400 Series Shinkansen

what is it?

The 400 series (Japanese: 400系) was a Japanese Shinkansen high-speed train type operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East) between 1992 and 2010 on Tsubasa services on Japan's first mini-Shinkansen line, the Yamagata Shinkansen branch from the main Tōhoku Shinkansen. The fleet of 400 series trains was leased by JR East from the owning company, Yamagata JR Chokutsū Tokkyū Hoyū Kikō (山形ジェイアール直通特急保有機構(株)), a third-sector company jointly owned by JR East and Yamagata Prefecture. The trains were originally formed as six-car sets, but a seventh car was added to each set in 1995 due to the popularity of the Tsubasa services.

who runs it

East Japan Railway Company

base stats

• speed 240 km/htop speed
• power 5 MWpower output
• seats 399passengers
• built 84made in total

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 34 years ago, in 1992.
• 🏎️Top speed is 1.8× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• ⏱️At full speed it would cover Amsterdam–Utrecht (≈ 40 km) in 10 minutes.
• 🚗5 MW is about 59 family cars (~85 kW each) flat out.
• 📏22.8 m long: about 5 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🧍Seats 399: 8 full city buses (~50 seats each).
• ⌛Served for 18 years (1992–2010).

high-speed train: Built for 200–350 km/h on dedicated lines, like the TGV, ICE or Shinkansen.

spec sheet

built

1992

in service from

1992

retired

2010

status

retired

number built

84

kind

high-speed train

traction

electric

origin

🇯🇵 Japan

builders

Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Hitachi, Japan Transport Engineering Company

operators

East Japan Railway Company

top speed

240 km/h

power

5 MW

gauge

1,435 mm standard gauge

electric system

Overhead line:, 3, 3

formation

7 cars per trainset

length

22.8 m

capacity

399 passengers

From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.