Why has Japan had such success with its Shinkansen train while other countries' high-speed rail initiatives often fail?

为什么日本的新干线列车这么成功，而其他国家的高铁却经常出问题？

以下是Quora网友的评论：

Ted Chyn

Former IT Data Consultant for Various Industries.Author has 1.3K answers and 376.6K answer viewsMon

The question is a misnomer at best because Shinkansen represent the Japan of yesterday's years and today’s Japanese no longer have that capability after losing the trade war vs the US in the 80s and 90s.

If so, what happened to those self-claimed superb abilities when the Japanese are building high-speed trains in India and Indonesia?

这个问题用词不当了，因为新干线代表的是昨天的日本，而今天的日本在80年代和90年代的贸易战中输给美国后，已经风光不再。

不然当年日本人在印度和印度尼西亚建造高铁时，自诩牛掰的实力怎么就不灵光了？

The Indian Express has learned that the Railways now expects the project to be commissioned fully by October 2028, instead of the original timeline of December 2023.

Indonesia has awarded the HSR to China and China is completing one section of it in 2022.

China is building HSR in the Saudi desert.

《印度快报》了解到，铁道部目前预计该项目将在2028年10月全面投入使用，而非最初预计的2023年12月。

印尼已将高铁项目委托给中国建设，中国将在2022年完成其中一段。

中国目前正在沙特的沙漠中修建高铁。

Jeff

Student (2015–present)Author has 448 answers and 370.7K answer views3y

Why isn't Japan develo a hyperloop system? Wouldn't it be building on the success that their country already had with high-speed rail?

Japan is already in the process of implementing a separate mode of transport. JR and the Japanese government for years now have been testing and constructing part of the rail line between Tokyo and Nagoya that will use Maglev.

It's been in construction since 2014 and will be operational in 2027. Once finished an additional section between Nagoya and Osaka will be completed between 2037–2045.

日本已经在推行另一种运输方式。多年来，日本铁路公司和日本政府一直在测试和建造东京到名古屋之间的部分磁悬浮铁路。

这段磁悬浮铁路自2014年开始建设，将于2027年投入使用。此外，名古屋和大阪的路段将于2037年至2045年之间建成。

Akira Akiyama

Knows about ShinkansenAuthor has 173 answers and 421.1K answer viewsUpdated 2y

What are the economics of the Japanese Shinkansen (bullet trains) – profitable or subsidized?

JR Group: JR East, JR Central, JR West, JR Kyushu, JR Shikoku and JR Hokkaido. Formerly the Japan National Railway Company (JNR). But this company has a 23 trillion yen of debt in 1987 so it privatized into 6 companies to carry on the railway service.

Except JR Shikoku, the other 5 JR companies own at least 1 Shinkansen line.

日铁集团由东日本公司、东海公司、西日本公司、九州公司、四国公司和北海道公司组成。前身为日本国家铁路公司。但这家公司在1987年背负23万亿日元的债务，所以进行了私有化改革，分为6家公司来经营铁路服务。

除日铁四国公司外，其他5家都至少拥有1条新干线。

JR Central owns: Tokaido Shinkansen

JR East owns: Tohoku, Joetsu, Yamagata, Akita Shinkansen

JR West owns: Sanyo Shinkansen

JR Kyushu owns: Kyushu Shinkansen

JR Hokkaido owns: Hokkaido Shinkansen

东海公司拥有：东海道新干线

东日本公司拥有：东北、上越、山形、秋田新干线

西日本公司拥有：三洋新干线

九州公司拥有：九州新干线

北海道公司拥有：北海道新干线

And the Hokuriku Shinkansen is owned by both JR East and JR West.

High speed rails are built to compete with airplanes. Of course Shinkansen cannot run as fast as airplanes (300km/h vs 900km/h) but actually Shinkansen can get you to your destination faster than airplane. Why?

北陆新干线由东日本公司和西日本公司共同拥有。

修建高铁是为了与飞机竞争。当然了，新干线肯定跑不过飞机（300公里/小时对900公里/小时），但实际上新干线可以更快到达目的地。为什么？

For example, you want to go from Osaka to Tokyo and you can get to the station from home in 30 minutes.

