India’s First Bullet Train FAQ: Running At Speed Of Over 200 Kmph, Can High-Speed Trains Derail?

Last Updated:August 27, 2025, 08:32 is

India’s first Bullet train corridor, made with the Shinkansen Technology, will establish new standards for speed, safety, and reliability.

India is all set to get its first Bullet train soon. Running between Ahmedabad and Mumbai, the train is expected to cover a total distance of 508 km in just 2 hours, running at the high speed of 308 km per hour, making travel easier and faster for the commuters. The project will deploy Japan’s next-generation E10 Shinkansen trains, which will debut simultaneously in India and Japan around 2030, coinciding with the project’s commercial operations expected to start in 2027.

India’s first Bullet train corridor, made with the Shinkansen technology, will establish new standards for speed, safety, and reliability. This illustrates India and Japan’s close strategic and technological cooperation.

However, as we head towards the Bullet Train Era in India, let’s take a look at the history of Shinkansen and how the Japanese engineers resolved a major issue that could’ve led to a massive accident back in the 1950s.

Japanese Engineers Faced Problems With Shinkansen In The 1950s

In the 1950s, Japanese engineers faced a major challenge when designing the Shinkansen: hunting oscillation (a dangerous side-to-side swaying of the carriages at high speeds).

And with its goal to reach a top speed of 200 km/h, these vibrations posed a serious threat to derailment. However, to solve this issue, the Japanese engineers approached Tadatsi Madsudaira, who had experience taming vibrations in fighter planes.

During his research, Madsudaira realised that it’s not just the wheel design, but the real problem behind this oscillation was the suspension system, which couldn’t unable to absorb the violent side-to-side movements. To solve this, he came up with a revolutionary idea—a new type of air spring capable of damping both vertical and horizontal vibrations.

After months of testing, the breakthrough came on March 30, 1963, with a flawless trial run and achieving the record speed of 256 km/h and over the next decades, this system allowed Japan to build one of the most advanced high-speed rail networks in the world, safe, fast and stable.

Can Bullet Trains Derail During An Earthquake?

It’s no secret that Japan experiences frequent earthquakes; the country has some of the highest seismic activity in the world. Naturally, this raises concerns about whether high-speed trains like the Shinkansen could derail during such events.

Remarkably, the Shinkansen has maintained a flawless safety record, with no passenger fatalities from derailments or collisions caused by earthquakes. This is thanks to advanced safety measures such as the Urgent Earthquake Detection and Alarm System (URDAS), which can automatically halt trains seconds before strong tremors arrive.

Now, the upcoming E10 Shinkansen trains, with a maximum speed of 320 kms, will also have extensive safety systems in place to prevent derailment during earthquakes, as well as provisions for future driverless automated operation, a source told Deccan Herald.

The Mumbai-Ahmedabad Bullet train corridor will cover cities like Thane, Vapi, Surat, Bilimora, Vadodara, Nadiad-Anand and Ahmedabad.

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