Japan’s newest shinkansen has no seats…or passengers

Usually, when planning to use the shinkansen (bullet train), you’ll need to make a choice between booking a reserved or non-reserved seat. This month, however, East Japan Railway Company (JR East) showed off its first-ever bullet train that has no seats at all.

Those aren’t the only ordinarily expected shinkansen features the train is missing though. It also has no conventional side windows inside its cars, and if that’s starting to sound like a very spartan riding environment, the staff operating the train aren’t likely to hear any complaints, because it will also have no passengers.

That’s because this is Japan’s first all-freight shinkansen, strictly used for shipping cargo from one part of the country to the other, with no cars for leisure or business travelers. The seven cars of the no-seat Shinkansen did, once upon a time, carry passengers, but they’ve been repurposed for their new role by removing all of their seats and installing a special non-slip flooring surface to keep crates and boxes from sliding around while in transit.

▼ Before

▼ After

The majority of the cargo is expected to be fresh foodstuffs, such as fish and vegetables, and precision electronic/mechanical equipment, both things where timely delivery and delicate handling along the way are prized. With no passengers onboard who’ll want to look out at the scenery, the freight shinkansen’s windows are covered with depictions of products from the regions the route runs along, showing off some local pride and helping keep excess light and heat out of the cargo area.

The no-seat shinkansen is an expansion of JR’s Hakobyun Shinkansen shipping service (the same one used by this Tokyo Station sushi restaurant to get the freshest fish possible). With Japan currently facing a shortage of certified truck drivers, there’s uncertainty about maintaining logistics and distribution networks, and JR wants to be able to fill upcoming needs. For the no-seat shinkansen, the company also uses automated carts to help bring boxes to/from the platform, as shown in the video here, to help them handle a large volume of shipments even with limited manpower.

While Hakobyun is primarily aimed at businesses, individuals can make use of the service as well, with JR East able to offer coordination for further ground shipping after packages arrive at the station.

Though it was shown to the public for the first time on Feb 6, the no-seat shinkansen doesn’t go into full service until March 23, when it will begin making once-a-day weekday runs from Morioka in Iwate Prefecture to Tokyo.

Source: Nitele News via Livedoor News, JR East

Images: JR East

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