比如，你要从大阪前往东京，从家里出发，30分钟就能到达车站。

By train:

Home > 30min > Osaka sta. > 3min > Shin-Osaka sta. > 15min > Shin-Osaka Shinkansen platform > 2hr28min > Tokyo sta. = 3hr16min

搭新干线：

家>30分钟>大阪车站>3分钟>新大阪车站>15分钟>新大阪新干线站台>2小时28分>东京站=全程3小时16分

By airplane:

Home > 30min > Itami arpt. > 1hr check-in > Take-off > 1hr10min > Haneda arpt. > 20min > Get out from immigration > 15min > Monorail platform > 19min > Hamamatsu Chou sta. > 8min > JR platform > 5min > Tokyo sta. = 3hr37min + delay + etc.

搭飞机：

家>30分钟>伊丹机场>1小时办理登机>飞机起飞>1小时10分>羽田机场>20分钟>出边境检查处>15分钟>单轨站台>19分钟>滨松站>8分钟>铁路站台>5分钟>东京站=全程3小时37分钟，还经常会发生延误等情况

Why did I make this comparison? Because this is how people choose their public transport. If Shinkansen is faster than airplane, you will choose Shinkansen. And this is the key of whether a Shinkansen is profitable or not.

我为什么这样比较？因为这日本人就是这么选择公共交通方式的。如果新干线比飞机快，你就会选择新干线。这是新干线能不能盈利的关键。

So, yes. Most of the cases, Shinkansen is profitable. For some JR companies, this is the most of their income. 85% of the income of JR Central is from the Tokaido Shinkansen. Thanks to the Tokaido-Sanyo-Kyushu Shinkansen, JR West and JR Kyushu is now become profitable in railway business. Although you can connect Hakata and Tokyo in a single journey, you still use more time than airplane. But as you see, the station can depart a Shinkansen every 3 minutes, that’s a lot of demand there.

所以,没错。大多数情况下，新干线都是盈利的。对于一些日本铁路公司来说，这就是他们大部分的收入来源。东海铁路公司85%的收入来自东海道新干线。得益于东海道-三洋-九州新干线，西日本公司和九州公司在铁路业务上实现了盈利。虽然从博多可以直达东京，但耗费的时间会比坐飞机久，但是如你所见，新干线每3分钟就会发车，人们的乘坐需求很大。

Therefore if you can’t beat the time of riding on an airplane, there is no need to build a Shinkansen line. The threshold is about 4 hours. That means if you decided to get on an airplane to travel between cities. You will mostly have to spend 4 hours. The only chance of taking Shinkansen is the travel time is less than 4 hours. So …

因此，如果不能比飞机更快，就没有必要修建新干线。这个平均时长约为4小时。这意味着如果你决定坐飞机在城市之间旅行，大概要花4个小时。出行时间低于4小时，人们才会选择乘坐新干线。所以…

Tokyo - Shin-Aomori: 3h 17m (via Tohoku Shinkansen)

Tokyo - Akita: 4h 2m (via Tohoku and Akita Shinkansen)

Tokyo - Shinjo: 3h 40m (via Tohoku and Yamagata Shinkansen)

Tokyo - Kanazawa: 2h 31m (via Tohoku and Hokuriku Shinkansen)

Tokyo - Niigata: 2h 10m (via Tohoku and Joetsu Shinkansen)

Tokyo - Shin-Osaka: 2h 23m (via Tokaido Shinkansen)

Shin-Aomori - Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto: 1h 1m (via Hokkaido Shinkansen)

Shin-Osaka - Hakata: 2h 31m (via Sanyo Shinkansen)

Shin-Osaka - Kagoshima Chuo: 3h 46m (via Sanyo and Kyushu Shinkansen)

东京-新青森：3小时17分(经东北新干线)

东京-秋田：4小时2分(经东北和秋田新干线)

东京-新庄：小时40分(途经东北和山形新干线)

东京-金泽：2小时31分(途经东北和北栗洲新干线)

东京-新泻：2小时10分(经东北和上越新干线)

东京-新大阪：2小时23分(途经东海道新干线)

新青森-新函馆-北都：1小时1分(经北海道新干线)

新大阪-博多：2小时31分(经三洋新干线)

新大阪-鹿儿岛中央：3小时46分(经三洋和九州新干线)

