N700S Series Shinkansen


The N700S series is a Japanese Shinkansen high-speed train with tilting capability operated by JR Central and JR West on the Tokaido and San'yō Shinkansen lines since 2020, and JR Kyushu on the Nishi Kyushu Shinkansen line since 2022.

History

In June 2016, JR Central announced plans to build a new prototype 16-car trainset, the N700S, to evaluate new technologies and features on the Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen lines starting in March 2018.
Developed from the earlier N700A series, the N700S incorporates several new features. Refinements to the ATC and braking systems enable emergency braking distances to be reduced by 5%, improving safety during events such as earthquakes. The traction system uses silicon carbide components, and combined with a new aerodynamic design, reduces power consumption by approximately 7%. Toshiba SCiB LTO batteries allow the train to operate at low speed during power disruptions, enabling it to move to a safe location for passenger evacuation and maintain essential functions such as toilets.
An optimized underfloor equipment layout makes it possible to use the same standard design for 16-car Tokaido Shinkansen trainsets as well as 12-, 8-, and 6-car configurations, improving flexibility for potential export.
Green cars feature a fully active damping control system to improve ride quality, while ordinary-class cars provide AC power outlets at every seat. Additional improvements include larger luggage storage areas, more CCTV cameras, an upgraded intercom system, and softer, more relaxing interior lighting.
In 2021, the N700S was awarded the Laurel Prize by the Japan Railfan Club.

JR Central

A 16-car prototype set, assembled at the Nippon Sharyo Toyokawa plant, was unveiled at JR Central's Hamamatsu depot on 10 March 2018. From 20 March, this set was used for testing and evaluation. High-speed trials at the design speed of were conducted during 2019 on the Tokaido Shinkansen, reaching a maximum speed of. This is faster than the fastest speed ever achieved by the N700A, and may indicate plans to raise the maximum operating speed on the line.
The first full-production J set was delivered to JR Central in April 2020, with trains entering revenue service on 1 July 2020.
JR Central announced in May 2022 that it would add 19 trainsets to their current N700S fleet at a cost of 114 billion yen. The first two of these trainsets are scheduled to enter service in 2023, with seven trainsets delivered in 2024 and 2025, and three more delivered in 2026.
In June 2024, JR Central announced that the Doctor Yellow inspection trains would be replaced by stock-standard N700S trainsets with special monitoring equipment from 2027.
In January 2026, JR Central announced that they would begin to introduce private rooms on N700S trains starting in October 2026. Two private rooms will initially be offered on selected services, each seating one or two passengers. The rooms will be priced higher than green car seats. It will mark the first time that private rooms will be available on the Tōkaidō Shinkansen since the retirement of the 100 Series Shinkansen in 2003. JR Central has also planned to introduce semi-private rooms in fiscal year 2028.

JR Kyushu

, the Nishi Kyushu Shinkansen is operated by a fleet of five 6-car JR Kyushu N700S series trainsets.
For the commencement of the Nishi Kyushu Shinkansen, four 6-car N700S series trainsets were ordered by JR Kyushu. Nicknamed "Kamome", these entered service in September 2022. Two trains are required during the day, with three trains in operation in the afternoon/evening. One train is kept as a spare.
In August 2023, another 6-car set was delivered to allow for one train to be out of service during regular inspections.

Operations

The first N700S sets replaced 700 series trains, and added more rolling stock needed to realize the increased amount of services on the Tokaido Shinkansen planned from 2020. The N700S series is expected to gradually replace N700 series sets on the Sanyo, Tokaido, and Kyushu Shinkansen lines. A 6-car variant started operations on the Nishi Kyushu Shinkansen on 23 September 2022.
The train is also planned to run on the proposed Texas Central Railway high-speed line connecting Dallas and Houston.

Variants

N700S series: 50 ⨯ 16-car "J" sets owned by JR Central, introduced from 1 July 2020N700S-3000 series: 5 ⨯ 16-car "H" sets owned by JR West, introduced from 13 March 2021
  • N700S-8000 series "Kamome": 5 ⨯ 6-car "Y" sets owned by JR Kyushu on the Nishi Kyushu Shinkansen, introduced from 23 September 2022

16-car J sets

The J sets were the first to be introduced, and include the pre-series J0 set used for testing between 2018 and 2020.

