A lot of you guys might gather that I do a fair amount of travel by rail, just as much as I do by air, when I’m back in the US. Amtrak has its faults, but I’m fortunate to live in one of the few places in the country where intercity travel by train kind of makes sense.
I mostly take the Acela between New York City and Boston, which operates with a top speed of 240kmh, or 150mph. This will go up to about 260kmh, or 160mph, when the next-gen Acela trains enter service on August 28. The new top speed is actually the same as Japan’s Hokuriku, Joetsu, Hokkaido, and Kyushu Shinkansen lines, except Amtrak is limited by old and wavy track routes in Connecticut.
The Acela has its limits, and it’s not nearly the same as Japan’s Shinkansen trains. But it’s as close as it gets, and passengers take it for the same purpose.
Growing up in Japan, I used to take trips on the Shinkansen about two or three times a year to visit my grandparents and other relatives. I also inevitably had other plans that required me to take it from time to time, so I had quite a bit of experience on Japanese bullet trains.
As memories of family trips on the Shinkansen have faded over time since moving to the US, I naturally got accustomed to the glamor of the Acela trains. Having taken two trips on the Shinkansen during my current Japan visit, however, I discovered several things that I’ve missed, with one striking me the most.
No, I’m not going to give the boring “the trains are faster” or “the trains are cleaner” answer. While they may be true, it was more of a cultural and societal difference that I noticed.
If you don’t know Amtrak, they have what’s called the quiet car on most intercity trains. On the quiet car, which takes up one passenger car, passengers are expected to maintain a library-like atmosphere with no phone calls and conversations reduced to a level close to a whisper. Over in standard cars, which cover the rest of the train, passengers are free to talk amongst themselves, hold phone calls, etcetera.
Having boarded the Shinkansen for the first time in two years, I rediscovered that this is essentially the opposite in Japan.
Although there’s no firm rule, passengers naturally maintain a library-like space on the train (JR does ask phone calls to be placed in areas between cars, so there’s that). I traveled from Tokyo to Morioka smack in the middle of the country’s Obon holidays, and my train was full. The train was almost entirely made up of leisure travelers, with many kids on board, too. This didn’t matter, as the train remained like a quiet car for the entire duration of the trip.
Going into this trip, I was expecting a fairly chaotic Shinkansen ride for Japanese standards, since it was in the middle of one of the busiest holidays of the year. There was none of that; it was just as pleasant of a ride as any other bullet train ride I’ve had in the country.
Additionally, I noticed this in my seat pocket, which was an information card about “Train Desk,” how the train company is dedicating car number 7 on the Shinkansen as a work and study car. I found this hilarious, as this was literally the opposite of the quiet car on Amtrak.
On the Train Desk car number 7, passengers are allowed to make phone calls, hold business conferences, and do other types of work while on the train.
This is the type of activity that’s permitted on standard cars on Amtrak, and the dedicated quiet car is where the library-like atmosphere is maintained. The Shinkansen is opposite, where standard cars are where the quietness happens, and the Train Desk car is where the phone calls and conversations take place.
Quite frankly, I do miss this level of quietness that’s maintained on the Japanese bullet train. I generally prefer the quiet car when taking the Acela back home, and the fact that the quiet car is the standard in Japan was mindblowing to rediscover (and I can’t believe I had forgotten all about it; really shows how disconnected I’ve got from life in Japan in recent years 🙄).
On top of that, I was even more impressed that it was a peak holiday travel season. I think the smooth operations, even during busy times, and the comfortable, quiet atmosphere on the train are underrated aspects of the Shinkansen. As I return to the US in the coming weeks, I’ll no doubt find myself missing it then.
All photos taken by the author.