These routes are profitable. Except …

Tokyo - Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto: 4h 2m (via Tohoku and Hokkaido Shinkansen)

Tokyo - Hakata: 4h 53m (via Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen)

这些路线都是盈利的，除了……

东京-新函馆-北都：4小时2米(经东北和北海道新干线)

东京-博多：4小时53米(途经东海道和三洋新干线)

Why is Tokyo to Akita profitable but not Tokyo to Hokkaido? Actually most of the people are living in Sapporo. The current Hokkaido Shinkansen is partly opened. The final destination of this line is to Sapporo not Hakodate. So currently there is not enough demand on Hokkaido Shinkansen. One more surprising fact: all lines owned by JR Hokkaido are deficit, including the Hokkaido Shinkansen. The full open is estimated to be 2031. This is the only Shinkansen line which can’t make a single yen.

为什么东京到秋田实现盈利，而东京到北海道却仍然亏损？这是因为，大部分人都住在札幌。目前的北海道新干线只有部分开通。这条线的终点站是札幌，不是函馆。所以目前北海道新干线的上座率不高。还有一个事实令人惊讶：JR北海道公司拥有的所有线路目前还都是亏损的，包括北海道新干线。这条新干线预计将在2031年全线开放。这是唯一一条至今尚未盈利的新干线。

For your question, is there any Shinkansen line that needs subsidies? No, there isn’t. As the whole JR Hokkaido company can’t make a single yen, the company itself need to be subsidized by other company in the JR group.

Side note: JR Shikoku doesn’t have a Shinkansen line but it is also deficit and need subsidies.

关于你的问题，新干线需要政府补贴吗？不，没有。由于北海道公司不赚钱，北海道公司需要日铁集团其他公司的补贴。

旁注：四国公司没有新干线，也是处于亏损状态，需要补贴。

Anand Nyamdavaa

Lived in TokyoUpvoted by

Ritayan Biswas, studied Civil Engineering at Tripura University (1999) and Pär Boman, Marketing Specialist at Public TransportationAuthor has 827 answers and 28.8M answer viewsUpdated 5y

Did Japan do a cost-benefit analysis before building the original Shinkansen high-speed rail?

While studying in Japan I had an assignment on reading about how Japan in 1960s applied to World Bank for loan to build the first Shinkansen. It was fairly thorough piece with cost benefit analysis. ( Unfortunately I couldn't find the whole document. the one below is the abridged version) I thought it was very interesting so I read more about Shinkansen. I found some fascinating stuff:

在日本学习期间，我有一项作业是阅读日本在20世纪60年代如何向世界银行申请贷款建造第一条新干线的资料，那是一份非常全名的成本效益分析。(不幸的是，我找不到完整的文档了。我觉得这份分析很有意思，所以我查找了很多新干线的相关资料。我发现了一些有意思的点：

The high speed train is a direct product of WW2. After the war, Japan was prohibited to make fighter airplanes. This led a lot of aircraft designers and engineers who have experience with airplanes out of a job. So one avenue they pursued was in train industry. Thus the speed, aerodynamic shape of the Shinkansen came from airplane designs

高铁是第二次世界大战的直接产物。战后，日本被明令禁止制造战斗机。很多有过飞机设计经验的飞机设计师和工程师因此失业。所以他们把精力转向火车行业。也是因为这个原因，新干线的运行速度和空气动力学外观都源自飞机设计的概念。

One other interesting thing was, the first Shinkansen was envisioned to be carrying people by day, and cargo at night. This was never realized.

另一件有趣的事情是，第一辆新干线在设计之初的规划是白天载客，晚上载货，但这从未实现。

We all think that Japan is a rich society and, personally, it was fascinating to me to see that Japan would take loan from World Bank. (even though the loan itself was little compared to the costs to build it)

我们都认为日本是一个富裕的国家，就我个人而言，当时看到日本居然需要向世界银行贷款，对我来说是件很有意思的事(贷款本身与建造成本相比，简直可以说是微不足道)。

Béa Tremblay

Knows SpanishAuthor has 962 answers and 2.9M answer views1y

Is there any country using Japan Shinkansen now apart from Japan?

