The is a Japanese Shinkansen high-speed train type built between 1997 and 2006, and entering service in 1999. Originally designated as "N300" during the development phase, they formed the next generation of Shinkansen vehicles jointly designed by JR Central and JR West for use on the Tokaido Shinkansen, Hakata Minami Line and the San'yō Shinkansen. Though it has since been withdrawn from service on the Tokaido Shinkansen, it continues to operate on the San'yō Shinkansen and Hakataminami Line.
Design
The 700 series is characterized by its flat 'duck-bill' nose designed to reduce the piston effect as the trains enter tunnels. 16-car units are painted white with blue stripes beneath the windows, and are used for Nozomi, Hikari, and Kodama services on the Tokaido and San'yō Shinkansen lines, while 8-car units used for the San'yō Shinkansen Hikari Rail Star services have a darker livery (grey with black window areas and a yellow stripe beneath the windows) which also acts to visually deemphasize the units' nose area, resulting in a more streamlined impression.
As with the 500 series trains, yaw dampers are fitted between vehicles, and all cars feature semi-active suspension to ensure smooth ride characteristics at high speed. Compared with the small fleet of high-performance, high-cost 500 series trains built for JR-West, these trains were designed to give improved ride comfort and interior ambience over the earlier 300 series trains at a lower cost than the 500 series trains. The cost of a 16-car 700 series unit is approximately 4 billion yen compared with around 5 billion yen for a 16-car 500 series train.
Operations 700 series trainsets were scheduled to be withdrawn from Tokaido Shinkansen services by the end of fiscal 2019. The last 700 series Tokaido Shinkansen run took place on 1 March 2020. However, the 700 series still operates on the San'yō Shinkansen.
Variants 700-9000 series: 16-car pre-series set 700-0 series: 16-car "C" sets owned by JR Central, introduced from March 1999. Retired from service on 28 February 2020. ( Originally scheduled to be 8 March 2020) 700-3000 series: 16-car "B" sets owned by JR-West, introduced from 2001. Retired from service in August 2020. 700-7000 series: 8-car Hikari Rail Star "E" sets owned by JR-West, introduced from 11 March 2000
Pre-series unit (700-9000 series) The pre-series set, C0, was delivered in October 1997, and underwent endurance running mainly between Tokyo and Shin-Osaka until early 1999, including a short period of testing as an 8-car formation on the Sanyo Shinkansen. New single-arm current collectors were fitted from the start, and these initially featured the distinctive "wine-glass" pantograph shrouds of the 300X train. These were later changed to a design resembling the 500 series arrangement with additional side fences, which was used on the subsequent production trains. Unit C0 was modified to full production standard in September 1999 and renumbered as C1, and was officially withdrawn in January 2013.
16-car C sets
These units were ordered by JR Central for use on Tokyo to Hakata Nozomi services, allowing the 300 series trains to displace the 100 series trains on Hikari services which intern replaced the 0 series trains on Kodama services. Interior layout and accommodation is similar to that of the 300 series trains, with three Green class (first class) vehicles, and the same seat pitch in standard class, and in Green class. The central gangways were widened by to , and ceilings were raised by to . The refreshment counters of the 300 and 500 series trains were discontinued and replaced by vending machines selling drinks, located in cars 3, 7, 11, and 15.
Specifications permit running on the Sanyo Shinkansen with speed restricted to on the Tokaido Shinkansen between Tokyo and Shin-Osaka. The initial batch ordered by JR Central consisted of 17 units, with the first 4 units delivered in time for introduction on three daily return Nozomi services from March 1999. Services featuring 700 series stock were increased to five daily from July 1999, and further increased from October 1999. With continuing deliveries, 700 series trains were also introduced on Tōkaidō Shinkansen Hikari services from late 2000.
Set numbers C25 onwards introduced from May 2001 incorporate minor interior design improvements, including power outlets at the ends of cars for PC users, and hand-grabs on the edge of aisle seats. An order for an additional batch of six units was placed by JR Central in December 2003, with delivery scheduled for the end of 2004. These sets (C55 to C60) provided additional capacity for services connected with the Aichi Expo in 2005.
Before entering passenger service, JR Central set C46 was used on a series of test runs from late January 2003 fitted with streamlined bogie covers on all cars and flush diaphragm covers between cars 16/15 and 15/14. These modifications were removed before the unit entered revenue service. Flush diaphragm covers were used on future trains, such as the N700 series.
Between October 2008 and June 2009, JR Central's fleet of 60 700 series sets underwent modifications to increase the acceleration from the original on the Tokaido Shinkansen to improve timetable planning flexibility.JR Central press release: "700系の加速度向上について" (Increased acceleration for 700 series) (26 June 2009). Retrieved 28 June 2009.
During fiscal 2011, eight JR Central "C" sets (C11 to C18) were transferred to JR-West to replace its fleet of nine 300 series sets scheduled to be withdrawn by spring 2012.
Withdrawals of 700 series sets began in July 2011 with the withdrawal of set C4. It continued in 2013 (sets C1, C2, C3, C5 - C8) and in 2014 (C9, C10, C20 - C24).