Formation

The 16-car J sets are formed as follows.
Car No.12345678910111213141516
DesignationTcM2M'wM1M1wM'M2kM1sM'sM2sM'hM1M1wM'M2wT'c
Numbering743747746-500745745-300746747-400735736737746-700745-600745-500746-200747-500744
Seating capacity6510085100901007568646863100901008075
FacilitiesToilets Toilets, smoking roomTelephoneToilets Toilets, smoking roomConductor's officeToilets, telephoneSmoking roomToilets, wheelchair space, multi-purpose roomTelephoneToilets Toilets, smoking room, telephone

Fleet list

, the JR Central N700S series 'J' set fleet is as follows.
Set No.ManufacturerDate deliveredRemarks
J0Hitachi/Nippon Sharyo25 March 2018Pre-series set
J1Nippon Sharyo14 April 2020Fiscal 2020 batch
J2Hitachi16 June 2020Fiscal 2020 batch
J3Nippon Sharyo20 May 2020Fiscal 2020 batch
J4Hitachi9 September 2020Fiscal 2020 batch
J5Nippon Sharyo23 June 2020Fiscal 2020 batch
J6Hitachi30 November 2020Fiscal 2020 batch
J7Nippon Sharyo26 August 2020Fiscal 2020 batch
J8Nippon Sharyo2 October 2020Fiscal 2020 batch
J9Nippon Sharyo11 November 2020Fiscal 2020 batch
J10Hitachi11 January 2021Fiscal 2020 batch
J11Nippon Sharyo19 December 2020Fiscal 2020 batch
J12Hitachi23 February 2021Fiscal 2020 batch
J13Nippon Sharyo3 April 2021Fiscal 2021 batch
J14Hitachi11 May 2021Fiscal 2021 batch
J15Nippon Sharyo23 May 2021Fiscal 2021 batch
J16Hitachi10 July 2021Fiscal 2021 batch
J17Nippon Sharyo3 July 2021Fiscal 2021 batch
J18Nippon Sharyo3 September 2021Fiscal 2021 batch
J19Nippon Sharyo1 October 2021Fiscal 2021 batch
J20Hitachi1 November 2021Fiscal 2021 batch
J21Nippon Sharyo12 November 2021Fiscal 2021 batch
J22Hitachi14 December 2021Fiscal 2021 batch
J23Nippon Sharyo7 January 2022Fiscal 2021 batch
J24Hitachi1 March 2022Fiscal 2021 batch
J25Nippon Sharyo15 February 2022Fiscal 2021 batch
J26Nippon Sharyo1 April 2022Fiscal 2021 batch
J27Hitachi19 April 2022Fiscal 2022 batch
J28Nippon Sharyo20 May 2022Fiscal 2022 batch
J29Hitachi24 June 2022Fiscal 2022 batch
J30Nippon Sharyo8 July 2022Fiscal 2022 batch
J31Nippon Sharyo24 August 2022Fiscal 2022 batch
J32Nippon Sharyo4 October 2022Fiscal 2022 batch
J33Hitachi8 November 2022Fiscal 2022 batch
J34Nippon Sharyo18 November 2022Fiscal 2022 batch
J35Hitachi20 January 2023Fiscal 2022 batch
J36Nippon Sharyo11 January 2023Fiscal 2022 batch
J37Hitachi6 March 2023Fiscal 2022 batch
J38Nippon Sharyo20 February 2023Fiscal 2022 batch
J39Hitachi18 April 2023Fiscal 2022 batch
J40Nippon Sharyo5 April 2023Fiscal 2022 batch
J41Nippon Sharyo5 March 2024Fiscal 2023 batch
J42Nippon Sharyo22 March 2024Fiscal 2023 batch
J43Nippon Sharyo24 May 2024Fiscal 2023 batch
J44Hitachi9 July 2024Fiscal 2023 batch
J45Nippon Sharyo17 July 2024Fiscal 2023 batch
J46Nippon Sharyo28 August 2024Fiscal 2024 batch
J47Hitachi22 October 2024Fiscal 2024 batch
J48Nippon Sharyo15 November 2024Fiscal 2024 batch
J49Nippon Sharyo24 January 2025Fiscal 2024 batch

16-car H sets (N700S-3000 series)

These are 16-car N700S series sets owned by JR West and classified as N700S-3000 series sets.

