The and the related are Japanese

Shinkansen The , colloquially known in English as the bullet train, is a network of high-speed railway lines in Japan. It was initially built to connect distant Japanese regions with Tokyo, the capital, to aid economic growth and development. Beyond lon ...

high-speed train types built by

Hitachi Rail Hitachi, Ltd. Railway Systems Business Unit, Trade name, trading as Hitachi Rail, is the rolling stock and railway signalling manufacturing division of Hitachi outside Japan. History Hitachi's rail division before global expansion After the ...

and

Kawasaki Heavy Industries is a Japanese Public company, public multinational corporation manufacturer of motorcycles, engines, Heavy equipment (construction), heavy equipment, aerospace and Military, defense equipment, rolling stock and ships, headquartered in Minato, To ...

. The E5 series is operated by

East Japan Railway Company The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and the largest of the seven Japan Railways Group companies. The company name is officially abbreviated as JR-EAST or JR East in English, and as in Japanese. The company's headquarters are in ...

(JR East); it was introduced on

Tōhoku Shinkansen The is a Japanese high-speed Shinkansen rail line that runs through the more sparsely populated Tōhoku region of Japan's main island, Honshu. Operated by the East Japan Railway Company, it links Tokyo in the south to Aomori in the north, with ...

services on 5 March 2011 and on

Hokkaido Shinkansen The is a Japanese high-speed Shinkansen rail line that links up with the Tōhoku Shinkansen in northern Aomori Prefecture in Honshu and continues on into the interior of Hokkaido through the undersea Seikan Tunnel. Construction started in May ...

services on 26 March 2016. A total of 59 10-car sets are on order, with three sets in service in time for the start of new ''

Hayabusa was a robotic spacecraft developed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) to return a sample of material from a small near-Earth asteroid named 25143 Itokawa to Earth for further analysis. ''Hayabusa'', formerly known as MUSES-C ...

'' services to Shin-Aomori in March 2011. The H5 series, a cold-weather derivative of the E5 series, is operated by

Hokkaido Railway Company The is one of the constituent companies of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group), and is often referred to by its official abbreviation: . It operates intercity and local rail services in Hokkaido, Japan. The company introduced Kitaca, a smart ...

(JR Hokkaido); it has been in use on Tōhoku and Hokkaido Shinkansen services since 26 March 2016. Ordered in February 2014, a total of four 10-car sets were built by Hitachi and Kawasaki Heavy Industries at a cost of approximately . The first two sets were delivered in October 2014. All Hayabusa, Hayate, Yamabiko, and Nasuno services operated by E5 Shinkansen's terminate at

Shin-Aomori Station is a railway station in the city of Aomori, Aomori Prefecture, Japan, operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East) and the Hokkaido Railway Company (JR Hokkaido). Lines Shin-Aomori Station is the northern terminus of the Ōu Main Line ...

, whilst Hayabusa and Hayate services operated by H5 Shinkansen's run a through service via the

Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto Station is a railway station on the Hakodate Main Line in Hokuto, Hokkaido, Japan, operated by the Hokkaido Railway Company (JR Hokkaido). The station – rebuilt and very extensively enlarged to serve from March 2016 as the northern terminal of the new ...

Design

Technology incorporated in these trains is derived from the experimental Fastech 360S train tested by JR East. The initial maximum speed in service was , but this was raised to between Utsunomiya and Morioka from the start of the revised timetable on 16 March 2013. The trains feature an electric

active suspension An active suspension is a type of Suspension (vehicle), automotive suspension that uses an onboard control system to control the vertical movement of the vehicle's wheels and axles relative to the chassis or vehicle frame, rather than the conventi ...

