January 13, 2021
Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd.
*This press release was originally published in Japanese on November 30, 2020.

Sumitomo Electric Develops and Delivers Air Springs for the Tokaido
Shinkansen’s New N700S Trains— Receiving a Letter of Gratitude for the Development of the Air Springs
from JR Central—
Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd. has collaborated with Central Japan Railway
Company (JR Central) to develop air springs that contribute to a comfortable rideand energy savings for Shinkansen bullet trains, and has started to deliver them for
JR Central’s new N700S trains. Sumitomo Electric is pleased to announce that it hasreceived a letter of gratitude for the development of this product from Mr. Takayuki
Oyama, Director and Corporate Executive Officer, Director General of theShinkansen Operations Division of JR Central.
Air springs play an important role in improving
the riding comfort of a train. Installed between
the body of a train car (mainly consisting of thepassenger compartment) and the bogie unit
(consisting of a bogie and wheels), air springs
significantly reduce the vibration transmitted
from the wheels to the body. Sumitomo Electric
has conducted research on air springs since1955. Its air springs have been used in various
domestic and overseas trains, including
Shinkansen bullet trains, commuter trains in
the metropolitan areas of Japan such as theYamanote Line, the New York City Subway andthe Delhi Metro.

Air spring for N700S

Conventional air springs were designed to reduce train car vibration lateral to thedirection of travel. However, as horizontal vibration is reduced, vertical vibration
becomes more noticeable. Therefore, to further improve riding comfort, Sumitomo
Electric has developed air springs that are not only flexible (which is a normal
characteristic of air springs), but also “hold” the train body as it sinks. The Company
has succeeded in putting such air springs into practical use. These air springs reducevertical vibration thereby enabling high-speed running, contributing to a betterbalance between high-speed transportation and a comfortable ride.
The specifications of this product have been adopted as the standard for air springs

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used in N700S, trains that JR Central began to procure in 2019, and Sumitomo
Electric has begun to deliver the air springs to JR Central. On October 2, 2020,
Sumitomo Electric received a letter of gratitude from JR Central in appreciation for
its efforts toward the realization of safe and stable transportation, which started
with the development of the new air springs and have continued through quality
improvement activities (N700S High-Quality Activities).
N700S trains have been used on the Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen Lines and are
to be introduced on the Kyushu Shinkansen’s West Kyushu Route (commonly calledthe Nagasaki Route), which is scheduled to start operations in fiscal 2022. Since JRCentral has been expanding its overseas operations, N700S trains are expected to beadopted outside Japan, too.
Sumitomo Electric has accumulated a great deal of expertise in air springs overmany years. The Company will ensure the stable quality of the air springs ordered
for N700S trains. Making use of the experience obtained from the development anddelivery of the new air springs, Sumitomo Electric will continue to contribute to thedevelopment of transportation infrastructure in Japan and the rest of the world.

Letter of gratitude

A scene from the letter ofgratitude presentation ceremony■Reference
Sumitomo Electric's Website
https://sumitomoelectric.com/2/2