400 Series Shinkansen

400 series
A 400 series train on a Tsubasa service at Yonezawa Station in March 2005
In service	1 July 1992 – 18 April 2010 (17 years, 291 days)
Manufacturer	Hitachi, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Tokyu Car Corporation
Family name	Mini-shinkansen
Constructed	1992–1995
Refurbished	1999–2001
Scrapped	2009–2010
Number built	84 vehicles (12 sets)
Number in service	None
Number preserved	1 vehicle
Number scrapped	83 vehicles
Successor	E3-2000 series
Formation	7 cars per trainset
Fleet numbers	L1–L12
Capacity	399 (20 Green + 379 Standard)
Operators	JR East
Depots	Yamagata
Lines served	Tohoku Shinkansen, Yamagata Shinkansen
Specifications
Car body construction	Steel
Car length	22,825 mm (74 ft 10.6 in) (end cars) 20,500 mm (67 ft 3 in) (intermediate cars)
Width	2,947 mm (9 ft 8.0 in)
Doors	one per side
Maximum speed	240 km/h (149 mph) (Tōhoku Shinkansen) 130 km/h (81 mph) (Yamagata Shinkansen)
Traction system	24 x 210 kW (282 hp) (Thyristor drive)
Power output	5.04 MW (6,759 hp)
Acceleration	1.6 km/(h⋅s) (0.99 mph/s)
Deceleration	2.6 km/(h⋅s) (1.6 mph/s)
Electric system(s)	20/25 kV AC, 50 Hz, overhead catenary
Current collector(s)	PS204 pantograph
Bogies	DT204 (motored), TR7006 (trailer)
Safety system(s)	ATC-2, DS-ATC, ATS-P
Multiple working	200 series, E4 series
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge

The 400 series (400系) was a Japanese Shinkansen high-speed train type operated by 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 Tohoku 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.^[1]

They were originally six-car sets, but a seventh car (type 429) was added in 1995 to each set due to the popularity of the new Tsubasa services.

Pre-series set

The pre-series set, S4, was delivered in October 1990, and shown off to the press on 26 October 1990. This was a six-car set arranged as shown below with all cars motored.^[2]

Car No.	1	2	3	4	5	6
Numbering	401-1	402-1	403-1	404-1	405-1	406-1
Seating capacity	20	67	60	68	64	56

The unit featured three different types of bolster less bogies: DT9028 on cars 1 and 3, DT9029 on cars 2 and 4, and DT9030 on cars 5 and 6. The Green car seats featured seat-back TV screens, a feature not used on the subsequent production sets.^[2]

Test running began on the Ōu Main Line between Niwasaka and Itaya on 14 November 1990. From 23 January 1991, test running began in conjunction with a newly converted 200 series 8-car K set on the Tōhoku Shinkansen between Sendai and Kitakami. On 26 March 1991, the 400 series set S4 established a new Japanese speed record of 336 km/h (209 mph) on the Jōetsu Shinkansen in the Yuzawa Tunnel between Echigo-Yuzawa and Urasa. On 19 September 1991, the train set a new speed record of 345 km/h (214 mph) on the same stretch of track.^[3]

Test running continued into 1992, with set S4 reaching Tokyo for the first time on 20 May 1992. The pre-series set was then modified to bring it up to production batch standards, becoming set L1 on 29 June 1992.^[3]

Formation

The production 400 series sets were configured as shown below following the addition of a trailer car (car 15) in late 1995.^[4]

Car No.	11	12	13	14	15	16	17
Designation	Msc	M'	M	M'	T	M	M'c
Numbering	411	426-200	425	426	429	425	422
Seating capacity	20	67	60	68	64	64	56
Facilities	WC, wheelchair space	Cardphone	WC, cardphone	Luggage space	WC, luggage space	WC, cardphone	Luggage space

Cars 1 and 2 were built by Tokyu Car Corporation, cars 3 to 4 were built by Hitachi, and cars 5 to 6 were built by Kawasaki Heavy Industries.^[4] Cars 12 and 14 were equipped with pantographs.^[5]

• 
  411-3 (car 11)
• 
  426-203 (car 12)
• 
  425-3 (car 13)
• 
  426-3 (car 14)
• 
  429-3 (car 15)
• 
  425-203 (car 16)
• 
  422-3 (car 17)

Fleet details

Set No.	Manufacturer[4]	Delivered	7th car added	Refurbished	DS-ATC added	Withdrawn	Remarks
L1	Tokyu Car, Hitachi, Kawasaki HI	1 November 1990	14 November 1995	3 March 2000	27 July 2005	1 January 2009[6]	Originally pre-series set S4, converted 29 June 1992.
L2	Kawasaki HI	17 January 1992	20 November 1995	14 September 2001	7 October 2005	23 January 2009[6]
L3		28 January 1992	2 December 1995	11 June 2001	12 September 2005	18 April 2010	Last set to be withdrawn. Car 411-3 preserved at the Railway Museum.
L4		6 March 1992	12 December 1995	16 December 1999	28 May 2005	18 September 2009[1]	First set to be refurbished and repainted.
L5		23 March 1992	10 December 1995	28 July 2000	26 November 2005	21 April 2009[7]
L6		2 April 1992	8 December 1995	16 October 2001	24 December 2005	26 May 2009[7]
L7		13 April 1992	6 December 1995	19 September 2000	2 November 2005	15 May 2009[7]
L8		1 May 1992	4 December 1995	19 June 2000	24 June 2005	3 April 2009[7]
L9		11 May 1992	20 December 1995	14 April 2000	22 March 2006	21 February 2009[6]	Car 15 built by Hitachi.
L10		29 May 1992	14 December 1995	30 March 2001	28 February 2006	7 August 2009[1]
L11		12 June 1992	16 December 1995	19 February 2001	6 February 2006	20 June 2009[7]
L12		25 June 1992	18 December 1995	29 May 2000	27 April 2005	19 March 2009[6]