H5

The H5 series is directly based on the E5 series and has an identical maximum operating speed of , although this is limited to on the Hokkaido Shinkansen, and to on the dual gauge track extending through the undersea Seikan Tunnel connecting

Hokkaido is the list of islands of Japan by area, second-largest island of Japan and comprises the largest and northernmost prefectures of Japan, prefecture, making up its own list of regions of Japan, region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō fr ...

with mainland

Honshu , historically known as , is the largest of the four main islands of Japan. It lies between the Pacific Ocean (east) and the Sea of Japan (west). It is the list of islands by area, seventh-largest island in the world, and the list of islands by ...

. All cars feature active suspension, and

tilt Tilt may refer to: Music * Tilt (American band), a punk rock group, formed in 1992 * Tilt (British band), an electronic music group, formed in 1993 * Tilt (Polish band), a rock band, formed in 1979 Albums * ''Tilt'' (Cozy Powell album), 1981 ...

by up to 1.5 degrees through curves, allowing the maximum speed of 320 km/h to be maintained even on curves with a radius of . The units feature a number of cold-weather improvements, including an upgraded snowplow on the lead units, durable rubber to protect the various connections between cars and a stainless-steel underframe to protect the electronics (upgraded from the usual aluminium underframe protection for added durability). They also incorporate minor interior design differences compared with the E5 series. File:E5kei PS208.jpg, PS208 pantograph

Operations

, E5 series and H5 trainsets work with each other, and are used on the following services on the Tōhoku and

lines: * ''

'' * '' Hayate'' * ''

Yamabiko The is a high-speed Shinkansen train service operated on the Tōhoku Shinkansen between and by East Japan Railway Company (JR East) in Japan. Name The word ''yamabiko'' is usually translated as 'echo', particularly one which is heard in th ...

'' * ''

Nasuno The is a train service operated on the Tōhoku Shinkansen by East Japan Railway Company (JR East) in Japan. It serves all stations between and , a medium-sized city approximately 225 km north of Tokyo.JR Timetable, December 2008 Origin ...

'' E5 series trainsets were first introduced on the new ''

'' services between Tokyo and from 5 March 2011, initially operating at a maximum speed of . From 19 November 2011, a total of six E5 series trainsets were in operation, with sets also used on some '' Hayate'' and ''

'' services. ''Hayate'' services operated coupled with E3 series '' Komachi'' services, and were limited to a maximum speed of . From the start of the revised timetable on 17 March 2012, E5 series sets were also introduced used on some ''

'' all-stations services. The H5 series is the first JR Hokkaido train type to use the "H" prefix, following the method used by JR East (with an "E" prefix).

Exterior

The exterior design of the trains is broadly based on the experimental Fastech 360S train, with a colour scheme of green for the upper body and white for the lower body, separated by a "Hayate" pink stripe. For the H5 series, the "Hayate" pink stripe is replaced by a purple stripe intended to evoke images of

lilac ''Syringa'' is a genus of 12 currently recognized species of flowering woody plants in the olive family or Oleaceae called lilacs. These lilacs are native to woodland and scrub from southeastern Europe to eastern Asia, and widely and commonly ...

lupin ''Lupinus'', commonly known as lupin, lupine, or regionally bluebonnet, is a genus of plants in the legume family Fabaceae. The genus includes over 199 species, with centres of diversity in North and South America. Smaller centres occur in No ...

, and

lavender ''Lavandula'' (common name lavender) is a genus of 47 known species of perennial flowering plants in the sage family, Lamiaceae. It is native plant, native to the Old World, primarily found across the drier, warmer regions of the Mediterranean ...

flowers for which Hokkaido is famous. File:Logo Hayabusa.jpg, Bodyside "Hayabusa" logo (E5) File:H5系ロゴマーク.JPG, Bodyside logo (H5) File:Gran Class mark.JPG, "Gran Class" logo on car 10, December 2010 File:JREast seriesE5train direction infomation board.JPG, LED destination indicators

Interior

The trains have three classes of accommodation: premium Gran Class (car 10), Green class (car 9), and Ordinary class (cars 1 to 8).

