Here are the brief introductions of different Shinkansen trains.
I cannot write detailed explanation.
If you would like to know more details, please search from the Internet.
The O series Shinkansen are the first trainsets built to run on the Shinkansen
network.
The first Shinkansen line is the Tokaido Shinkansen. When the Tokaido Shinkansen
began its operation in 1964, these cars were used.
The 0 Series Shinkansen was retired at the end of November 2008.
Only one car exported to Taiwan as a Taiwan High Speed Rail's clearance
car.
The 100 Series Shinkansen are the second generation of Shinkansen.
Now, these Shinkansen trains are used on the Sanyo Shinkansen and Hakata-minami
line.
The 200 Series Shinkansen trainsets are the first type of trains built
for the Tohoku Shinkansen and Joetsu Shinkansen.
The maximum speed of these trains are 240km/h (150mph). but some improved
train sets were able to run at 275km/h (170mph).
For the first time in the Shinkansen history, Shinkansen Toki 325 (a 200
Series Shinkansen train) derailed while in service due to the Chuetsu Earthquake
on 23 Oct, 2004. However, no injuries were reported.
The 300 Series Shinkansen are the third generation of the Tokaido and Sanyo
Shinkansen.
The fastest Nozomi services were started with these trainsets. They are
controlled by VVVF (variable voltage variable frequency) drives for the
first time in Shinkansen history.
The Yamagata Shinkansen and the Akita Shinkansen are called the 'mini Shinkansen'.
Since it is very expensive to build dedicated Shinkansen line from scratch,
the existing Ohu Line was regauged to standard gauge and upgraded for
Shinkansen trains to run on.
The 400 Series Shinkansen are the first mini Shinkansen, and they run only
on the Tohoku Shinkansen and Yamagata Shinkansen.
The maximum speed of these trains is 240km/h (150mph) on the Tohoku Shinkansen,
but on the Yamagata Shinkansen, their speed is restricted to 130km/h (80mph).
The 500 Series Shinkansen are the fastest and most powerful trainsets in Japan.
They are used on the Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen.
They operate at a maximum speed of 300 km/h (186mph) on Sanyo Shinkansen.
They were the fastest trainsets in the world until 2001.
The 700T Series are a kind of Shinkansen trains built for Taiwan High Speed
Rail.
It marks the first time Japanese Shinkansen trains have been exported overseas.
They were based on the 700 Series Shinkansen and were made by Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Nippon Sharyo and Hitachi.
Their maximum speed is 300km/h (186mph) in service.
The N700 Series Shinkansen are the fifth generation of the Tokaido and
Sanyo Shinkansen.
They are the newest Shinkansen and have a maximum speed of 300km/h.
They can tilt of up to one degree and their speed can be kept at 270km/h
when they run on 2,500m radius curves.
The 800 series Shinkansen were based on the 700 Series Shinkanen.
They run on the Kyusyu Shinkansen.
They have a maximum speed of 260km/h (160mph) in service, although their
design speed is up to 285km/h (180mph).
E1系
初のオール2階建て新幹線です。
東北・上越新幹線用ですが、東北新幹線からは引退しました。
The E1 Series Shinkansen trainsets were the first double-deck Shinkansen.
All the trainsets are assigned to run on the Joetsu Shinkansen only.
In the old days, they ran on the Tohoku Shinkansen as well.
E2系
東北・上越・長野新幹線用です。
The E2 Series Shinkansen trainsets are used on the Tohoku, Joetsu and Nagano
Shinkansen.
Their maximum speed is 275km/h (170mph) on the Tohoku Shinkansen.
They started operations on the Tohoku Shinkansen in 1997 and can be coupled to the E3 Series Shinkansen (the Akita Shinkansen trains).
The E2 Series also began to operate on the Nagano Shinkansen line, which was built for the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics.
The line was opened on October 1st, 1997.
こまち Akita Shinkansen Komachi
つばさ Yamagata Shinkansen Tsubasa
E3系
秋田新幹線・山形新幹線用ミニ新幹線です。
The E3 Series Shinkansen are the mini-Shinkansen, just like the 400 Series
Shinkansen.
They run on the Akita and Yamagata Shinkansen.
There are two types of E3 Series trains Komachi & Tsubasa. Tsubasa
run on Yamagata Shinkansen for Yamagata or Shinjo.
Komachi run on Akita Shinkansen for Akita.
When they run on the Tohoku Shinkansen, they are usually coupled to E2
or E4 Series Shinkansen.
The maximum speed of these trains is 275km/h (170mph) on the Tohoku Shinkansen.But on the Yamagata and Akita Shinkansen, their speed is restricted to 130km/h (80mph) only.
The E4 Series are the second generation double-deck Shinkansen.
They operate on the Tohoku, Joetsu and Nagano Shinkansen.
A few E4 Series trains can go to Karuizawa or Nagano.
The E5 Series are next generation of the Tohoku Shinkansen. They are currently
on order for the fastest services on Tohoku Shinkansen and will have a
maximum speed of 320km/h.
Now the Tohoku Shinkansen is extending to Shin-Aomori due to open in 2011.
The E5 Series will debut then.
East Japan Railway Company released details of the new Shinkansen E5 Series on September 3rd, 2008. The trial run will be starting in this summer. It is based on FASTECH 360 test trains.