Formation

The 16-car H sets are formed as follows.
Car No.12345678910111213141516
DesignationTcM2M'wM1M1wM'M2kM1sM'sM2sM'hM1M1wM'M2wT'c
Numbering743-3000747-3000746-3500745-3000745-3300746-3000747-3400735-3000736-3000737-3000746-3700745-3600745-3500746-3200747-3500744-3000
Seating capacity6510085100901007568646863100901008075
FacilitiesToilets Toilets, smoking roomTelephoneToilets Toilets, smoking roomConductor's officeToilets, telephoneSmoking roomToilets, wheelchair space, multi-purpose roomTelephoneToilets Toilets, smoking room, telephone

Fleet list

, the JR West N700S series 'H' set fleet is as follows.
Set No.ManufacturerDate deliveredRemarks
H1Hitachi3 February 2021Fiscal 2020 batch
H2Nippon Sharyo17 March 2021Fiscal 2020 batch
H3Hitachi27 July 2023Fiscal 2023 batch
H4Nippon Sharyo17 December 2023Fiscal 2023 batch
H5Nippon Sharyo11 September 2024Fiscal 2024 batch

6-car Y sets (N700S-8000 series)

These are 6-car N700S series sets owned by JR Kyushu and classified as N700S-8000 series sets. Five sets provide service on the Nishi Kyushu Shinkansen.
The design of the variant was done by Eiji Mitooka, who had previously designed several trains for JR Kyushu. He could not make any modifications to the exterior shape or equipment. He sought to make the ride "more fun and relaxing" through the inclusion of colors and shapes to the train's design. He presented JR Kyushu with four livery concepts, with a red and white one being chosen. Headlights were given black outlines and the center of the nose was painted black in order to have the front of the train resemble a face. The interior is also decorated with illustrations made by Mitooka.
These sets do not feature Green Car accommodation. In regular service, cars 1-3 are reserved seat cars, and cars 4-6 are non-reserved seat cars. Seats on cars 1–3 are arranged in four wide abreast configuration instead of a five wide configuration seen in normal reserved cars of JR West and JR Central N700S variants, and similar to reserved seat cars on JR Kyushu's N700 series sets. This was done to make the Shinkansen more attractive to tourists.

Formation

The 6-car Y sets are formed as follows.
Car No.123456
DesignationM'wcM2M1hM1M2wM'c
ClassReservedReservedReservedNon-reservedNon-reservedNon-reserved
Numbering721-8000727-8000725-8000725-8100727-8100722-8100
Seating
capacity		407642868661
FacilitiesWheelchair spaceToilets,
multi-purpose room

Fleet list

, the JR Kyushu N700S series 'Y' set fleet is as follows.
Set No.ManufacturerDate delivered
Y1Hitachi1 June 2022
Y2Hitachi1 June 2022
Y3Hitachi1 July 2022
Y4Hitachi1 September 2022
Y5Hitachi5 October 2023
-Hitachi-
-Hitachi-
-Hitachi-

Overall fleet history

The annual totals for the fleet sizes are as follows.
Year JR Central JR West JR KyushuTotal
2018160016
2019160016
2020160016
2021208320240
2022432320464
20236083224664


Derivatives

In March 2023, Taiwan High Speed Rail announced it will purchase 12 new 12-car trains based on the N700S at a cost of approximately NTD 28 billion to supplement its older THSR 700T sets. These will be manufactured by an alliance of Hitachi and Toshiba. In August 2025, these new trains were officially designated as the N700ST series. The first set of the new trains is expected to arrive in Taiwan in August 2026 and revenue service will start in the second half of 2027.