JR East Announces Design of New Inspection Shinkansen Train

Tokyo, July 14 (Jiji Press)–East Japan Railway Co., or JR East, on Tuesday announced the nickname and design of a successor to its East-i inspection train for Shinkansen bullet train lines, set to be introduced in fiscal 2029. The new train, nicknamed Soar, will inspect the tracks and other facilities while running at a maximum speed of 320 kilometers per hour, the same as that for trains on the Tohoku Shinkansen Line. East-i could reach a maximum speed of only 275 kph, presenting safety challenges. “It is safer because inspections can be performed in the same (speed) conditions as commercial operations,” JR East President Yoichi Kise said at a press conference. The seven-car E927 series train will be white and have red and green lines on its sides. Further details of the train will be finalized around autumn this year. The letter O in Soar, which resembles the number 0, expresses the company’s wish for zero accidents. JR East will use the inspection train to identify sections requiring maintenance using a newly developed system that can estimate the force applied to rails in addition to a device measuring rail distortion. The train will be equipped with 48 cameras to capture images of facilities such as overhead wires and the surrounding environment including tunnels. In the future, the railway operator will use artificial intelligence technology to automatically detect potential hazards such as cracks in rails. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]