The biggest operator of Japan’s high-speed Shinkansen “bullet” trains has launched a push to export the technology to the rest of the world, hoping to beat European rivals to fast-growing markets including North America and the Middle East.

JR Central. which carries more Shinkansen passengers than any other operator, says it has formed a consulting division to sell the technology, in a move that will increase competition for the TGV system of France’s Alstom and Siemens’s Velaro.