Taiwan’s 700T Shinkansen series, the only operational Japanese HSR train outside Japan.

台湾的700T新干线系列，日本境外唯一运行中的日本高铁列车。

Yes, but they’ve never been “best-sellers.” Most countries using high speed rail opt for European tech.

是的，但日本新干线从来都没有享受到“热销追捧”。大多数拥有高铁的国家选择的是欧洲技术。

Variants of the German Siemens Velaro are used in Germany, Belgium, France, the UK, the Netherlands, Spain, China, Russia and Turkey. German-Canadian Bombardier Transportation (now a subsidiary of France’s Alstom, another major builder of HSR stock) also sold a lot in many countries, including the U.S. “limited high speed” Acela.

德国、比利时、法国、英国、荷兰、西班牙、中国、俄罗斯和土耳其使用了德国西门子Velaro的改进车型。德国-加拿大庞巴迪运输公司（现在是法国阿尔斯通的子公司，阿尔斯通是高铁股票的另一家主要制造商）也在许多国家出售了大量高铁列车，包括美国的“有限高速”阿西乐特快。

Lee Zhi Han

Worked at Republic of Singapore Air Force (2013–2015)Author has 206 answers and 298.5K answer views3y

How is the Japanese Shinkansen bullet train different from Chinese high speed bullet trains?

To be more specific, a subset of China’s high-speed (HS) bullet trains are derived from the Shinkansen; the rest are from other sources e.g. Germany, Spain. IIRC this was an intentional strategy of diversification pursued by in China (perhaps to avoid over-reliance on one single source).

Some differences that I can see between the HS trains in Japan & those in China:

具体一点说，中国高速动车组的其中一个车型源自新干线；其他的车型源自德国、西班牙等。如果我没记错，这是中国有意推行的多元化战略（或许是为了避免过度依赖单一来源的风险）。

日本高速列车与中国高速列车之间的一些差异在于：

Japan’s trains have smaller squarish windows while those in China are typically longer & rectangular (like in Europe) - probably because the Shinkansen passes through more tunnels (which causes more stress on the trains’ bodies)

日本列车的窗户较小，呈方形，而中国列车的窗户通常较长且呈长方形（和欧洲一样），这可能是因为新干线通过的隧道更多（会对列车车体造成更大的压力）

More classes of travel in China (3–4 IIRC) than in Japan (usually 2)

中国列车的车厢等级（3-4）比日本（通常为2）多

Japan’s trains no longer have dining cars but those in China still do (like in Europe)

日本列车没有餐车，但中国列车有餐车（和欧洲一样）

Longer & more detailed front nose designs on Japanese trains than those in China/Europe - supposedly same reason as in difference #1 above - such nose design help reduce the train’s noise pollution in the surrounding areas. This design can sometimes be taken to the extreme e.g. on the E6 Shinkansen (below), the nose - at ~15m long - occupies more than half the length of the train’s first & last cars.

日本列车的前端设计比中国/欧洲列车的前端更长、更精细，原因可能与上述差异#1相同，这种前端设计有助于减少列车周围区域的噪音污染。这种设计有时会很突出，例如E6新干线（下图），车头长约15米，占据了列车首末节车厢长度的一半以上。

The Shinkansen E6 Series, Brilliance of "Japan Red"

新干线E6系列“日本红”

The design of the newest CRH380 & 400 HS train in China would appear more ‘tame’ in comparison:

相比之下，中国最新车型CRH380和400 HS列车的设计显得更加“平淡”：

Tony Smyth

Author: Fukushima and the Coming Tokyo Earthquake (2011–present)Author has 3.2K answers and 2.6M answer views4y

How did the Shinkansen rail lines make Tokyo Station the main intercity rail terminal in Tokyo?

It didn’t. Tokyo Station has been the capitals, and therefore Japans, primary railway station for a long time. Trains coming from the south of the country, including Shinkansens, terminate in Tokyo. Trains going north - and these include smaller sized Shinkansens than those going south - begin their journey from Tokyo Station. But there also railway lines that go inland and along the coast that originate at Tokyo Station. These exsted long before the bullet train lines were built.

