The was a high-speed

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 type operated by

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 ar ...

(JR East) in Japan. They were the second series of completely bi-level Shinkansen trainsets to be built in Japan (the other being the E1 series). They previously operated on the Tōhoku and

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 hi ...

, and occasionally on the

Nagano Shinkansen The is a high-speed Shinkansen railway line jointly operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East) and West Japan Railway Company (JR West), connecting Tokyo with in the Hokuriku region of Japan. The first section, between and in Nagano ...

. E4 series trains feature double-decker cars to accommodate additional commuter traffic around

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...

and other urban areas. They were often coupled to 400 series trains on the

Tōhoku Shinkansen The is a Japanese high-speed Shinkansen rail line, connecting Tokyo with Aomori in Aomori Prefecture in a route length of , making it Japan's longest Shinkansen line. It runs through the more sparsely populated Tōhoku region of Japan's main ...

between Tokyo and Fukushima before the latter retired in April 2010. The last trains of the E4 series were withdrawn from regular service on 1 October 2021. Two eight-car sets can be coupled together for extra capacity: a sixteen-car E4 series formation trainset carries a total of 1,634 seated passengers, the highest-capacity high-speed rail trainset in the world. 26 units were built between 1997 and 2003. As with the earlier E1 series trains, maximum speed is .

Formation

Cars 4 and 6 are each equipped with a PS201 pantograph.

Variants

Sets P51 and P52, delivered in January and February 2001 were designed to cope with the steep gradients of the

for use on services to Karuizawa. Sets P81 and P82, delivered in July and November 2003 were designed to cope with the steep gradients of the

, and are also capable of operating under 50 Hz and 60 Hz overhead power supplies for use on services to Nagano.

Interior

As with the earlier E1 series, the upper deck saloons of non-reserved cars 1 to 3 are arranged 3+3 with no individual armrests, and do not recline. The lower decks of these cars, and the reserved-seating saloons in cars 4 to 8 have regular 2+3 seating. The green car saloons on the upper decks of cars 7 to 8 have 2+2 seating. The trains have a total seating capacity of 817 passengers. File:TEC SeriesE4 Interior P3 GREEN.jpg, Green class saloon (upper deck), February 2011 File:E4 std lower reserved Sendai 20020825.jpg, Standard-class reserved car lower deck with 2+3 seating File:E4 std upper non-reserved Sendai 20020824.jpg, Standard-class non-reserved car upper deck with non-reclining 3+3 seating E4 series interior 20140406.jpg, Vestibule area and stairway

History

The first E4 series set, P1, was delivered to Sendai Depot on 8 October 1997, with the first sets entering revenue-earning service on the Tohoku Shinkansen from 20 December 1997. All cars were made no-smoking from the start of the revised timetable on 18 March 2007. In March 2011, it was announced that the entire E4 series fleet would be withdrawn by around 2016. In September 2012, E4 series were entirely withdrawn from Tohoku Shinkansen services, and all allocated for use on Joetsu Shinkansen services only. The trains were withdrawn from regular service on 1 October 2021, and were completely retired on 17 October of the same year.

Livery change

From 2014, the fleet of 24 sets still in service began to be repainted, receiving a new livery identical to that previously carried by the E1 series trains, with a ''toki'' (

crested ibis The crested ibis (''Nipponia nippon''), also known as the Japanese crested ibis, Asian crested ibis or toki, is a large (up to long), white-plumaged ibis of pine forests, native to eastern Asia. Its head is partially bare, showing red skin, and ...

) pink stripe separating the white on the upper body and blue on the lower body. The first reliveried set, P5, was returned to service in early April 2014, with the entire fleet be treated by the end of fiscal 2015. File:E4 P5 Max logo Takasaki 20140407.JPG, The new logo, April 2014

Withdrawals

Withdrawals started in July 2013, with sets P2 and P3.

Preserved examples

End car E444-1 from set P1 was displayed at the Niigata City Niitsu Railway Museum in Niitsu, Niigata between July and September 2017. It was moved by road from Niigata Depot to the museum in the early hours of 20 June 2017.

Fleet list

The build details are as shown below. All units retired from regular service as of 1 October 2021.

References

External links

E4 Series ''Max Toki/Max Tanigawa''
{{JR East EMU Shinkansen train series East Japan Railway Company Hitachi multiple units Kawasaki multiple units Train-related introductions in 1997 Passenger trains running at least at 200 km/h in commercial operations Double-decker EMUs 25 kV AC multiple units Double-decker high-speed trains