100 Series Shinkansen - Design

Design

They differ visibly from the earlier 0 series in that the nose profile is more pointed. Another not so visible difference for the 16-car sets was that not all cars were powered; the driving cars on each end were unpowered, as were the two bilevel center cars. Some later production sets had powered driving cars and four unpowered bilevel trailers in the middle instead. The bilevel trailer cars contained a combination of restaurant cars, and first class compartments, or open-plan first class seating and first class compartments, or open-plan first class seating and refreshment cars.

External livery was white (White No. 3) and blue (Blue No. 20).

Following their removal from front-line service, 100 series sets were later reformed into smaller 4 and 6 car sets for the slower Kodama services on the Sanyō Shinkansen line. These 4- and 6-car trains did not have bilevel cars.