    the  is a network of high-speed railway lines in japan operated by four japan railways group companies. starting with the tÅkaidÅ shinkansen (515.4&nbsp;km) in 1964, the network has expanded to currently consist of  of lines with maximum speeds of 240â320 km/h (150â200 mph),  of mini-shinkansen lines with a maximum speed of , and  of spur lines with shinkansen services. the network presently links most major cities on the islands of honshu and kyushu, with construction of a link to the northern island of hokkaido underway. the maximum operating speed is  (on a 387.5 km section of the tÅhoku shinkansen). test runs have reached  for conventional rail in 1996, and up to a world record  for maglev trains in 2003. shinkansen literally means new trunk line, referring to the high-speed rail line network. the name , initially used for hikari trains, was retired in 1972 but is still used in english-language announcements and signage. the tÅkaidÅ shinkansen is the world's busiest high-speed rail line. carrying 151 million passengers per year (march 2008), it has transported more passengers (over 5&nbsp;billion, entire network over 10 billion) than any other high-speed line in th
High-speed_rail_in_Japan High-speed_trains Japanese_words_and_phrases Rail_transport_brands Railway_services_introduced_in_1964 Shinkansen