新干线如何让东京站成为主要的城际铁路枢纽？

跟新干线无关。东京站一直是日本的首都，因此东京长期都是日本主要的火车站。包括新干线在内的来自日本南部的列车最终停靠东京站。北上的列车——包括比南下列车个头小一些的新干线列车——也会从东京站始发。还有从东京站出发的内陆和沿海路线。早在新干线建成之前，这些路线就已经存在了。

The first Shinkansen line was Tokyo to Osaka, built in time for the 1964 Olympics. Since then, a line to Niigata and afterwards up the north of Honshu has been added.

Tokyo is to Japan what Paris is to France, the main hub, the centre of political and economic power. 35.5 million people live in the region. Its no surprise then that it also the main railway hub.

第一条新干线是从东京至大阪，是为了1964年奥运会修建的。后来又增加了一条通往新泻和本州北部的线路。

东京对日本来说就像巴黎对法国一样，是主要的枢纽，也是政治和经济力量的中心。有3550万人生活在该地区。所以它成为主要的铁路枢纽也就不足为奇了。

Akira Akiyama

Lives in Hong Kong (1992–present)Author has 173 answers and 421.1K answer viewsUpdated 3y

How do Shinkansen trains move at high speeds?

These are the reasons for “How do Shinkansen trains move at high speeds”.

新干线为什么能这么高速行驶？原因如下：

Dedicated Rail Tracks

Different from Europe, Shinkansen uses a dedicated rail track. These tracks have no crossings and it is quite hard to enter (normally no Japanese will do that). So drivers do not have to worry about if someone entered the rail track or a car just stopped between the tracks and you need to slow down. Anyway, you can’t slow a Shinkansen like a car. It needs 3km to 4km to stop. Also, only Shinkansen trains can run on this track so no slow local trains are blocking your way.

专用轨道

和欧洲不同的是，新干线使用的是专用轨道。这些轨道没有交叉口，很难闯入（通常也没有日本人会这样做）。因此，如果司机无需担心会不会有人或汽车闯入轨道，也就无需减速。不管怎样，新干线也不可能像汽车一样减速。刹车距离长达3到4公里。另外，因为只有新干线列车可以在这条轨道上行驶，所以没有慢速列车阻挡新干线列车。

Wider rail gauge

Well, the first time Japan built a railway, the gauge was 1067mm. This value was suggested by Britain. They thought the rail gauge cannot be too wide or you need more space to build but apparently, they don’t. As Shinkansen was dedicated built, you have obtained enough space for a wider rail gauge. So how wide is it? It is 1435mm wide. It is a standard gauge used globally in high-speed rails. Why wider gauge? The center of gravity is more balanced so lower the risk of derailment. And you can turn a curve with a faster speed so you don’t need to slow down a lot just because the rail is curved. You can’t just build a straight line that cost too much. In the 1950s, you need to cost a lot to dig a tunnel from a hill.

轨距更宽

日本修建第一条铁路时，轨距是1067毫米。这个轨距值是英国人提出的。他们认为轨距不能太宽，否则就需要更多的建造空间。鉴于新干线是专为高铁列车建造的轨道，所以就有足够的空间来建造更宽的轨距。它有多宽呢？1435mm。这是全球高铁使用的标准轨距。为什么轨距要更大呢？这样的话重心会更加平衡，降低脱轨风险。列车可以以更快的速度转弯，无需因为轨道不直而大幅减速。轨道不可能100%是直线，那样耗资太大。20世纪50年代，从山上挖隧道成本非常高。

EMU (Electric Multiple Unit)

Different from Europe, Shinkansen is started to use EMU trains instead of locomotives. EMU means you have motors on multiple cars instead of putting a high output motor at the end of the train. Like the Eurostar or V, you have big motors on each end of the train. Shinkansen puts motors with less output on different cars combining their power to run. There are a couple of benefits: Driven by motors could have better traction than locomotives. Higher traction means better acceleration and deceleration. Also, in case of motor failure, you can still have other motors to run at a relatively higher speed. And all cars of Shinkansen can be used to carry passengers.

