BYLINE: Yoshihiko Sato
General Manager,
Transport and Rolling Stock Department,
East Japan Railway
JR EAST has adopted a two-part strategy for replacing the 700 Series 200 cars that entered service with the opening of the Tohoku and Joetsu shinkansen in 1982. The fine detail is still under discussion, but Series E2 sets running at up to 275 km/h will accelerate journey times from Tokyo to Morioka and Niigata, and double-deck Series E4 units will increase capacity on profitable peak-hour commuter services to destinations within a 150 km radius of Tokyo. Work continues on the best way to operate E2 and E4 trainsets together.
JR East’s first all double-deck shinkansen trainset, the Series E1 ’MAX’ (RG 5.94 p287), has enjoyed considerable success and boosted capacity on commuter services. Each E1 trainset has 12 cars, providing high capacity at peak periods but offering insufficient flexibility for economic operation at other times. To achieve this, the eight-car E4 will run in pairs during peak periods and singly at other times, and will be compatible with E2, E3 and Series 400 trainsets (Fig 1).
Three E4 trainsets are currently under construction and are due to enter service at the end of this year. Each unit will have a total of 817 seats, with 54 in green car accommodation (first class) and 763 in second. We believe that commuter services operated with pairs of E4 trainsets will offer the greatest high-speed capacity anywhere in the world, with 1634 seats provided in a 16-car formation 400m long.
Less weight, more power
With car bodies fabricated from aluminium alloy rather than carbon steel, the E4 has a lower axleload than its E1 predecessor. With a 1 h rating of 6 720 kW, each E4 trainset has four powered and four trailer vehicles. In place of the 410 kW traction motors fitted to the E1, the E4 has 420 kW motors which will provide sufficient capacity for continued operation in the event of power car failure.
To reduce weight further, VVVF traction equipment incorporating IGBT technology has replaced the GTO-based drive of the E1. As a result, a fully-laden E4 has a highest axleload of 16 tonnes, 1 tonne less than the E1. Bolsterless bogies with a wheelbase of 2500mm have been specified; wheel diameter is 910mm, as with the E1.
Maximum speed is 240 km/h, with regenerative and air braking systems fitted as on the E1. The nose design of the E4 has been modified to reduce pressure waves generated when the train enters or leaves a tunnel.
The driving trailer at the Tokyo end of each E4 trainset (Car 1) has 75 unreserved second class seats, arranged in a 3+3 configuration on the upper deck and as a 2+3 layout on the lower deck. Folding seats are provided in the vestibule of Car 1, which is equipped with toilets. Car 2 is a motor car with 133 unreserved second class seats, arranged in the same 3+3 and 2+3 configurations as Car 1.
Transformer equipment is located in Car 3, a motor car with 119 second class seats for smokers arranged in 3+3 and 2+3 formats. Car 4 is a trailer equipped with a pantograph, with 124 reserved second class seats for smokers in a 2+3 configuration on both decks.
Reserved seating in a 2+3 configuration for 110 second class passengers is provided in Car 5, a trailer vehicle with a kiosk, conductor’s office and toilets (including one for disabled passengers) at vestibule level. Car 6 is powered and equipped with a pantograph, offering 122 reserved second class seats and a compartment with disabled accommodation, at vestibule level adjacent to Car 5.
The upper deck of Car 7, a power car with transformer equipment, has seats for 36 first class passengers, arranged in a 2+2 layout (Fig 2). On the lower deck there are 55 reserved second class seats in a 2+3 arrangement. Car 8, a driving trailer, has reserved smoking accommodation for 18 first class passengers on the upper deck and 25 standard class passengers on the lower deck. Disabled accommodation is provided on the upper deck, reached by a lift from the vestibule.
Seating throughout the E4 is the same as that supplied for the E1, with electric motors fitted to turn the seats through 180° at the end of each journey. Each car on the E4 has a lift for transferring refreshment trolleys between decks, and public telephones have been fitted in Cars 2, 3, 5 and 8. o
CAPTION: Nose design has concentrated on reducing the pressure waves generated when entering and leaving tunnels
CAPTION: Fig 1. The E4 has been designed to operate with JR East’s E3 (top), Series 400 (middle) and E2 (bottom) trainsets
CAPTION:
Fig 2. Two cars of Series E4 have first class accommodation on the upper deck
Series E4 car dimensions
TABLE: Width mm 3380
Height mm 4493
Length over (driving car) 25700
couplers mm (intermediate car) 25000
Bogie wheelbase mm 2500
