1 photo from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. Series-E5-U15 Yamabiko-50: MaedaAkihiko· CC BY-SA 4.0
what is it?
The E5 series (Japanese: E5系) and the H5 series (H5系) are Shinkansen high-speed train types. A total of 63 ten-car trainsets are being built by Hitachi Rail and Kawasaki Railcar Manufacturing between 2009 and the present. The E5 series is operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East) on Tōhoku Shinkansen services.
who runs it
base stats
Bars compare against all trains: 600 km/h (maglev), 1,700 seats; power, weight and number built on a log scale up to 20 MW, 1,000 t and 20,000 built.
fun facts
- First built 15 years ago, in 2011.
- Top speed is 2.5× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
- At full speed it would cover Amsterdam–Utrecht (≈ 40 km) in 8 minutes.
- 9.6 MW is about 113 family cars (~85 kW each) flat out.
- Weighs about as much as 76 African elephants (~6 t each).
- 253 m long: about 56 cars parked nose to tail.
- Seats 731: 15 full city buses (~50 seats each).
high-speed train: Built for 200–350 km/h on dedicated lines, like the TGV, ICE or Shinkansen.
spec sheet
- built
- 2011
- in service from
- 2011
- status
- in service
- number built
- 550
- kind
- Electric multiple unit
- traction
- electric
- origin
- 🇯🇵 Japan
- builders
- Hitachi, Kawasaki Heavy Industries
- operators
- East Japan Railway Company, National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited
- top speed
- 320 km/h
- power
- 9.6 MW
- gauge
- 1,435 mm standard gauge
- formation
- 10 cars per trainset
- length
- 253 m
- weight
- 454 t
- capacity
- 731 passengers
- Dutch name
- Shinkansen serie E5
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q957322, Wikipedia: E5 and H5 Series Shinkansen (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.