The remaining 700 series sets were removed from regularly scheduled Tokaido Shinkansen services from 1 December 2019. The last Tokaido Shinkansen 700 series run from Tokyo to Shin-Osaka had been scheduled to take place on 8 March 2020, but was cancelled due to the outbreak of COVID-19 in Japan. This cancellation resulted in the last 700 series Tokaido Shinkansen run taking place a week earlier on 1 March 2020.
Formation The 16-car C sets are formed as follows, with car 1 at the Hakata (west) end. Car No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Designation Tc M2 M'w M1 M1w M' M2k T's Ts M2s M'h M1 M1w M' M2w T'c Numbering 723 727 726-500 725 725-300 726 727-400 718 719 717 726-700 725-600 725-500 726-200 727-500 724 Seating capacity 65 100 85 100 90 100 75 68 64 68 63 100 90 100 80 75
Cars 5 and 12 each have one single-arm pantograph.
Interior
16-car B sets (700-3000 series)
These are the units owned by JR-West for use on through Hikari services from Tokyo, displacing the 100 series V Grand Hikari stock previously used on these services. With the timetable revision following the opening of Shinagawa Station in October 2003, the number of Nozomi trains increased significantly, and they were also used for the Nozomi service. A total of 15 units were delivered from June 2001 to January 2006. These trains use the same bogies as the JR-West 500 series sets. Other differences include LED destination indicator panels, white pantograph side fences, "JR 700" logos on the cab sides, and also different seat designs.
Formation The 16-car B sets are formed as follows, with car 1 at the Hakata (west) end. Car No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Designation Tc M2 M'w M1 M1w M' M2k T's Ts M2s M'h M1 M1w M' M2w T'c Numbering 723-3000 727-3000 726-3500 725-3000 725-3300 726-3000 727-3400 718-3000 719-3000 717-3000 726-3700 725-3600 725-3500 726-3200 727-3500 724-3000 Seating capacity 65 100 85 100 90 100 75 68 64 68 63 100 90 100 80 75
Cars 5 and 12 each have one single-arm pantograph.
Interior
8-car E sets (700-7000 series)
8-car E units were introduced by JR-West for use on new limited-stop Sanyo Shinkansen Hikari Rail Star services between Shin-Osaka and Hakata from 11 March 2000, replacing the former 0 series West Hikari services. The first units were delivered at the beginning of December 1999, with a total of 16 units built. Externally, these units differ noticeably from their JR Central sisters in having a variation of the 500 series livery with the blue waistline band replaced by a band of "sunny yellow". "Rail Star" logos are applied to the sides of alternate cars as well as on the cab sides. Each 8-car train has two single-arm pantographs of a similar design to the JR Central 16-car sets. It was originally planned that sets would be able to operate coupled together, enabling 16-car formations to be run in busy periods, but this feature has never been utilized. With the discontinuation of Hikari services running solely on the San'yo Shinkansen, replaced by Sakura services from 2011, these sets are primarily used on Kodama services between Shin-Osaka and Hakata.
Formation The 8-car E sets are formed as follows, with car 1 at the Hakata (west) end). Car No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Designation Tc M1 Mpk M2 M2w Mp M1kh T'c Numbering 723-7000 725-7600 726-7500 727-7000 727-7100 726-7000 725-7700 724-7500 Seating capacity 65 100 80 72 50 52
Cars 2 and 7 each have one single-arm pantograph.
Interior The trains feature four 4-seat compartments in car 8, and the seats at the ends of each car have power supply outlets for mobile PC users. Unlike the 0 series SK sets which they replaced, these sets are completely monoclass without Green class accommodation. However, the five reserved standard class cars, cars 4 to 8, have club class style 2+2 abreast seating compared to the normal 2+3 seating arrangement in the non-reserved cars. Seat pitch is throughout. Car 4 was also designated as a "Silence car", in which onboard announcements were omitted, but this was discontinued from March 2011.
One Piece Shinkansen On 9 April 2025, JR West unveiled the first of three 8-car trainsets (set E13) to be branded as the One Piece Shinkansen. Operation is scheduled to commence 12 April 2025.
Fleet history The annual totals for the fleet sizes (number of vehicles as of 1 April each year) owned by JR Central and JR West are as follows.
Year JR Central JR West Total1998 16 0 161999 80 0 802000 176 80 2562001 384 112 4962002 592 168 7602003 768 232 1,0002004 864 312 1,1762005 960 328 1,2882006 960 368 1,3282007 960 368 1,3282008 960 368 1,3282009 960 368 1,3282010 960 368 1,3282011 960 368 1,3282012 816 496 1,3122013 752 496 1,2482014 640 496 1,1362015 512 496 1,0082016 448 464 9122017 336 368 7042018 224 320 5442019 96 256 3522020 0 144 1442021 0 128 1282022 0 128 128
Derivatives Two Class 923 "Doctor Yellow" trains based on the 700 series design are used for track and overhead wire diagnostic work on the Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen lines. Both the 800 series and Taiwan High Speed 700T were directly developed from the 700 series. The N700 series and N700S series are also developed from the 700 series.
Accidents and incidents