Tōhoku Shinkansen

The is a Japanese high-speed Shinkansen rail line that runs through the more sparsely populated Tōhoku region of Japan's main island, Honshu. Operated by the East Japan Railway Company, it links Tokyo in the south to Aomori in the north, with stops in population centers such as Morioka, Koriyama, Fukushima, Hachinohe, and Sendai. With a route length of , it is Japan's longest Shinkansen line. It also has the highest operating speeds on the Shinkansen network, reaching a maximum of on a section between Utsunomiya and Morioka.

The first section of the Tōhoku Shinkansen opened in 1982 between Ōmiya and Morioka, with additional sections gradually built over the following decades; the final section between Hachinohe and Shin-Aomori was completed in 2010. A continuation of the line opened as the Hokkaido Shinkansen in 2016, which links Shin-Aomori to Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto via the Seikan Tunnel. The Tōhoku Shinkansen also has two Mini-Shinkansen branch lines, the Yamagata Shinkansen and Akita Shinkansen. Future plans include ongoing upgrade work to increase operating speeds throughout the line.

Four services currently operate on the Tōhoku Shinkansen, the all-stop '' Nasuno'', and the limited-stop '' Yamabiko'', '' Hayate'', and ''Hayabusa'', with the latter two providing through service onto the Hokkaido Shinkansen. As of 2021, the fastest travel times between Tokyo and Shin-Aomori are on the ''Hayabusa'' service, at 2 hours and 58 minutes. The Mini-Shinkansen also provides through service from Tokyo via the Tōhoku Shinkansen; typically, '' Tsubasa'' and '' Komachi'' trains are coupled to ''Hayabusa,'' ''Yamabiko,'' or ''Nasuno'' trains at Tokyo and are decoupled at Fukushima and Morioka respectively, where they continue on to their Mini-Shinkansen lines.

Services

There are four services in operation:
* ''Hayabusa'', Tokyo – Sendai/Morioka/Shin-Aomori/Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto limited-stop, starting 5 March 2011
* '' Hayate'', Morioka/Shin-Aomori – Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto mostly all stations (not stopping at Iwate-Numakunai only), and all-stations from Shin-Amori, starting 26 March 2016 (the name has been in use since 1 December 2002, but services south of Morioka was discontinued from 16 March 2019)
* '' Yamabiko'', Tokyo – Sendai and Morioka limited-stop/ mostly all-stations, starting June 1982
* '' Nasuno'', Tokyo – Oyama/Nasushiobara/Kōriyama all-stations, starting 1995
One service has been discontinued:
* '' Aoba'', Tokyo – Sendai all-stations, June 1982 – October 1997 (consolidated with ''Nasuno'')

Through trains on the Akita Shinkansen and Yamagata Shinkansen lines also run on Tōhoku Shinkansen tracks from Morioka and Fukushima respectively.

As of March 2021, the maximum line speed is between Tokyo and Ueno, between Ueno and Ōmiya, between Ōmiya and Utsunomiya, between Utsunomiya and Morioka, and between Morioka and Shin-Aomori.JR East press release
"東北新幹線八戸〜新青森間の開業時期について" (10 November 2008)
Retrieved on 11 November 2008.

On 30 October 2012, JR East announced that it is pursuing research and development to increase speeds to on the Tohoku Shinkansen. Work seems to be ongoing to upgrade the section between Morioka and Shin-Aomori to , primarily in the form of improved sound barriers. This should make operating at possible, if the improved noise dampening techniques being tested using the ALFA-X test train are successful. Upgrade works on this section started in October 2020, and are expected to take seven years to complete.

List of stations

Legend:

Notes:

Only ''Hayabusa'' trains bound for Morioka stop at all or selected stations between Furukawa and Shin-Hanamaki. All trains bound for Shin-Aomori and Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto will pass them.

''Yamabiko'' trains runs limited-stop to Sendai, and all-stations to Morioka. As a result, ''Tsubasa'' trains only couple with those trains bound for Sendai.

Rolling stock

As of March 2024, the following types are used on Tohoku Shinkansen services.
* E2 series: '' Yamabiko'' / '' Nasuno'' services
* E3 series: '' Tsubasa'' / '' Yamabiko'' / '' Nasuno'' services
* E5 series: ''Hayabusa'' / '' Hayate'' / '' Yamabiko'' / '' Nasuno'' services
* E6 series: '' Komachi'' / ''Hayabusa'' / '' Yamabiko'' / '' Nasuno'' services
* E8 series: '' Tsubasa'' / '' Yamabiko'' / '' Nasuno'' services
* H5 series: ''Hayabusa'' / '' Hayate'' / '' Yamabiko'' / '' Nasuno'' services

File:E2 J74 Yamabiko 216 Omiya 20110206.jpg, E2 series
File:E3-1000 L54 Tsubasa 144 Kita-Yamagata 20150307.jpg, E3 series
File:JRE-TEC-E5 omiya.JPG, E5 series
File:E6 series Z12 Komachi 20161013.jpg, E6 series
File:E8系(大宮駅).jpg, E8 series
File:H5系 H1編成 仙台駅入線.JPG, H5 series

Planned rolling stock

* E10 series (planned for fiscal 2030)

