700T Series Shinkansen
Encyclopedia
The THSR 700T is high-speed electric multiple unit
Electric multiple unit
An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages, using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a number of the carriages...

 trainset derived from the Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

ese Shinkansen
Shinkansen
The , also known as THE BULLET TRAIN, is a network of high-speed railway lines in Japan operated by four Japan Railways Group companies. Starting with the Tōkaidō Shinkansen in 1964, the network has expanded to currently consist of of lines with maximum speeds of , of Mini-shinkansen with a...

 family for Taiwan High Speed Rail
Taiwan High Speed Rail
Taiwan High Speed Rail is a high-speed rail line that runs approximately along the west coast of the Republic of China from the national capital of Taipei to the southern city of Kaohsiung...

 (THSR), Taiwan's high-speed rail line. The THSR 700T is based primary on the 700 Series Shinkansen
700 Series Shinkansen
The is a Japanese Shinkansen high-speed train type built between 1997 and 2006, and entering service in 1999. Originally designated as "N300", they formed the next generation of shinkansen vehicles jointly designed by JR Central and JR West for use on both Tōkaidō and Sanyō Shinkansen...

, with the "T" referring to Taiwan. The trains were manufactured in Japan by Kawasaki Heavy Industries
Kawasaki Heavy Industries Rolling Stock Company
is the rolling stock production division of Kawasaki Heavy Industries. Since beginning operations in 1906, the company has produced more than 90,000 railroad vehicles.- Products :...

, Nippon Sharyo
Nippon Sharyo
, , formed in 1896, is a major rolling stock manufacturer based in Nagoya, Japan. In 1996, it abbreviated its name to "日本車両" Nippon Sharyō. Its shortest abbreviation is Nissha "日車". It was a listed company on Nikkei 225 until 2004. It is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange and Nagoya Stock Exchange...

, and Hitachi
Hitachi
Hitachi is a multinational corporation specializing in high-technology.Hitachi may also refer to:*Hitachi, Ibaraki, Japan*Hitachi province, former province of Japan*Prince Hitachi and Princess Hitachi, members of the Japanese imperial family...

, Ltd., marking the first time Japanese Shinkansen trains have been exported overseas. 30 trains were delivered to THSR operator Taiwan High Speed Rail Corporation (THSRC), and are in regular service with a top speed of 300 kilometres per hour (186 mph) since the line's opening on January 5, 2007.

History

Taiwan's Bureau of High Speed Rail (BOHSR) started to tender THSR as a build-operate-transfer
Build-Operate-Transfer
Build-own-operate-transfer or build-operate-transfer is a form of project financing, wherein a private entity receives a concession from the private or public sector to finance, design, construct, and operate a facility stated in the concession contract...

 (BOT) scheme in October 1996. The two competitors were the Taiwan High Speed Rail Consortium (THSRC) and the Chunghwa High Speed Rail Consortium (CHSRC). THSRC's bid was based on the high-speed technology platform of Eurotrain, a joint venture of GEC-Alsthom
Alstom
Alstom is a large multinational conglomerate which holds interests in the power generation and transport markets. According to the company website, in the years 2010-2011 Alstom had annual sales of over €20.9 billion, and employed more than 85,000 people in 70 countries. Alstom's headquarters are...

, the main maker of the French TGV
TGV
The TGV is France's high-speed rail service, currently operated by SNCF Voyages, the long-distance rail branch of SNCF, the French national rail operator....

, and Siemens
Siemens
Siemens may refer toSiemens, a German family name carried by generations of telecommunications industrialists, including:* Werner von Siemens , inventor, founder of Siemens AG...

, the main maker of the German ICE. CHSRC's bid was based on Japanese Shinkansen
Shinkansen
The , also known as THE BULLET TRAIN, is a network of high-speed railway lines in Japan operated by four Japan Railways Group companies. Starting with the Tōkaidō Shinkansen in 1964, the network has expanded to currently consist of of lines with maximum speeds of , of Mini-shinkansen with a...

 technology supplied by Taiwan Shinkansen Consortium (TSC), a joint venture of Japanese companies. THSRC was named preferred bidder in September 1997, then, after being reconstituted as the Taiwan High Speed Rail Corporation (THSRC), it signed the BOT agreement with BOHSR on July 23, 1998. Following an offer from the Japanese government to provide cheap loans to THSRC if it switches to Shinkansen technology, in spite of an earlier agreement with Eurotrain, THSRC decided to re-tender the core systems technology contract June 1999. THSRC announced on December 28, 1999, that it would negotiate a final contract with TSC. The contract, which included the supply of rolling stock, was signed on December 12, 2000. The controversial awarding was challenged by Eurotrain in courts without success, a further lawsuit for damage payments was successful however.

