is a high-speed

Shinkansen The , colloquially known in English as the bullet train, is a network of high-speed railway lines in Japan. Initially, it was built to connect distant Japanese regions with Tokyo, the capital, to aid economic growth and development. Beyond l ...

service operated in Japan, on the

Tōhoku Shinkansen The is a Japanese high-speed Shinkansen rail line, connecting Tokyo with Aomori in Aomori Prefecture in a route length of , making it Japan's longest Shinkansen line. It runs through the more sparsely populated Tōhoku region of Japan's main is ...

East Japan Railway Company The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and is the largest of the seven Japan Railways Group companies. The company name is officially abbreviated as JR-EAST or JR East in English, and as in Japanese. The company's headquarters are ...

(JR East) since 2002 and on the

Hokkaido Shinkansen The is a Japanese high-speed Shinkansen rail line that links up with the Tōhoku Shinkansen in northern Aomori Prefecture in Honshu and continues on into the interior of Hokkaido through the undersea Seikan Tunnel. Construction started in May ...

JR Hokkaido The is one of the constituent companies of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group), and is often referred to using its official abbreviation of . It operates intercity and local rail services in Hokkaido, Japan. The company introduced Kitaca, a sm ...

since 26 March 2016. It operates as far as the northern terminus of , and it is the second-fastest service on the Tohoku Shinkansen. These services were inaugurated with the opening of the Tohoku Shinkansen extension to Hachinohe on 1 December 2002. The name "Hayate" has not been used previously on any train service in Japan. The name was chosen with input from the public; roughly translated, it means a strong or violent wind; however, it carries positive connotations of speed and power.

History

Introduction

In December 2002, the Tohoku Shinkansen extended to

Hachinohe is a city located in Aomori Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 221,459, and a population density of 725 persons per km2 in 96,092 households, making it Aomori Prefecture's second largest city by population. The city h ...

. As a result, the ''Hayate'' was introduced, in order to serve the newly extended section between

Morioka is the capital city of Iwate Prefecture located in the Tōhoku region of northern Japan. On 1 February 2021, the city had an estimated population of 290,700 in 132,719 households, and a population density of . The total area of the city is . ...

and Hachinohe. ''Hayate'' trains ran between Tokyo and Hachinohe, and skips all stations between

Ōmiya Ōmiya 大宮 is a Japanese word originally used for the imperial palace or shrines, now a common name, and may refer to: People *Ōmiya (surname), a Japanese surname *Ōmiya, or is a female character in ''The Tale of Genji'', an 11th-century nove ...

and

Sendai is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Miyagi Prefecture, the largest city in the Tōhoku region. , the city had a population of 1,091,407 in 525,828 households, and is one of Japan's 20 Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, desig ...

. The ''Hayate'' was established as the fastest service on the Tohoku Shinkansen at that time, which also established its position as the predecessor of the ''

Hayabusa was a robotic spacecraft developed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) to return a sample of material from a small near-Earth asteroid named 25143 Itokawa to Earth for further analysis. ''Hayabusa'', formerly known as MUSES-C ...

''. All seats in ''Hayate'' trains require reservation, due to the popularity of Shinkansen services from Tokyo to the Tohoku region. ''Hayate'' trains were operated by 10-car

E2 series The is a Japanese high-speed Shinkansen train type operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East) on the Tohoku Shinkansen high-speed lines in Japan since 1997. They are formed in 8- and 10-car sets. The 8-car sets were used on the Hokurik ...

units, which ran at a top speed of 275 km/h.

Shin-Aomori Extension

On 4 December 2010, the Tohoku Shinkansen extended again to . And on 19 November 2011,

E5 series The and the related are Japanese Shinkansen high-speed train types built by Hitachi Rail and Kawasaki Heavy Industries. The E5 series is operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East); it was introduced on Tohoku Shinkansen services on 5 Ma ...

trainsets, with maximum speeds of 320 km/h, were introduced to the line, with some of them used on ''Hayate'' services. The introduction of the E5 series resulted in the introduction of the ''Hayabusa'', which replaced the ''Hayate'''s role as the fastest train on the line. In addition, currently E5 series ''Hayate'' services still run at a top speed of 275 km/h. JR East have reduced ''Hayate'' services over the years, and unify the discontinued ''Hayate'' services to ''Hayabusa'' services. It now serves as a complementary service to the ''Hayabusa''.

Opening of Hokkaido Shinkansen

From 26 March 2016, with the opening of the

from Shin-Aomori to Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto, the ''Hayate'' name is also used for services operating between , , and . , one return service operates daily between Morioka and Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto, and one return service daily operates between Shin-Aomori and Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto. These services are formed of 10-car E5 or H5 series trainsets.

Past services with ''Komachi''

In the past ''Hayate'' services used to couple with '' Komachi'' services from Tokyo to Morioka, where the ''Komachi'' cars are uncoupled and proceed to

Akita Station is a junction railway station in the city of Akita, Akita Prefecture, Japan, operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East). Lines Akita Station is the northern terminus of the Akita Shinkansen, and is 127.3 kilometers from and 662.6 kilo ...

via the Akita Shinkansen. However currently all ''Komachi'' train now couple with ''Hayabusa'' trains, so all ''Hayate'' trains now run alone.

Stations and service pattern

''Hayate'' services stop at the following stations.

Travel time

* Morioka - Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto: 2 hours 9 minutes * Shin-Aomori - Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto: 1 hour 6 minutes

Rolling stock

(since November 2011) *

H5 series The and the related are Japanese Shinkansen high-speed train types built by Hitachi Rail and Kawasaki Heavy Industries. The E5 series is operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East); it was introduced on Tohoku Shinkansen services on 5 ...

(since 26 March 2016) File:JRE-TEC-E5 omiya.JPG, E5 series File:H5系 H1編成仙台駅入線.JPG, H5 series

Former rolling stock

(1 December 2002 - 16 March 2019) File:E2-1000 series on Hayate service at Iwate-Numakunai Station.jpg, E2 series

Train formations

''Hayate'' services are operated by 10-car JR East

or JR Hokkaido

train sets, with car 1 at the Morioka end. All seats are reserved and no-smoking.

E5 & H5 series ''Hayate''

References

External links

JR East E2 series ''Hayate''

{{Hokkaidō transit Tōhoku Shinkansen Hokkaido Shinkansen Railway services introduced in 2002 Named Shinkansen trains