What was the first Shinkansen high-speed railway line, opened in Japan in 1964?

The Tokaido Shinkansen was Japan’s first Shinkansen high-speed railway line, opening in 1964.

It links Tokyo and Shin-Osaka, Japan’s two largest metropolitan areas, through major cities including Nagoya and Kyoto. The line opened on 1 October 1964, shortly before the Tokyo Olympic Games. Its introduction demonstrated that high-speed passenger rail could operate frequently and reliably on a dedicated route.

The original 0 Series trains were designed with a distinctive rounded nose and ran at speeds up to 210 kilometres per hour. The Tokaido route uses standard gauge, unlike much of Japan’s older conventional railway network, which commonly uses 1,067-millimetre narrow gauge.

“Tokaido” means “eastern sea route,” echoing the historic road between Tokyo and Kyoto. Later Shinkansen lines extended the network west, north, and east, but the Tokaido Shinkansen remains one of the world’s busiest high-speed railway corridors.