"STAR21" was the name given to the 9-car experimental

Shinkansen The , colloquially known in English as the bullet train, is a network of high-speed railway lines in Japan. Initially, it was built to connect distant Japanese regions with Tokyo, the capital, to aid economic growth and development. Beyond l ...

train developed in 1992 by the

East Japan Railway Company The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and is the largest of the seven Japan Railways Group companies. The company name is officially abbreviated as JR-EAST or JR East in English, and as in Japanese. The company's headquarters are ...

(JR East) in Japan to test technology to be incorporated in next-generation shinkansen trains operating at speeds of or higher. The name was an acronym for "Superior Train for the Advanced Railway toward the 21st Century".

Design

The train consisted of nine cars arranged in two distinct "halves", with the Class 952 half-set consisting of four separate vehicles, and the Class 953 half-set consisting of five articulated vehicles using shared bogies. Three different construction methods were used for the vehicle bodies. Cars 1 to 3 used welded hollow aluminium extrusions, cars 4 to 5 used brazed aluminium honeycomb panels, and cars 6 to 9 used an aircraft-style

Duralumin Duralumin (also called duraluminum, duraluminium, duralum, dural(l)ium, or dural) is a trade name for one of the earliest types of age-hardenable aluminium alloys. The term is a combination of '' Dürener'' and ''aluminium''. Its use as a tra ...

fuselage construction. The front-end design of the two driving vehicles (952-1 and 953-5) were slightly different, although both used a wedge-shaped profile with little lateral taper. The external livery was light green for the Class 952 cars (including half of car 953-1), "snow" grey for cars 953-1 to 953-3, and beige for cars 953-3 to 953-5, with a light blue window band throughout the length of the train. Internally, cars were fitted with passengers seats, arranged 2+2 abreast for standard class cars, and 2+1 abreast for the Green car (952-4). Five different types of lightweight seating design were tested.

Formation

The set, designated S5, was initially formed as follows with some cars unpowered. Cars 1 to 3 were built by Nippon Sharyo, cars 4 to 5 were built by

Hitachi () is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate corporation headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It is the parent company of the Hitachi Group (''Hitachi Gurūpu'') and had formed part of the Ni ...

, and cars 6 to 8 were built by

Kawasaki Heavy Industries (or simply Kawasaki) is a Japanese Public company, public multinational corporation manufacturer of motorcycles, engines, Heavy equipment (construction), heavy equipment, aerospace and Military, defense equipment, rolling stock and ships, headq ...

. Cars 3 and 7 were fitted with pantographs.

History

The train was delivered in March 1992, and unveiled to the press on 2 April. On 30 October 1992, the train recorded a Japanese national speed record of on the

Jōetsu Shinkansen The is a high-speed shinkansen railway line connecting Tokyo and Niigata, Japan, via the Tōhoku Shinkansen, operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). Despite its name, the line does not pass through the city of Joetsu or the hist ...

between Urasa and Niigata, surpassing the record previously set by JR West's "

WIN350 "WIN350" was the name given to the 6-car experimental high-speed ''Shinkansen'' train developed in 1992 by the West Japan Railway Company (JR West) in Japan to test technology to be incorporated in next-generation shinkansen trains expected to ...

" experimental train in August of the same year. On 1 November 1992, the record was raised to between Tsubame-Sanjō and Niigata. In 1993, the train was modified with the addition of motors to all axles, increasing its overall rating to . On 13 December 1993, the train reached , and on 21 December recorded a Japanese national speed record of on the Jōetsu Shinkansen between Tsubame-Sanjō and Niigata. This record stood until it was broken by JR Central's " 300X" experimental train in July 1996. The STAR21 trainset was officially withdrawn on 17 February 1998.

Preservation

End car 952-1 is preserved outdoors at the RTRI large-scale wind tunnel test facility in

Maibara, Shiga is a city in Shiga Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 38,259 in 14761 households and a population density of 150 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Maibara is located in northcentral Shiga Pre ...

, first displayed to the public on 10 October 1998. Cars 953-1 and 953-5 are preserved at Sendai Shinkansen Depot. A DT9035B bogie from the train was donated in June 1998 by

Sumitomo Metal Industries was a steel manufacturer based in Osaka, Japan until it merged with Nippon Steel in 2012 to form Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation, the third largest steel manufacturer in the world as of 2015. Its origins as a modern company date from 189 ...

to the Nara National College of Technology in Nara, where it is kept on display. File:STAR21 952-1 Maibara 20060727.JPG, Car 952-1 preserved at Maibara, July 2006 File:STAR21 953-1 Sendai 20020825.jpg, Car 953-1 preserved at Sendai Shinkansen Depot, August 2002 File:Star21 bogie.JPG, Sumitomo DT9035B bogie preserved at Nara National College of Technology, June 2012

Design

Formation

History

Preservation

References

Further reading