InsideJapan News Network

Japan's famous bullet trains will begin offering broadband services to their passengers from March 14th, it has emerged.

To begin with, Wi-Fi will only be available on the N700 series Shinkansen trains.

Internet users will be able to enjoy minimum connection speech of two megabytes per second thanks to a partnership between Softbank and telecommunications firms NTT and KDDI.

Speeds of 54 megabytes a second will also be available in waiting lounge areas.

The companies have predicted that demand will be high from passengers using portable games and business travellers using laptops.

Launched in 1964 and operated by Japan Railways, the bullet trains link Tokyo with most of the island of Honshu's major cities.

There are three categories of train: Nozomi, which only stop at the most important stations between Osaka and Tokyo. Secondly, Hikari which stops at more stations and takes slightly longer to complete the trip between Osaka and the capital.

Finally, Kodama is the slowest category of train as they stop at all stations along the route.

Written by Mark Smith


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