The is a

Bo′Bo′+Bo′Bo′ B-B and Bo-Bo are the Association of American Railroads (AAR) and British classifications of wheel arrangement for railway locomotives with four axles in two individual bogies. They are equivalent to the B′B′ and Bo′Bo′ classifications in ...

wheel arrangement In rail transport, a wheel arrangement or wheel configuration is a system of classifying the way in which wheels are distributed under a locomotive. Several notations exist to describe the wheel assemblies of a locomotive by type, position, and c ...

multi-voltage AC two-unit

electric locomotive An electric locomotive is a locomotive powered by electricity from overhead lines, a third rail or on-board energy storage such as a battery or a supercapacitor. Locomotives with on-board fuelled prime movers, such as diesel engines or gas ...

type operated by

Japan Freight Railway Company , or , is one of the seven constituent companies of Japan Railways Group (JR Group). It provides transportation of cargo nationwide throughout Japan. Its headquarters are in Shibuya, Tokyo near Shinjuku Station. The Japan Railways Group was foun ...

(JR Freight) in Japan hauling freight trains on the

Kaikyō Line The is an 87.8-kilometer long railway line operated mainly by the Hokkaido Railway Company (JR Hokkaido). The line connects Naka-Oguni Station in Sotogahama, Aomori, through the Seikan Tunnel between Honshu and Hokkaido, to Kikonai Station in K ...

through the

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 isla ...

separating mainland

Honshu , historically called , is the largest and most populous island of Japan. It is located south of Hokkaidō across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyūshū across the Kanmon Straits. The island separ ...

with the northern island of

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 la ...

. A prototype locomotive was delivered in January 2013 for evaluation and testing, with full-production locomotives delivered from June 2014, entering service from July 2014.

Background

In order to allow

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 ...

services to operate through the dual-gauge

(which commenced on 26 March 2016), the overhead line system voltage was raised from the narrow gauge standard of 20 kV AC to the standard shinkansen power supply of 25 kV AC. A fleet of approximately 20 new dual-voltage locomotives capable of operating under either 20 kV or 25 kV was therefore required to replace the

Class ED79 The was a Bo-Bo wheel arrangement AC electric locomotive type operated on passenger and freight services in the north of Japan from 1986, originally by Japanese National Railways (JNR), and later by Hokkaido Railway Company (JR Hokkaido) and J ...

and

Class EH500 The is a Bo′Bo′+Bo′Bo′ wheel arrangement multi-system AC/ DC two-unit electric locomotive type operated by JR Freight in Japan since 1997. Operations The locomotives are built at the Toshiba factory in Fuchū, Tokyo. Initially, they w ...

locomotives previously used to haul freight and overnight sleeping car services through the tunnel. These locomotives are also compatible with the digital ATC and feature digital train wireless communications. The total cost of manufacturing the fleet of locomotives together with construction of new maintenance depot facilities was approximately 19 billion yen.

Design

The Bo′Bo′+Bo′Bo′ wheel arrangement locomotives are painted in an all-over red livery with a white bodyside line and silver wavy line.

Operations

The locomotives operate between Higashi-Aomori Freight Terminal and Goryōkaku Freight Terminal via the

and Seikan Tunnel. File:EH800-3 Cassiopeia 20160717 (cropped).jpg, EH800-3 hauling a '' Cassiopeia'' cruise train in July 2016

History

Design of the prototype locomotive, EH800-901, began in fiscal 2010, and the completed locomotive was unveiled to the press at the

Toshiba , commonly known as Toshiba and stylized as TOSHIBA, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Its diversified products and services include power, industrial and social infrastructure system ...

factory in

Fuchū, Tokyo 260px, Fuchū City Hall is a city located in western Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. Fuchū serves as a regional commercial center and a commuter town for workers in central Tokyo. The city hosts large scale manufacturing facilities for Toshiba, NEC a ...

, on 27 November 2012. It was delivered to JR Freight in Sendai in January 2013. Following delivery, the prototype locomotive was tested within the confines of Higashi-Fukushima Station before being moved to Goryōkaku Depot in Hokkaido for testing in winter conditions. The first full-production locomotive was delivered in June 2014. This entered revenue service on 16 July 2014.

Fleet list

EH800-11 electric locomotive oshimatoubetsu station

EH800-19 EH500-32 Rikuzen-Sanno 20161221

, 20 Class EH800 locomotives are in service.

Classification

The EH800 classification for this locomotive type is explained below. As with previous locomotive designs, the prototype is numbered EH800-901, with subsequent production locomotives numbered from EH800-1 onward. * E: Electric locomotive * H: Eight driving axles * 800: AC locomotive with AC motors

References

External links

Toshiba press release
(27 November 2012) {{Jrfloco Electric locomotives of Japan EH800 Railway locomotives introduced in 2013 Toshiba locomotives 20 kV AC locomotives 25 kV AC locomotives 1067 mm gauge locomotives of Japan Bo′Bo′+Bo′Bo′ locomotives Multi-system locomotives