Former rolling stock

* 200 series: '' Yamabiko'' / '' Nasuno'' / '' Aoba'' services (1982 – November 2011)
* 400 series: '' Tsubasa'' / '' Nasuno'' services (July 1992 – April 2010)
* E1 series: '' Max Yamabiko'' / '' Max Aoba'' services (July 1994 – December 1999)
* E4 series: '' Max Yamabiko'' / '' Max Nasuno'' services (1999 – September 2012)

File:JR East Shinkansen 200(renewal).jpg, 200 series
File:Tsubasa 422-6.jpg, A 400 series train on a ''Tsubasa'' service at Yonezawa Station in March 2005
File:Shinkansen-e1.jpg, E1 series
File:JR East Shinkansen E4.jpg, E4 series

Non-revenue-earning types

* East i (E926)

File:Shinkansen E926 East-i.jpg, E926 East i train at Omiya Station, May 2001

Timeline

History

* 28 November 1971: Construction starts on the line.
* 23 June 1982: The – section opens.
* 14 March 1985: The – section opens.
* 20 June 1991: The – section opens.
* October 1998: 1 billionth passenger carried on Tōhoku, Joetsu and Nagano Shinkansen lines.
* 1 December 2002: The – section opens.
* 13 April 2010: Test running starts on the extension from Hachinohe to Shin-Aomori.
* 4 December 2010: The extension from Hachinohe to Shin-Aomori opens.
* 5 March 2011: New ''Hayabusa'' services operating at commence operation between Tokyo and Shin-Aomori using new E5 series trainsets.
* 23 June 2012: The line's 30th anniversary was celebrated, with approximately 1.93 billion passengers having been transported on the line.

From Shin-Aomori, the line continues to Shin-Hakodate in Hokkaido (, since March 26, 2016 under the name Hokkaido Shinkansen), passing through the world's longest undersea railway tunnel, the Seikan Tunnel. A further to Sapporo is due to open by 2030.

The mountainous terrain that the line passes through has necessitated heavy reliance on tunnels. The Iwate-Ichinohe Tunnel on the Morioka–Hachinohe stretch, completed in 2000, was briefly the world's longest land rail tunnel at , but in 2005 it was superseded by the Hakkōda Tunnel on the extension to Aomori, at . In 2007 the Lötschberg Base Tunnel (), and in 2010 the Gotthard Base Tunnel (, bored through and due in service by 2016) in Switzerland superseded both.

2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami

On the afternoon of 11 March 2011, services on the Tohoku Shinkansen were suspended as a result of the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. JR East estimated that around 1,100 repairs would be required for the line between Omiya and Iwate-Numakunai, ranging from collapsed station roofs to bent power pylons.

Limited service on the line was restored in segments: Tokyo to was re-opened on 15 March, and Morioka to Shin-Aomori was re-opened on 22 March. The line between Morioka and Ichinoseki re-opened on 7 April, Nasushiobara and Fukushima on 12 April, and the rest of the line on or around 30 April, although not at full speed or a full schedule. The trains returned to full-speed operations on 23 September 2011.

2021 Tohoku earthquake

A magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck the Tohoku area approximately east of Namie on the evening of 13 February 2021. Following the quake, infrastructure damage was discovered between Shin-Shirakawa and Furukawa stations.

East Japan Railway closed the Tohoku Shinkansen between Nasushiobara and Morioka. The section between Ichinoseki and Morioka re-opened on 16 February, Sendai and Ichinoseki on 22 February, and the remaining section between Nasushiobara and Sendai on 24 February. Trains operated at 80% the usual timetable with top speeds reduced until 26 March, when repairs were completed and the normal timetable was restored.

2025 uncoupling accident

On 6 March 2025 around 11:30 AM the Hayabusa- Komachi 21 train, composed of H5 and E6 series Shinkansen, travelling at around 60 km/h was uncoupled while travelling between Ueno and Omiya stations. Both trains had made emergency stop near Nishi-Nippori Station and no one among 642 passengers was injured. According to JR East press conference, the problem came from Komachi side.

On that day, 111 Shinkansen trains were cancelled and 166 were delayed, affecting more than 150,000 people. Not only Tohoku Shinkansen was affected, but also Joetsu and Hokuriku Shinkansen services. Coupled operations with Yamagata and Akita Shinkansen were cancelled. Passengers are guided to interchange at Fukushima station for Yamagata Shinkansen and Morioka station for Akita Shinkansen. It brought inconvenience for passengers, as interchanges require transferring from Shinkansen to conventional line platforms. Furthermore, congestion is expected.

A similar accident happened in September 2024, when Hayabusa-Komachi train travelling between Furukawa and Sendai stations uncoupled while travelling at more than 300 km/h. Train inspections and special measures were taken.

Special event train services

25th anniversary

On 23 June 2007, 10-car set K47 was used for a special ''Yamabiko'' 931 service from Omiya to Morioka to mark the 25th anniversary of the opening of the Tohoku Shinkansen.

30th anniversary

On 23 June 2012, 10-car set K47 was used for a special ''Yamabiko'' 235 service from Omiya to Morioka to mark the 30th anniversary of the opening of the Tohoku Shinkansen.

In media

The Tohoku Shinkansen is mainly featured in the film '' Bullet Train Explosion''.

References

* JR Timetable, December 2008

External links

JR East website


Japan blasts longest land tunnel

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tohoku Shinkansen

Lines of East Japan Railway Company
High-speed railway lines in Japan
Railway lines opened in 1982
Articles containing video clips
Standard-gauge railways in Japan
1982 establishments in Japan
25 kV AC railway electrification