NIGHT MAINTENANCE by Guillaume Kurkdjian

For maintenance of the Shinkansen, nighttime from the last train until the first train next day is very important. Besides regular inspections of equipment, we carry out equipment replacement. As one of such operations, we implement rail replacement. Rails are gradually and steadily worn away and weakened by metal fatigue each time a train passes; therefore, we change the rails according to the number of train operations and the wear status of the rails. We change a welded rail of hundreds meters long into a new one during the night. Such complete maintenance management ensures the highly reliable safety of the Shinkansen. In fact, there has been no fatal injury accident for more than 50 years since its inauguration.