Gran Class

Car 10 is designated "Gran Class", featuring 18 power-reclining "shell" seats with leather seat covers arranged in 2+1 abreast configuration. Originally given the provisional name "Super Green Car", seat pitch in the Gran Class car is . Seats are wide and recline to a maximum angle of 45 degrees. The pre-series set, S11, did not initially include Gran Class accommodation. The carpet in the H5 series's Gran Class car is blue with a pattern intended to evoke images of Hokkaido's sea and lakes. All seats in the H5 series feature AC power outlets.

Green car

Car 9 is designated as "Green car" (first class) accommodation with 55 seats arranged in 2+2 abreast configuration. Seat pitch is . Seats are wide and recline to an angle of 31 degrees. The carpet in the H5 series's Green car is dark grey with a pattern depicting the ocean with fragments of drift ice. All seats in the H5 series feature AC power outlets.

Ordinary class

Ordinary-class cars (cars 1 to 8) have a seat pitch of , which is larger than on the

E2 series The is a Japanese high-speed Shinkansen train type operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East) on the Tohoku Shinkansen high-speed lines in Japan since 1997. They are formed in 8- and 10-car sets. The 8-car sets were used on the Hokuriku ...

trains. Seating is arranged in 3+2 abreast configuration. AC power outlets are provided for window seats and rows of seats at car ends for the E5 series, and all seats for the H5 series. The interior of the H5 series's ordinary-class cars is intended to evoke images of snow and the night view of

Hakodate is a Cities of Japan, city and seaports of Japan, port located in Oshima Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. It is the capital city of Oshima Subprefecture. As of January 31, 2024, the city had an estimated population of 239,813 with 138,807 househol ...

Gallery

E5

File:E5・E514-21.jpg, Interior of Gran Class car E514-21 in November 2014 File:E5kei Green car Interior.JPG, Interior of a Green car in March 2016 E5kei interior.JPG, Interior of an ordinary-class car (car 3) in December 2015 File:Shinkansen E5 interior, electrical outlet.jpg, An AC power outlet in an ordinary-class car

H5

File:H5・H514-3.jpg, The interior of Gran Class car H514-3 in March 2016 File:H5・H515-3.jpg, The interior of Green car H515-3 in April 2016 File:H525-102 inside 20160406.jpg, The interior of ordinary-class car No. 7 in April 2016

Formation

E5

The production E5 series sets are formed as follows, with car 1 at the Tokyo end and car 10 at the Aomori end. Cars 3 and 7 each have one single-arm

pantograph A pantograph (, from their original use for copying writing) is a Linkage (mechanical), mechanical linkage connected in a manner based on parallelograms so that the movement of one pen, in tracing an image, produces identical movements in a se ...

, although only one is normally raised in service.

H5

The 10-car sets, numbered "H1" onward, are formed with eight motored ("M") cars and two non-powered trailer ("T") cars. Car 1 is at the southern end. Cars 3 and 7 each have one N-PS208 single-arm pantograph. File:H523-1 omiya 20160327.jpg, H523-1 (car No. 1) in March 2016 File:H526-101 omiya 20160327.jpg, H526-101 (car No. 2) in March 2016 File:H525-2 SHH 20160406.jpg, H525-2 (car No. 3) in April 2016 File:H526-202 SHH 20160406.jpg, H526-202 (car No. 4) in April 2016 File:H525-402 SHH 20160406.jpg, H525-402 (car No. 5) in April 2016 File:H526-301 omiya 20160327.jpg, H526-301 (car No. 6) in March 2016 File:H525-101 omiya 20160327.jpg, H525-101 (car No. 7) in March 2016 File:H526-401 omiya 20160327.jpg, H526-401 (car No. 8) in March 2016 File:H515-1 omiya 20160327.jpg, H515-1 (car No. 9) in March 2016 File:H514-1 omiya 20160327.jpg, H514-1 (car No. 10) in March 2016

History

The pre-series set, S11, was delivered to Sendai Depot in May 2009 ahead of extensive test running on the

. Cars 1 to 5 were built by

Hitachi () is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1910 and headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo. The company is active in various industries, including digital systems, power and renewable ener ...

