East Japan Railway Company announced on January 3 that it is improving the early earthquake detection system for Shinkansen bullet trains, which will allow trains to apply more emergency brakes when an earthquake occurs.
East Japan Railway Co. will install the new system in March 2025 on all 135 Tohoku, Joetsu and Hokuriku Shinkansen trains, according to an announcement on Jan. 3.
The system, jointly developed by East Japan Railway Company and the Railway Technical Research Institute, will shorten the reaction time between detecting an earthquake and applying the emergency brakes from the current average of 3.9 seconds to just 1.3 seconds.
The emergency brake will be activated when an earthquake of magnitude 5.5 or higher occurs. In this system, a bullet train traveling at 320 km/h will immediately stop after about 230 m from braking, a shorter distance than existing technology.
East Japan Railway Co. said it will thoroughly evaluate predicting the magnitude of earthquakes using P waves, or primary waves that travel faster than S waves and cause ground movement, to achieve greater accuracy.
Current shinkansen bullet trains make emergency stops about 20 times a year due to earthquake incidents. With the new system, that number could increase four times due to improvements in the sensor system.
Company President Yuji Fukasawa called the implementation of the new system a decision to prioritize safety. According to Mainichi , the shinkansen's earthquake safety system has been continuously improved since it went into operation in 1982.
Minh Hoa (t/h according to VTV, Thanh Nien)
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