Sakura (train)

The is a high-speed shinkansen service operated between and in Japan since 12 March 2011.JR Kyushu
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Retrieved on 26 February 2009.

It was formerly a limited express sleeper train service operated by JR Kyushu, which ran from to and in Kyushu, Japan. This former service was discontinued in 2005 due to revised timetables.

Service pattern

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(*) Not served by all trains

Formations

N700 series (8 cars)

Services are formed as shown below with car 1 at the Kagoshima-Chuo end. All cars are no smoking except for smoking compartments in cars 3 and 7. Unusually, reserved ordinary class seats are wider than unreserved seats.

File:Series-N700-7000 Inside Green-seat.jpg, N700-7000 series Green car interior
File:Series-N700-7000 Inside Reserved-seat.jpg, N700-7000 series standard-class reserved car interior
File:Series-N700-7000 Inside Ordinary-seat.jpg, N700-7000 series standard-class non-reserved car interior

800 series (6 cars)

All cars are no smoking.

History

Limited express service

The ''Sakura'' was first introduced on 1 April 1951 as a daytime Limited express service between Tokyo and Osaka. This service was discontinued in October 1958.

The ''Sakura'' sleeping car service commenced on 20 July 1959 using 20 series sleeping cars. From March 1972, the train was upgraded with 14 series sleeping cars.

From 4 December 1999, the ''Sakura'' ran coupled with the ''Hayabusa'' service between Tokyo and . The last services ran on the evening of 28 February 2005.

Shinkansen service

From 12 March 2011, the ''Sakura'' name was revived once again for the new shinkansen services operating between and using new JR West N700-7000 series and JR Kyushu N700-8000 series 8-car trainsets.

''Sakura'' trains operate once every hour between Shin-Osaka and Kagoshima-Chūō throughout the day. One morning service departs from Kumamoto to Shin-Osaka. There are also additional ''Sakura'' services between and Kagoshima-Chuo during the daytime. Some ''Sakura'' runs within the Kyushu Shinkansen are operated by 6-car 800 series trains.

As with the existing ''Hikari'' service that operates on the Tokaido & Sanyo Shinkansen lines, the ''Sakura'' is the fastest service on the Sanyo & Kyushu Shinkansen lines that can be used with the Japan Rail Pass.

Rolling stock

In the 1990s, the train was formed of up to fourteen 14 series sleeping cars, including two cafeteria cars. The train was hauled by a JR West Class EF66 electric locomotive between Tokyo and , a JR Kyushu Class EF81 electric locomotive between Shimonoseki and Moji (through the undersea Kanmon Tunnel), and by JR Kyushu Class ED76 electric locomotives from Moji to Nagasaki and Sasebo.

See also

* List of named passenger trains of Japan
* Blue Train (Japan)
* ''Mizuho'' - the limited-stop service operating on the same route

References

External links

JR Kyushu website

{{Authority control

Kyushu Railway Company
West Japan Railway Company
Night trains of Japan
Railway services introduced in 1951
Railway services introduced in 2011
Named Shinkansen trains