By AYATERU HOSOZAWA/ Staff Writer
March 23, 2020 at 08:00 JST
An artist’s rendition of the latest E8 series Shinkansen's exterior, designed in the image of Yamagata Prefecture’s mandarin duck, Mount Zao and safflowers that resemble those on the E3 series (Provided by East Japan Railway Co.)
What looks like a mandarin duck running at 300 kph?
The new E8 series bullet train.
The sleek Shinkansen with a 9-meter “nose” will be colored deep purple, white and yellow, designed in the image of Yamagata Prefecture’s iconic bird, Mount Zao and safflowers that resemble those on the E3 series.
The latest E8 series train planned for development is intended to hit the rails of the Yamagata Shinkansen Line in spring 2024, according to East Japan Railway Co. (JR East).
It will be hitting them faster than ever. At 300 kph, the duck-like trains run 25 kph faster than the current E3 series.
The increased speed is expected to slash several minutes off the current 2 hours and 26 minutes it takes to travel from Tokyo to Yamagata, though the details of the train's schedule have yet to be determined.
Like the E6 series for the Akita Shinkansen Line, the E8's seven cars will roar along exclusive tracks for high-speed trains and the same rails as ordinary trains.
The “nose” of the E8s also builds on the E3 designs, packing on an extra 3 meters to the length of the E3's 6-meter snout.
The change was made to improve aerodynamics to facilitate the faster speed.
All of the E8's 355 seats will have electrical outlets, and every car will have designated space for luggage.
Kiyoyuki Okuyama, famous for the designs of the E6 series and the luxury sleeper Train Suite Shiki-shima, will supervise the design of the E8s.
Okuyama's concept calls for the corridors in the train to evoke “the flow of the Mogamigawa river.” The seats in the first-class carriage will be decorated to reproduce “a vast coniferous forest on Mount Gassan” and those in ordinary cars designed to depict “safflowers illuminated by sunshine,” JR East representatives said.
The cars of the E8 series are scheduled for completion in September 2022 so that the new Shinkansen will debut in spring 2024 after test runs.
By spring 2026, all the current 17 bullet trains on the Yamagata Shinkansen Line will be replaced with the E8 series under the plan.
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