Photo/Illutration Workers try to get a derailed Shinkansen back on the tracks in Shiroishi, Miyagi Prefecture, on March 20, 2022, following an earthquake that struck four days earlier. (Nobuo Fujiwara)

Shinkansen can stop significantly faster and more safely when an earthquake strikes thanks to a new tremor detection and alarm system, according to railway operators and engineers.

The time it takes to cut off power and apply the emergency brakes after detecting the initial tremor will be reduced by roughly two-thirds, through new technologies announced on Dec. 5 by East Japan Railway Co. (JR East) and the Railway Technical Research Institute.

“Not even a second should be wasted when stopping running trains to minimize quake damage,” said JR East President Yuji Fukasawa. “The latest update will make a huge difference.”

The new system will be operational in March.

The latest update to the detection system has improved its ability to analyze P waves, or primary waves, to determine the magnitude and location of the quake.

This helps the system to more quickly identify trains that should be stopped before the arrival of S waves, or secondary waves, which are much more powerful and destructive.

It took an average of 3.9 seconds to cut power to the trains after the detection of P waves in 13 earthquakes from the last three years.

That time will be reduced to 1.3 seconds under the new system, allowing bullet trains running at 320 kph to stop approximately 230 meters shorter than before.

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