Pre-production Set
The pre-production set, S4, was delivered in October 1990, and shown off to the press on 26 October 1990. This was a six-car set arranged as shown below with all cars motored.
| Car No. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Numbering | 401-1 | 402-1 | 403-1 | 404-1 | 405-1 | 406-1 |
| Seating capacity | 20 | 67 | 60 | 68 | 64 | 56 |
The unit featured three different types of bolsterless bogies: DT9028 on cars 1 and 3, DT9029 on cars 2 and 4, and DT9030 on cars 5 and 6. The Green car seats featured seat-back TV screens, a feature not used on the subsequent production sets.
Test running began on the Ōu Main Line between Niwasaka and Itaya on 14 November 1990. From 23 January 1991, test running began in conjunction with a newly converted 200 series 8-car K set on the Tōhoku Shinkansen between Sendai and Kitakami. On 26 March 1991, the 400 series set S4 established a new Japanese speed record of 336 km/h on the Jōetsu Shinkansen in the Yuzawa Tunnel between Echigo-Yuzawa and Urasa. On 19 September 1991, the train set a new speed record of 345 km/h on the same stretch of track.
Test running continued into 1992, with set S4 reaching Tokyo for the first time on 20 May 1992. The pre-production set was then modified to bring it up to production batch standards, becoming set L1 on 29 June 1992.
Read more about this topic: 400 Series Shinkansen
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