E2 Series Shinkansen

The E2 series is a Japanese high-speed Shinkansen train type introduced in 1997 by East Japan Railway Company (JR East) for the Tohoku and Hokuriku Shinkansen lines. It runs in eight-car and ten-car sets: the eight-car sets served the Hokuriku Shinkansen, while the ten-car sets have worked the Tohoku Shinkansen and carry couplers behind retracting nose doors, once used to join them to E3 series sets. The type runs at up to 275 km/h on the Tohoku Shinkansen. In all, 502 vehicles, made up of 14 eight-car N sets and 39 ten-car J sets, were built between 1997 and 2010, and withdrawals began in late 2013. As of 1 April 2025 the active fleet was six ten-car E2-1000 series sets. One E2-1000 train reached 362 km/h in 2003 during test runs on the Joetsu Shinkansen, and the design was the basis of the Chinese CRH2A.