While TSC's original offer in CHSRC's 1997 bid for the BOT franchise was based on the 500 Series Shinkansen
500 Series Shinkansen
The is a Shinkansen high-speed train type operated by West Japan Railway Company on the Tōkaidō Shinkansen and Sanyō Shinkansen lines in Japan. They were designed to be capable of although they currently operate at a maximum of in service...

, its bid for THSRC's 1999 tende was based on the newer 700 Series Shinkansen
700 Series Shinkansen
The is a Japanese Shinkansen high-speed train type built between 1997 and 2006, and entering service in 1999. Originally designated as "N300", they formed the next generation of shinkansen vehicles jointly designed by JR Central and JR West for use on both Tōkaidō and Sanyō Shinkansen...

. THSRC maintained its European specifications, thus, the trains had had to be designed for and commissioned according to European specifications, too.

On January 30, 2004, a roll-out ceremony was conducted at Kawasaki Heavy Industries' Hyogo Works. The first train was shipped to Taiwan in May 2004. Running tests started on the THSR high speed line on January 27, 2005, after four months of delays, on the Tainan–Kaohsiung section. During the tests, a national record of 315 km/h (196 mph) was achieved on October 30, 2005. All 30 trains have been delivered to Taiwan by 2006. Commercial operation of the 700T began on January 5, 2007, at a maximum operating speed of 300 km/h (186 mph).

In November 2008, THSRC announced that the company considers ordering an additional six to twelve trains from the Japanese makers for service starting in 2011, in order to cope with increased demand that was expected by that time.

Technical details

The THSR 700T series is based on the 700 Series Shinkansen operated by JR Central
Central Japan Railway Company
The is the main railway company operating in the Chūbu region of central Japan. It is officially abbreviated in English as JR Central and in Japanese as . Its headquarters are located in the JR Central Towers in Nakamura-ku, Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture.The company's operational hub is Nagoya Station...

 and JR West
West Japan Railway Company
, also referred to as , is one of the Japan Railways Group companies and operates in western Honshū. It has its headquarters in Kita-ku, Osaka.-History:...

 on the Tōkaidō Shinkansen and Sanyō Shinkansen
Sanyō Shinkansen
The is a line of the Japanese Shinkansen high-speed rail network, connecting Shin-Ōsaka in Osaka with Hakata Station in Fukuoka, the two largest cities in western Japan...

 in Japan. However, more powerful motors and eddy current brakes on trailers provide for the higher top speed. Also for 300 km/h (186 mph) operation, a number of features were derived from the 500 Series Shinkansen
500 Series Shinkansen
The is a Shinkansen high-speed train type operated by West Japan Railway Company on the Tōkaidō Shinkansen and Sanyō Shinkansen lines in Japan. They were designed to be capable of although they currently operate at a maximum of in service...

, such as the bogies, or the T-shaped and aerodynamically optimised pantographs for reduced noise emission atop cars 4 and 9. The D-ATC (Digital Automatic Train Control) system was in turn derived from that of the 800 Series Shinkansen
800 Series Shinkansen
The is a Japanese Shinkansen high-speed train type operated by JR Kyushu on the Kyushu Shinkansen high-speed rail line. Built by Hitachi, the trains were introduced on the Tsubame services from March 2004....

. Like the 700 Series Shinkansen, a 700T trainset is made of 4-car sub-sets, each with three motor cars and one trailer, albeit a full train is a 12-car set, rather than a 16-car, or 8-car set.