Source:^[5]

Exterior

Set L11 in original livery in July 1997

In terms of style, the 400 series were originally painted a medium silver grey with a darker roof and area around the cab windows and underframe. However they were refurbished and repainted between 1999 and 2001, with a higher area of dark bluish-grey on the underside, coming up almost to the side windows, and separated from the silver grey with a green stripe. The dark grey on the roof and around the cab windows was removed.

Set L1 at Omiya Station in June 2002, showing the door steps extended

Clearances were much reduced compared to previous Shinkansen lines, and thus the 400 series units were much narrower than previous Shinkansen trains. At shinkansen stations (i.e. high-speed line stations), steps extended from beneath the doors to bridge the gap between the trains and platforms.

Interior

Green (first class) car accommodation had with 2+1 abreast seating, unlike the E3 series trains which replaced them, which featured 2+2 seating in both standard and Green cars. Seat pitch was 1,160 mm (46 in) in Green class (car 11), 980 mm (39 in) in reserved-seating cars (12 to 15), and 910 mm (36 in) in non-reserved cars (16 and 17).^[8]

When the fleet received life-extension refurbishment between 1999 and 2001, the interiors were also refurbished with new seat moquette. The reserved seating cars received red moquette, while the non-reserved seating cars received turquoise moquette.^[8]

• 
  Refurbished standard-class reserved-seating car
• 
  Refurbished Green car seating

History

A six-car 400 series set in original colour scheme

Introduction

The fleet of 12 six-car sets entered service on the new Tsubasa shinkansen services from 1 July 1992.^[8] The six-car sets were all lengthened to seven cars between November and December 1995 with the addition of a new type 429 trailer car as car 15.^[8]

Withdrawal

Withdrawals started in December 2008, with the first set, L1.^[8] The entire fleet was scheduled to be withdrawn by summer 2009 and replaced by new E3-2000 series trains.^[9] However, one set, L3, remained in service until 18 April 2010, with the date chosen to mark 18 years of service.^[10]

Preservation

The first eleven sets to be withdrawn were all cut up at Sendai General Depot, but one car (Green car 411-3) of the last set to be withdrawn, L3, was stored at the former Fukushima depot before being moved to Omiya in Saitama Prefecture in December 2017 where it's preserved at the Railway Museum.^[11]

See also

• List of high speed trains

References

• JR全車輌ハンドブック2006 [JR Rolling Stock Handbook 2006]. Japan: Neko Publishing. 2006. ISBN 4-7770-0453-8.

1. つばさの世代交代 [Tsubasa transition]. Japan Railfan Magazine. 49 (584). Japan: Koyusha Co., Ltd.: 42–43 December 2009.
2. 在来線直通新幹線電車　４００系デビュー [400 series mini-shinkansen train debut]. Japan Railfan Magazine. 31 (357). Japan: Koyusha Co., Ltd.: 8–15 January 1991.
3. Yamanouchi, Shūichirō (2002). 東北・上越新幹線 [Tohoku & Joetsu Shinkansen]. Tokyo, Japan: JTB Can Books. ISBN 4-533-04513-8.
4. 新幹線電車データブック2011 [Shinkansen Databook 2011]. Japan: JRR. March 2011. p. 86. ISBN 978-4-330-19811-8.
5. JR電車編成表 '07冬号 [JR EMU Formations – Winter 2007]. Japan: JRR. December 2006. ISBN 4-88283-046-9.
6. JR車両のデータバンク [JR Fleet Databank]. Japan Railfan Magazine. 49 (579). Japan: Koyusha Co., Ltd. July 2009.
7. JR車両の動き [JR Rolling Stock Changes]. Tetsudō Daiya Jōhō. 38 (305). Japan: Kotsu Shimbun: 126. September 2009.
8. 新幹線　車両大全 [Shinkansen Cars Encyclopedia]. Tokyo, Japan: Ikaros Publications Ltd. November 2011. pp. 342–354. ISBN 978-4-86320-526-0.
9. 山形新幹線「つばさ」用車両の新造について [Details of new trains for Yamagata Shinkansen "Tsubasa" services] (PDF) (Press release) (in Japanese). JR East. 3 July 2007. Retrieved 1 August 2008.
10. 山形新幹線400系「つばさ」　ご利用に感謝を込めて (PDF) (Press release) (in Japanese). JR East. 25 February 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 March 2010. Retrieved 25 February 2010.
11. 400系新幹線が陸送される [400 series shinkansen transported by road]. RM News (in Japanese). Japan: Neko Publishing Co., Ltd. 4 December 2017. Archived from the original on 4 December 2017. Retrieved 4 December 2017.

External links

• "400 Series Tsubasa/Nasuno" (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 7 July 2008. Retrieved 10 August 2008.