Press Office

The train standing at the platform … is a 'Bullet'

The National Railway Museum also tells the incredible story of another truly remarkable train.

The award-winning exhibition, featuring the revolutionary Series 0 'Bullet Train,' is one of the Museum’s most popular attractions.

Displayed alongside British rail icons like Mallard and Rocket, Shinkansen Car 22-141 is the first 'Bullet' ever to be exhibited outside Japan and the first foreign-built rail vehicle to enter the National Collection.

The 82 feet long car was built in 1976 as part of a fleet of high-speed trains for the Shinkansen, which literally means 'new main line.' Capable of speeds of over 140 mph, it was withdrawn from service in October 2000 after nearly 6.5 million miles of service.

It was offered to the NRM by the West Japan Railway Company (JR-West) and in March 2001 began one final journey across nearly 10,000 miles of land and sea, including a first - and last - trip on British railway tracks.

"When we first discussed bringing a Series 0 to the National Railway Museum the notion almost seemed impossible, but we knew that this was one story we simply had to tell,”

said Andrew Scott, Head of the Museum,

"The Shinkansen earned its place in the history books by revolutionising high speed land travel. When the Bullet Train was launched in 1964, it represented probably the most important breakthrough in rail technology since Stephenson's Rocket."

He added:

"The Japanese adopted a completely new approach to rail travel. Instead of struggling with an aging network, they started from scratch and ‘reinvented' their railway. If you consider that when the Shinkansen was being planned, many railways around the world were still building their last steam locomotives, it illustrates just how revolutionary their ideas were at the time."

In addition to donating and restoring the vehicle for display at the NRM, shipping costs from Japan were met by the West Japan Railway Company. The 'Bullet' arrived at Southampton Docks in May 2001 and was temporarily stored on the Science Museum's site at Wroughton, near Swindon, before a two-day road journey to York.

The 54-ton car was then off-loaded at Thrall Europa’s York workshops, travelling down the East Coast Main Line and into the National Railway Museum in the early hours of Sunday 24 June 2001.

Andrew Scott said:

"Getting the vehicle here has been an amazing feat of planning, engineering and sheer determination - particularly the last mile or so by rail, which we knew would be tricky because of the size and design of the Series 0. This certainly would not have been possible without the help of our neighbours, Thrall Europa, Railtrack and English, Welsh and Scottish Railway (EWS).
"Despite the need to move more than 20 ‘hazards’ en-route and clearances of just 5mm at the entrance to the Museum, everything went according to plan. In true Shinkansen style, Car 22-141 travelled half way round the globe and still arrived on time!"

The exhibition is sponsored by the Abbey National Group through Abbey National Treasury Services plc and Porterbrook Leasing Company Limited. It is also supported by a consortium of Japanese interests led by the London office of the Central Japan Railway Company.

The Shinkansen - Bullet Train exhibition opened to the public in July 2001 and is a permanent addition to the NRM's award-winning displays.

For more information please contact Gemma Sneyd or Catherine Farrell on 01904 686 281/ 271.

Editor’s Notes:

  1. The Shinkansen Line opened from Tokyo to Osaka in 1964 operating with 12-car trains and initially running at a then revolutionary speed of 200 km/hour. It subsequently extended to connect many of Japan’s main centres offering the speed and density of inter-city service the country required, but which could not be provided by the existing network. By 1985 top speeds had increased to 240 km/hour and today 11 trains each hour operate between Tokyo and Osaka - between Osaka and Hakata some trains reach speeds of up to 300 km/hr.
  2. The idea of a Bullet Train coming to the NRM was first mooted when the NRM twinned with JR-West’s Modern Transportation Museum in Osaka in April 2000. The outline idea was followed up during last year’s Department of Trade and Industry mission to investigate rail safety procedures in Japan. The delegation was led by Professor Rod Smith, former Chairman of the Advanced Railway Research Centre in Sheffield, President of the Japanese Railway Society and now Head of Mechanical Engineering at Imperial College, London.
  3. Abbey National Treasury Services plc (ANTS) is the Wholesale Banking business of the Abbey National Group. Porterbrook Leasing Company Limited (Porterbrook) is one of the three rolling stock companies created under the British Rail privatisation, to lease rolling stock and equipment to the rail industry. Porterbrook was acquired by the ANTS group in April 2000. The Abbey National Group is also a founding benefactor of the Japan 2001 Festival.
  4. There is no road access for low-loaders to the NRM’s Great Hall and rail access is made from a siding linked to the East Coast Main Line. Transfer of the Bullet Train was rendered even more of a challenge by the vehicle’s length and 3.38m width. It was off-loaded at Thrall Europa and required a special ‘out of gauge’ movement to gain access to the Museum. The NRM is grateful to both Thrall Europa and Railtrack for their enthusiastic support of this difficult manoeuvre.
  5. The Shinkansen exhibition won the Dibner Award for Excellence in Museum Exhibits 2002.