Yamaguchi Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Yamaguchi Prefecture has a population of 1,377,631 (1 February 2018) and has a geographic area of 6,112 Square kilometre, km2 (2,359 Square mile, sq mi). ...

, and cars 6 to 10 were built by

in Hyogo Prefecture. Set S11 made its first appearance at Tokyo Station on 9 December 2009. The first full-production set, U2, was delivered to Sendai Depot in December 2010. In May 2012, the E5 series was awarded the 2012 Blue Ribbon Award, presented annually by the Japan Railfan Club. A formal presentation ceremony was held at Tokyo Station on 20 November 2012. The pre-series set, S11, was upgraded to full-production standard in February 2013 and renumbered U1. It retains the flush

plug door A plug door is a door designed to seal itself by taking advantage of pressure difference on its two sides and is typically used on aircraft with cabin pressurization. The higher pressure on one side forces the usually wedge-shaped door into its ...

s for the passenger doors immediately behind the driving cabs, whereas the full-production sets have recessed sliding doors. From the start of the revised timetable on 16 March 2013, the maximum speed in service was raised from to between Utsunomiya and Morioka.

H5 series

Details of the new H5 series trains on order were announced by JR Hokkaido in April 2014. The first set, H1, was shipped from Kawasaki Heavy Industries in Kobe to Hakodate Depot in October 2014. The second set was also delivered in October 2014. In November 2014, JR Hokkaido officially announced details of the bodyside logos to be applied to the trains, combining an outline of Hokkaido with an image intended to portray the

gyrfalcon The gyrfalcon ( or ) (), also abbreviated as gyr, is a bird of prey from the genus ''Falco'' (falcons and kestrels) and the largest species of the family Falconidae. A high-latitude species, the gyrfalcon breeds on the Arctic coasts and tundra, ...

native to Hokkaido. Slow-speed test-running on the Hokkaido Shinkansen tracks within Hokkaido commenced from 1 December 2014, with the maximum speed of 260 km/h reached on 26 December. Test-running on the Tōhoku Shinkansen south of Shin-Aomori commenced in November 2015.

Fleet list

E5

, the fleet is as follows.

H5

, the H5 series fleet is as follows.

Accidents and incidents

H5 series set H2, coupled with E6 series set Z9 and operating as ''

'' No. 223 bound for

Sendai is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Miyagi Prefecture and the largest city in the Tōhoku region. , the city had a population of 1,098,335 in 539,698 households, making it the List of cities in Japan, twelfth most populated city in Japan. ...

, derailed during the

2022 Fukushima earthquake On March 16, 2022, at 23:36 Japan Standard Time, JST, a strong earthquake struck off the coast of Fukushima prefecture, Fukushima, Japan. The Earthquake magnitude, earthquake had a magnitude of 7.4 according to the Japanese Meteorological Agency ...

while traveling between Fukushima and Shiroishi-Zaō stations. There were no injuries on board.

Planned export to India

The E5 series trains with a red and grey livery were chosen for use on the under-construction

Mumbai–Ahmedabad high-speed rail corridor The Mumbai–Ahmedabad High Speed Rail Corridor (Mumbai–Ahmedabad HSR) is an under-construction high-speed rail line, which will connect Mumbai, Maharashtra, the financial hub of India, with Ahmedabad, the largest city in the state of Gujara ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. A total of 24 trains were planned to be purchased while the deal for the first six was intended to be signed by the end of March 2024.

and

started talks with

Indian Railways Indian Railways is a state-owned enterprise that is organised as a departmental undertaking of the Ministry of Railways (India), Ministry of Railways of the Government of India and operates India's national railway system. , it manages the fou ...

on design changes such as the modification of the air conditioning system in order for it to operate efficiently at temperatures up to 50 degrees

Celsius The degree Celsius is the unit of temperature on the Celsius temperature scale "Celsius temperature scale, also called centigrade temperature scale, scale based on 0 ° for the melting point of water and 100 ° for the boiling point ...

