Japan Ends Bullet Train Service

Well, service featuring the original Bullet Train anyways. Over the last 40 years Japan has developed a fine stable of Bullet Train hybrids that now allows them to retire the first Shinkansen or Dream Superexpress Zero Series bullet train.

Now, it's more than capable offspring take over the job.

It's been 44 years of very distinguished, ground-breaking service. Job well done. The Shinkasen Zero series changed the face of railroading as we know it.

New technology marks end of era for Japan's first bullet trains

Travelling at speeds of 220kph, the first Dream Superexpress Zero Series bullet trains became an enduring symbol of Japan's post war recovery.

But this week the original model was retired 44 years after its first run.

The retirement of the original bullet train -­ known as shinkansen in Japan -­ goes hand in hand with the rise of 21st century train technology, an area in which the nation has long excelled.

The latest model of bullet trains now in operation in Japan is the N700 Series Shinkansen, which are fitted with tilting technology enabling them to reach speeds of 300 kph while using 20 per cent less electricity than their predecessors.

But soon these too will be obsolete. Japanese train designers are currently working on the nation's first magnetically levitated trains.

Expected to be in operation by 2025, the new "maglev" trains hover about the tracks due to powerful friction-free magnetic fields, enabling them to hit record-breaking speeds in excess of 500kph.

Japan retires it's first bullet train almost a half century after being introduced. America, still doesn't even have it's first bullet train, much less anything going on with maglev. That's simply a crying shame.

It's time we finally got on board the high-speed express. Way past time actually.