Fast and Furious

With all the talk of the bullet train in India by 2022, running between Ahmedabad and Mumbai, how can one not talk about the travelling by the high-speed Shinkansen Rail Network in Japan, like I did from Tokyo to Osaka?

Especially because Japan has agreed to share complete know-how of the Shinkansen and also train Indians to handle the challenges. Here’s what you can expect: Starting with the railway stations that are as good as any international airport. It’s easy to book a ticket online, and the stations are connected very well with the city transport — buses and cabs. No wonder, over 10 billion people have already travelled in these trains. For a first time traveller to Japan like me, it was an eye-opener. Whether it is comfort, frequency (there is a train every four minutes) or even punctuality, I’d rate Shinkansen (Bullet Train) far above other international rail services. 

I learnt that the railway service connected a link between small towns to the larger metropolis creating job opportunities as well as tourism. A local I spoke to, informed me that the trip from Tokyo to Saku City in the ’90s took three-and-a-half hours. Now he does the same journey in one hour and 20 minutes, which makes all the jokes about people from the dry state Gujarat coming to Mumbai for a drink and going back, valid. 

My co-traveller also informed me that the difference between air and rail travel to some cities is just 20 minutes! Imagine reaching Goa from Mumbai by rail in one hour and 30 minutes. You can be connected to small towns and cities all over the country that you never visited before because of no connectivity. It’s the tech boost we all have been waiting for!