To add some more context - the trainsets can have up to 16 cars with a capacity of up to 1300 people. So basically up to 20800 people per hour.
Also 16 trains per hour means 3.75 minutes between trains. This is actually not that remarkable & we saw that in action last years in Hiroshima, with three trains scheduled from the same platform with departures 3 minutes apart.
This is doable due to a couple of factors:
- passengers are usually quite disciplined and know what to do, eq. people queue at the door before a stop for quick departure
- the trains stop exactly in the same place on the station, so the are markers for each card & door on the platform - due to this people can queue on the platform for their car right where the car will be once the train arrives
- the are marked areas near the door location on the platform for disembarking passengers, so they don't mix up with people waiting in the queue to get in - no chaotic "fan" of people around a car entrance with some trying to get in and others trying to get out at the same time as you often see on European train stations
- all Shinkansen are EMUs with all wheels powered, resulting in rather high yet still comfortable acceleration speed - due to this the tran can quickly stop in the station and the n rapidly speed up again
The end result is a train that comes in rather quickly yet manages to stop on the spot with centimeter precision. Then people disemabark, then people get in and the train can leave & pick up speed again. We timed it once & it all took about 90 seconds.
>the trains stop exactly in the same place on the station, so the are markers for each card & door on the platform
They do this on Japanese subways too, because many stations have gates that the train has to line up with.
This would be completely impossible in America. Anyone who's ridden the DC Metro would know this: there is absolutely no way you could get American train operators to stop the train that precisely. Trains here stop with variances of many car-lengths.
Also 16 trains per hour means 3.75 minutes between trains. This is actually not that remarkable & we saw that in action last years in Hiroshima, with three trains scheduled from the same platform with departures 3 minutes apart.
This is doable due to a couple of factors: - passengers are usually quite disciplined and know what to do, eq. people queue at the door before a stop for quick departure - the trains stop exactly in the same place on the station, so the are markers for each card & door on the platform - due to this people can queue on the platform for their car right where the car will be once the train arrives - the are marked areas near the door location on the platform for disembarking passengers, so they don't mix up with people waiting in the queue to get in - no chaotic "fan" of people around a car entrance with some trying to get in and others trying to get out at the same time as you often see on European train stations - all Shinkansen are EMUs with all wheels powered, resulting in rather high yet still comfortable acceleration speed - due to this the tran can quickly stop in the station and the n rapidly speed up again
The end result is a train that comes in rather quickly yet manages to stop on the spot with centimeter precision. Then people disemabark, then people get in and the train can leave & pick up speed again. We timed it once & it all took about 90 seconds.