. One of the goals of Indian Railways was to replace the high-end technical offerings on Japan's train sets with indigenous bio-toilets. Similarly, the primary languages for documentation of facility usage instructions was to be

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

. A thorough technical study was commissioned by

National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited The National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL) was incorporated in 2016 to manage High-speed rail in India, high-speed rail corridors in India. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Indian Railways, the Ministry of Railways and the Go ...

with HKC Consortium in Japan. The goal was to determine the adjustments needed for the

rolling stock The term rolling stock in the rail transport industry refers to railway vehicles, including both powered and unpowered vehicles: for example, locomotives, Railroad car#Freight cars, freight and Passenger railroad car, passenger cars (or coaches) ...

to run efficiently under Indian climatic conditions. The existing

HVAC Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC ) is the use of various technologies to control the temperature, humidity, and purity of the air in an enclosed space. Its goal is to provide thermal comfort and acceptable indoor air quality. ...

systems are usually sufficient, but a few minor layout adjustments are needed to maximize performance. To control dust levels, filter cleaning frequency must increase. The heavier weight of the cooling equipment was a hurdle throughout the redesign phase since it could affect energy efficiency. The power needed to maintain high speeds rises with weight, which may have an impact on the train's overall performance. To make matters more complicated, Indian passengers' average weight, including their luggage, is greater than that of Japanese passengers. A weight calculation analysis showed that simply by providing fewer seats, the Shinkansen in India could keep its weight similar to that of Japan's. However, due to increasing costs and postponements in delivery, India moved to consider indigenously built trains. In April 2025, it was reported that Japan will provide India with two Shinkansen train sets, the E5 series and the E3 series, to support the testing and interim operation. These would operate in parallel with 2, 280 km/h sets developed by India's

Integral Coach Factory Integral Coach Factory (ICF) is an Indian manufacturer of rolling stock, and electrical multiple units. Established in 1955, it is located in Perambur in Chennai and is the largest rail coach manufacturer in the world. It is owned and operated ...

in collaboration with

BEML BEML Limited, formerly Bharat Earth Movers Limited, is an Indian public sector undertaking which manufactures a variety of heavy equipment, such as that used for earth moving, railways, transport and mining. It is headquartered in Bangalore. BEM ...

. Following this,

E10 series Shinkansen The E10 series () is a Japanese Shinkansen high-speed train type on order by East Japan Railway Company (JR East) for use on services. It will also be used on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad high speed rail corridor in India. Overview Details of the n ...

trains will be delivered in 2030.

In media

The E5 series is featured in the anime ''

Shinkansen Henkei Robo Shinkalion is a Japanese toy franchise created by Takara Tomy, in association with the Japan Railways Group. It is a spin-off of the long-running Plarail model train franchise, with the toys first launched back at March 16, 2015. An anime adaptatio ...

'' as the "Shinkalion E5 Hayabusa". The H5 series also is featured, referred to as the "Shinkalion H5 Hayabusa". Both trainset types have been featured in all current installments of the franchise. The E5 series is featured in the film ''

Bullet Train Explosion is a 2025 Japanese action thriller film directed by Shinji Higuchi and starring Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, Kanata Hosoda, Non, Takumi Saitoh, Machiko Ono, Jun Kaname and Hana Toyoshima. A sequel to the 1975 film ''The Bullet Train'', the film premiered ...

''.

References

External links

JR East E5 series
(archived)

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20140416081225/https://www.jrhokkaido.co.jp/press/2014/140416-1.pdf JR Hokkaido press release (16 April 2014) (archived; PDF) {{JR Hokkaido trainsets Shinkansen train series East Japan Railway Company Electric multiple units of Japan Hokkaido Railway Company 25 kV AC multiple units Train-related introductions in 2011 Train-related introductions in 2016 Hitachi multiple units Kawasaki multiple units Tilting trains Passenger trains running at least at 300 km/h in commercial operations