In 1997, West Japan Railway Co. (JR West) introduced the 500 Series Shinkansen, which operated on the Sanyo section at speeds of 300 kph, making it the fastest in the world at the time.

and then use the Shinkansen to go and visit relatives out in smaller cities if they need to," he told AFP. - Future at 500 kph - At a JR Central site, an engineer taps the inner machinery of a ...

JR West said it will also abolish smoking rooms on its 500-series bullet trains that service the Sanyo Shinkansen Line and remove smoking areas not separated by walls at Shin-Kurashiki ...