New shinkansen model delivered to Taiwan

KAOHSIUNG, TAIWAN – A new model of shinkansen, manufactured in Japan, has been delivered to Taiwan for the first time.

On Saturday, the 12 N700ST train cars, which feature iconic orange and black lines on a white body, were unloaded from a cargo ship at at a port in Kaohsiung, southwestern Taiwan.

At the delivery ceremony, Taiwan’s transport minister, Chen Shih-kai, said that the train is not just a new vehicle but a symbol of future industrial and urban development.

Taiwan High Speed Rail has ordered 12 such trains, each with 12 cars, to put into service in stages from July 2027. The new trains are expected to increase peak-time transport capacity by 25%.

A Japanese consortium of Hitachi and Toshiba has received the ¥124 billion order. “We are confident that (the train) will contribute to the development of Taiwanese society,” Takuya Yamakawa, head of the consortium, said at the ceremony.

The N700ST train is based on the latest N700S shinkansen model of Central Japan Railway, or JR Central. It produces less noise and vibration and consumes less electricity.

Taiwan High Speed Rail is the first railway operator outside Japan to adopt Japan’s shinkansen technology. Launched in 2007, its train service connects Taipei and Kaohsiung, about 350 kilometers apart, in about 90 minutes with a maximum speed of 300 kilometers per hour, carrying an average of more than 200,000 passengers per day.