shinkansen Line between Tokyo and Kanazawa Station, in Ishikawa Prefecture.

JR East decided to retire the E4 trains because of their aging, while aiming to offer a more comfortable ride and improve passenger services through the introduction of the E7 series.

Due to the unique nose shape of its front car, the E4 series, which travels at a maximum speed of 240 kilometers per hour, has been affectionately nicknamed “platypus” or “huge squid” by railway fans.

It was first introduced in December 1997, on the Tohoku Shinkansen Line linking Tokyo and the Tohoku region. JR East started to use E4 trains on the Joetsu Shinkansen Line in May 2001. The double-decker series was withdrawn from the Tohoku Shinkansen Line in September 2012.