日本の電車は時刻表の通りに走ると聞いていたが、初めて新幹線に乗ったときも、駅に着く時間がぴったっりだったので、驚いた。早い速度で長い距離を走っているのに、ほかの電車と同じように走られ、本当にすごいと思った。何百キロもある長い距離を遅れたり早すぎたりせずに、どうやって走っているのだろう。鉄道会社に勤めている知り合いに聞いてみた。
聞いて驚いたのだが、新幹線は、停車する駅の到着時間、出発時間だけではなく、停車しない駅を通り過ぎる時間も、8時5分15秒や8時5分30秒のように、15秒単位で決まっているのだそうだ。運転士は、その細かく決められた時間を守るため、いつも速度を考えながら運転している。停車駅の数キロメートル前からホームに入るまでは、コンピューターが速度を決めて運転するが、それ以上は、運転士が運転する。次の駅に着くまでの残り時間と距離をいつも意識し、頭の中でいちばん適当な速度を計算して走らせているのだそうだ。最後にホームの決まった地位に電車を止めるのも、運転士だ。
運転士になるためには、厳しいトレーニングが必要で、特に距離と時間から適当な速度を計算する訓練をしっかり受けなければならないそうだ。新幹線が時刻表の通りに走れるのは、運転士の厳しいトレーニングのおかげなのだ。
この話を聞いてから、新幹線に乗ると、速度が微妙に変わるたびに、「ああ、今、運転士は適当な速度を計算して、速度を変えたんだ。」と思い、旅が以前より楽しめるようになった。
AI translation, cross-checked between two models.
I had heard that trains in Japan run according to their timetables, but when I rode the Shinkansen for the first time, I was still amazed that it arrived at the station exactly on time. Even though it travels long distances at high speed, it can still run on schedule just like other trains, which I thought was truly amazing. I wondered how it could travel hundreds of kilometers without being late or arriving too early. I asked an acquaintance who works for a railway company.
What I heard surprised me: for the Shinkansen, not only the arrival and departure times at stations where it stops, but even the times it passes through stations where it does not stop are set in 15-second intervals, such as 8:05:15 or 8:05:30. To keep to those precisely set times, the driver is always thinking about the train's speed while operating it. From several kilometers before a station where the train stops until it enters the platform, a computer determines the speed and controls the train; outside that section, the driver operates it. The driver is always aware of the remaining time and distance to the next station and mentally calculates the most appropriate speed at which to run the train. Finally, it is also the driver who stops the train at the designated position on the platform.
I was told that becoming a train driver requires rigorous training, especially thorough practice in calculating the appropriate speed from distance and time. The Shinkansen is able to run according to its timetable thanks to the rigorous training of its drivers.
Since hearing this story, whenever I ride the Shinkansen and feel the speed change even slightly, I think, “Ah, the driver just calculated the appropriate speed and changed it,” and this has made my journeys more enjoyable than before.
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