The and were limited express train services in Japan operated by

Japanese National Railways The abbreviated JNR or , was the business entity that operated Japan's national railway network from 1949 to 1987. Network Railways As of June 1, 1949, the date of establishment of JNR, it operated of narrow gauge () railways in all 46 pref ...

(JNR) and later East Japan Railway Company (JR East) from 1958 until 2002.

History

The ''Hatsukari'' was first introduced on 1 October 1958 as a long-distance steam-hauled limited express service operating between in Tokyo and via the

Jōban Line The Jōban Line ( ja, 常磐線, ) is a railway line in Japan operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). The line officially begins at Nippori Station in Arakawa, Tokyo before the line officially ends at Iwanuma Station in Iwanuma, ...

. From 1960, new

KiHa 81 series The KiHa 80 series was a diesel multiple unit type that operated on express services from 1960 to 2002, under Japan National Railways and later under JR Hokkaido and JR Central. Two variants were initially built: the KiHa 81 series to replace t ...

diesel multiple units were introduced on the service, reducing the journey time to 10 hours 25 minutes. From 1 October 1968, the train was routed via the more direct

Tōhoku Main Line The Tōhoku Main Line ( ja, 東北本線, ) is a long railway line in Japan operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). The line starts from Tokyo Station in Chiyoda, Tokyo and passes through such cities as Saitama, Utsunomiya, Fuku ...

using

583 series The were limited express electric multiple unit (EMU) train types introduced in 1967 by Japanese National Railways and later operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East) and West Japan Railway Company (JR West) on the through services expr ...

electric multiple units. From 15 November 1982, with the opening of 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 ...

to , the ''Hatsukari'' service was truncated to operate between Morioka and Aomori. This was extended to operate to in

Hokkaido is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. The lar ...

from 13 March 1988, following the opening of the undersea

Seikan Tunnel The Seikan Tunnel ( ja, 青函トンネル, or , ), is a dual-gauge railway tunnel in Japan, with a portion under the seabed of the Tsugaru Strait, which separates Aomori Prefecture on the main Japanese island of Honshu from the northern isl ...

. The maximum speed was raised to through the Seikan Tunnel from 16 March 1991. New

E751 series The is an Alternating current, AC electric multiple unit (EMU) train type operated on ''Tsugaru (train), Tsugaru'' limited express services in the north of Japan by East Japan Railway Company (JR East) since March 2000. The design was based on ...

electric multiple units were introduced from 18 March 2000, with the trains running as Morioka – Aomori ''Super Hatsukari'' alongside the Morioka – Hakodate ''Hatsukari'' services using 485-3000 series EMUs. The ''Super Hatsukari'' and ''Hatsukari'' services were discontinued from the start of the revised timetable on 1 December 2002, with the opening of the

extension to , and were superseded by new '' Hakuchō'' and ''Super Hakuchō'' services operating from Hachinohe to Hakodate. The E751 series EMUs were reassigned to new ''

Tsugaru Tsugaru (津軽) may refer to: * Tsugaru, Aomori, a city of Aomori Prefecture, Japan * Tsugaru Peninsula * Tsugaru Strait, between Honshū and Hokkaidō ** Tsugaru Kaikyō Ferry, a ferry crossing this strait * Tsugaru-jamisen, a traditional style of ...

'' limited express services operating between Hachinohe and Hirosaki.

Rolling stock

DMUs (1960 – 1968) *

EMUs (1 October 1968 – December 2002) * 485 series 6-car EMUs (March 1973 – December 2002) * 485-3000 series 6-car EMUs ( ? – December 2002) *

6-car EMUs (''Super Hatsukari'', March 2000 – December 2002) File:KiHa 81 Hatsukari Ueno.jpg, JNR KiHa 81 series DMU File:JNR 583 hatsukari morioka.jpg, JNR 583 series EMU, 1987 File:Hatsukari-Hakutsuru.jpg, 485 series EMU (left), August 1994 File:JR East 485-3000 hatsukari.jpg, 485-3000 series EMU, 2002

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hatsukari (Train) Named passenger trains of Japan East Japan Railway Company Railway services introduced in 1958 Railway services discontinued in 2002

History

Rolling stock

See also

References