New Shinkansen Position Correcting Ground Coil for Further Speed Increases

Abstract

Shinkansen trains recognize information on their own position while running, and transponder ground coils are set up in intervals of approx. 3 km in order to correct that position information. Current position correcting ground coils (hereinafter, the “current ground coils”) are compatible with speeds of up to 350 km/h according to specifications, so speed that they are compatible with needs to be increased in order to cope with further Shinkansen speed increases. Also, there have been cases of ground coils being damaged by blocks of snow falling from trains running at high speed in winter, so we are taking measures against snow damage in order to protect the front ends of ground coils. However, we have not been able to completely prevent damage, so ground coils resistant to snow damage are needed. In this study, we conducted basic research to develop ground coils that can handle speed increases in excess of 350 km/h and that are resistant to snow damage.