The was a Shinkansen high-speed train type operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East) in Japan from December 1997 until October 2021. It was the second double-deck Shinkansen train type, after the E1 series, and was marketed under the name Max (an acronym for Multi-Amenity eXpress). A total of 26 eight-car trainsets were built by Hitachi and Kawasaki Heavy Industries between 1997 and 2003. The type was withdrawn from regular service on 1 October 2021.
Like the E1 series, the E4 series was introduced to relieve overcrowding on services on the TÃ Âhoku and JÃ Âetsu Shinkansen, and it also saw occasional use on the Nagano Shinkansen (now known as the Hokuriku Shinkansen). The double-deck design was adopted to increase seating capacity for peak periods, with some cars using 3+3 seating. Although each trainset comprised only eight cars, two sets could be coupled together to provide 16-car formations with 1,634 seats, the highest-capacity high-speed train configuration in the world.
Unlike the steel carbodies of the E1 series, the E4 series used lightweight aluminium construction. However, the trainsets remained significantly heavier than single-deck designs, limiting the maximum operating speed to . Double-deck Shinkansen trainsets subsequently fell out of use as lighter single-deck designs supported higher operating speedsâÂÂup to on newer typesâÂÂshortening travel times and allowing increased service frequency.
E4 series sets were used on the following services.
Cars 4 and 6 were each equipped with a PS201 pantograph.
As with the earlier E1 series, the upper decks of non-reserved cars 1 to 3 were arranged 3+3, with fixed seats that did not recline and no individual armrests. The lower decks of these cars, and the reserved-seat areas in cars 4 to 8, had conventional 2+3 seating. The Green car areas on the upper decks of cars 7 and 8 had 2+2 seating. In total, the trains accommodated 817 passengers.
The first E4 series set, P1, was delivered to Sendai Depot on 8 October 1997, with the first sets entering revenue-earning service on the Tohoku Shinkansen from 20 December 1997.
All cars were made no-smoking from the start of the revised timetable on 18 March 2007.
In March 2011, it was announced that the entire E4 series fleet would be withdrawn by around 2016.
In September 2012, E4 series were entirely withdrawn from Tohoku Shinkansen services, and all allocated for use on Joetsu Shinkansen services only. The trains were withdrawn from regular service on 1 October 2021, and were completely retired on 17 October of the same year.
From 2014, the fleet of 24 sets still in service began to be repainted, receiving a new livery identical to that of the E1 series trains, with a toki (crested ibis) pink stripe separating the white on the upper body and blue on the lower body. The first reliveried set, P5, was returned to service in early April 2014, with the entire fleet be treated by the end of fiscal 2015.
A total of 26 eight-car trainsets were built by Hitachi and Kawasaki Heavy Industries between 1997 and 2003.
Sets P51 and P52 were designed for operation on the steep gradients of the Nagano Shinkansen for services to Karuizawa Station. Sets P81 and P82 were also designed for the Nagano Shinkansen and were equipped to operate under both 50 Hz and 60 Hz overhead power supplies for services to Nagano Station.
Withdrawals began in July 2013 with sets P2 and P3. A ceremonial "last-run" service ran on 1 October 2021, with the final set formally withdrawn on 30 March 2022.
End car E444-1 from set P1 is displayed at the Niigata City Niitsu Railway Museum in Niitsu, Niigata. It was transported by road from Niigata Depot to the museum in the early hours of 20 June 2017.
Build details are as shown below: