On the train in Japan, "green" does not refer to the environment. Nor to the color of money, as the extreme amounts necessary to buy "green" tickets there are colored in the generally neutral tones of 10,000 yen bills. Soon there will be "super-green" to take even more of your hard-earned gray.
East Japan Railway Co. (JR East) will introduce super-first class cars on a new extension to its bullet train routes in 2010. The luxuries, according to the Japanese paper Mainichi Shimbun, are to exceed the already comfy-looking green cars on the tracks.
The newer trains will also have a new maximum speed of 320kph (199mph). After a two-week trip enjoying the all-country JR train pass (which cost me, but was worth it), I wonder who could possibly need a more luxurious train than the already clean, orderly, and quiet cars I had on even the less expensive Hikari trains.
Then again, who pays for first class on Virgin Air?
Vacationing in Japan this week I accidentally rode on the world's first diesel-electric hybrid train in commercial service: The Kiha E200 running on the East Japan Railway's Koumi Line. Aside from being a new train, introduced in 2007, it seemed like any other, but the photographers camped out for a shot along the mountainous route told otherwise.
JR East's Kiha E200 hybrid train
(Credit: Sinobyte)The train is a working prototype in use since July 2007 with the aim of gathering data for eventual mass production. Like a hybrid car, the diesel-powered engine is used during acceleration and the electric motor kicks in to maintain speed while collecting energy during braking.
As you can see in this YouTube video, the ride is smooth and quiet, and each train also includes a data screen near the bathrooms (that I didn't notice, since I'd gone at the station). The Koumi Line, according to the video caption (and Wikipedia Japan), is Japan's highest altitude train line at 1,375 meters, and it has spectacular views of the southern mountain range on the main Japanese island of Honshu, including Mt. Fuji. Developing highly efficient train transport will turn green mass transit even greener. Let's hope the test runs work out and other train companies get on board. Now, for the globally mobile, can I get a hybrid jumbo jet over here?
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