动车组（电动动车组）

与欧洲不同，新干线开始使用动车组列车而不是火车头。动车组意味着在多节车厢上安装电机，而不是只在列车末端安装高输出电机。欧洲之星和法国高铁列车的两端都有大型电机。新干线将输出功率较小的电机安装在各个车厢上，将动力组合起来运行。这样做有几个好处：电动机驱动带来的牵引力可能比火车头更好。牵引力大意味着提速、减速的响应快。此外，发生电机故障时，其他电机可以以相对较高的速度运行。新干线的所有车厢都可以载客。

Digital Cab Signal System

Train drivers can see a signal from 600m in distance. But Shinkansen moves too fast, for a train running at 300km/h, it only takes 7.5 seconds to move 600m. So even your eye can catch the signal but it is already too late to respond. Shinkansen uses Cab Signal System. The permitted speed is displayed in the monitor in front of the driver so the driver knows how fast he can run now.

数字机车信号系统

列车司机可以看到600米之外的信号。但新干线的运行速度太快了，对于时速300公里的火车来说，行驶600米仅需7.5秒。因此，即使司机的眼睛可以捕捉到信号，但来不及作出反应。新干线使用驾驶室信号系统。驾驶员前面的监视器上会显示允许运行的速度，驾驶员就能知道他现在可以跑多快。

Aerodynamically shaped nose

You don’t see ICE 3 using a very aerodynamic shaped nose (well just because they use a higher output motor) but Shinkansen’s nose is becoming longer and longer. Currently is around 15m. A normal Shinkansen car is 25m long. So the nose extends 3/5 of a car. So the train can move faster and reduce noise.

符合空气动力学的列车头外观

ICE 3没有采用符合空气动力学的列车头（因为它们配置了更高的输出电机），但新干线的机头越来越长。目前车型的列车头长达15米。普通新干线的车厢为25米长。因此，列车头长度占到车厢长度的3/5。这样火车可以跑得更快，更安静。

Tilting Device

When the train is passing a curve, the train tilts itself. The center of gravity is adjusted and your G-force is reduced too. So that the train can pass a curve at a higher speed. Especially if the tracks were built long ago, they mostly have more curves and less tunnel (therefore less straight lines). This device is very handful to deal with.

倾斜装置

当火车通过弯道时，火车会自动倾斜，使得重心得到了校正，离心力也降低了。这样火车就能以更高的速度通过弯道。尤其是很久以前建造的轨道，多数轨道弯道较多，隧道较少（因此直线部分较少）。这个装置就派上大用场了。

Timetable Skill

The editor of the timetable for Shinkansen is adjusted every year. You have various type of Shinkansen and the maxmum speed of the train is variant. Some may be faster and some slower. And some of them stop at all stations but some aren’t. But they can still depart a train at a minimum of 3 minutes just like local trains. How can they do that?

车次排班技巧

《新干线》的时刻表每年都要调整。日本有各种类型的新干线，列车的最高速度各不相同。有些可能更快，有些可能更慢。有些列车会停靠所有车站，但有些列车没有。但日本仍然能做到至少3分钟发送一班列车。他们是怎么做到的？

Driver Skill is excellent

The requirement to the driver is strict just like pilots (or above). They have to do their time management without a map. They have to balance the comfort but still arrive on time. The time management of the drivers makes those ridiculous timetable settings work! They have to calculate how fast he goes, they don’t have to apply brakes until they arrive at the station. Also if they go too fast they might catch up the previous train it means you need to slow down. You shouldn’t apply brakes and throttle frequently so less comfort. But you can’t run too slow and you will make the train behind you late. This balance is very hard to maintain. You don’t have a map so you have to remember the landmarks to help to calculate how long until the next station and what time you should pass. Never too early and never too late. And finally, you will come up with a speed that is perfectly balanced.

司机的驾驶技能优秀

日本对列车司机的要求和飞行员一样严格。他们必须可以做到在没有地图的情况下管理时间。他们必须兼顾舒适度，同时保证准时到达。司机的时间管理让车次时刻表得到了保障！他们必须计算列车速度，在到达车站之前不踩刹车。如果速度太快，可能会撞上前一班列车，这意味着列车司机需要减速。频繁地减速提速会降低乘客的舒适度。但是也不能跑得太慢，这样会让后面的火车晚点。这种平衡很难把控。司机没有地图，所以必须牢记路标，计算距离下一站的时间以及列车应该经过的时间。不能太早，也不能太迟。最后你会得到一个经过完美平衡的速度。