Due to the European safety requirements adapted by THSRC, the trains were equipped with a number of additional safety features compared to Shinkansen trains in Japan. The ATC system was augmented with cruise control and station stopping control and was also made suitable for bi-directional operation, and there is a driver vigilance device. Bogies were fitted with an instability detection system, and pantographs with a system that automatically lowers the rear pantograph if it detects a failure of the leading pantograph. The trains were built with shock absorbing elements for protection in low-speed collisions and were equipped with a parking brake. For enhanced fire safety, fireproof and smokeproof materials were selected for the interior, which was configured with fire barriers, and the trains were equipped with fire and smoke detectors and a battery supplied emergency ventilation system. Passenger doors can be operated from any car, not just from the driver's cab, and are equipped with an obstacle detection system that can abort the closing of the door. In addition, the train is equipped with emergency escape windows, which can be broken with hammers for use as emergency exits. The pantograph can be operated by remote control.

Additional changes were made to the HVAC
HVAC
HVAC refers to technology of indoor or automotive environmental comfort. HVAC system design is a major subdiscipline of mechanical engineering, based on the principles of thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, and heat transfer...

 systems to account for Taiwan's warmer climates, such as higher strength and wear specifications of certain components, and a more powerful air conditioning system. As with other Shinkansen types, both end cars are trailers and braking power is reduced on the end cars, to avoid slip on powered bogies.
THSR tunnels were built according to European specifications, with diameters larger than those in Japan. The nose of the trains was aerodynamically optimised for the different tunnel cross-section, which allowed for a shorter, 8 m (26.2 ft) long nose. The shorter nose, and the lack of a sliding window and an extra door for the driver provided for more space for passengers.

All cars feature single passenger rooms with 2+3 or 2+2 seating, as on the 700 Series Shinkansen. Toilets were installed on odd numbered cars. One end of car 7 features four wheelchair accessible seats, also provide for the fastening of wheelchairs, and there are two foldable wheelchairs. The toilet next to the handicapped area was built to be accessible by wheelchair, with automatic sliding doors, wider space to allow a wheelchair to turn around, and handrails. The train has no restaurant or bar, but was equipped with vending machines, while Business Car passengers also get seat service. Certain cars were equipped with on-board telephones, in anticipation of the construction of a base system.
The per capita energy consumption of a fully loaded 700T train is 16% of private cars and half of buses, carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide is a naturally occurring chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalently bonded to a single carbon atom...

 emissions are 11% and a fourth, respectively.

Operation

As of April 2010, the THSR 700T trains ran without a serious accident. During the 2010 Kaohsiung earthquake
2010 Kaohsiung earthquake
The 2010 Kaohsiung Earthquake measuring 6.4 ML occurred on Thursday, March 4, 2010 at 8:20 a.m. local time. The epicenter was located in the mountainous area of Kaohsiung County of the southwestern Taiwan. It was the most powerful earthquake in Kaohsiung since 1900...

 on March 4, 2010, the wheels of one bogie of a train came off the rails during emergency braking, but there were no injuries and the train arrived at the next station after one hour of repairs.

In November 2010, following complaints when waiting lines formed at the toilets, THSRC changed the gender assignment of the toilets in the 700T trains. In the original configuration, in each car with toilets, there was a men's toilet with urinal and two unisex toilets; one of the latter was reassigned as women's toilet.

Train simulator

A THSR 700T train simulator
Train simulator
A train simulator is a computer based simulation of rail transport operations.-Industrial train simulations:Like flight simulators, train simulators have been produced for railway training purposes...

, known as Railfan: Taiwan High Speed Rail
Railfan: Taiwan High Speed Rail
Railfan: Taiwan High Speed Rail is a July 12, 2007 train simulator co-developed by Ongakukan and Actainment for the PlayStation 3 system. The Asian market edition for Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore is available in Traditional Chinese and English languages...

, was developed jointly by Taiwan-based company Actainment and Japanese company Ongakukan in 2007, based on the latter's Train Simulator series
Train Simulator series
Train Simulator is a Japanese train simulation game series produced by Ongakukan. The game is significant as it is was one of the earliest of its kind since the series started in 1995...

. The software was released on the PlayStation 3
PlayStation 3
The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...

system in Asia (Hong Kong, Taiwan & Singapore) on July 12, 2007, and in Japan on November 1, 2007.

External links

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