The is a Japanese high-speed Shinkansen rail line, connecting

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...

with Aomori in

Aomori Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan in the Tōhoku region. The prefecture's capital, largest city, and namesake is the city of Aomori. Aomori is the northernmost prefecture on Japan's main island, Honshu, and is bordered by the Pacific Ocean to the eas ...

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 island,

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 s ...

, and was extended as the Hokkaido Shinkansen 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 is ...

to (this section opened March 2016) and is expected to be extended to

Sapporo ( ain, サッ・ポロ・ペッ, Satporopet, lit=Dry, Great River) is a city in Japan. It is the largest city north of Tokyo and the largest city on Hokkaido, the northernmost main island of the country. It ranks as the fifth most populous city ...

by 2030. It has two Mini-shinkansen branch lines, the

Yamagata Shinkansen The is a Mini-shinkansen route in Japan, operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It provides service between Tokyo and Shinjō in Yamagata Prefecture over the tracks of the Tohoku Shinkansen and the Ōu Main Line. The term Yam ...

and Akita Shinkansen. The line is operated by

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 ar ...

(JR East).

Services

There are four services in operation: * '' Hayabusa'', Tokyo – Shin-Aomori/Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto limited-stop, starting 5 March 2011 * '' Hayate'', Morioka/Shin-Aomori - Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto limited-stop, starting 26 March 2016 (the name has been in use since 1 December 2002) * ''

Yamabiko The is a high-speed Shinkansen train service operated on the Tōhoku Shinkansen between and by East Japan Railway Company (JR East) in Japan. Name The word ''yamabiko'' is usually translated as 'echo', particularly one which is heard in the ...

'', Tokyo – Sendai limited-stop, and all-stations to Morioka, starting June 1982 * ''

Nasuno The is a train service operated on the Tōhoku Shinkansen by East Japan Railway Company (JR East) in Japan. It serves all stations between and , a medium-sized city approximately 225 km north of Tokyo.JR Timetable, December 2008 Origin ...

'', 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

lines also run on Tōhoku Shinkansen tracks from

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 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 320 km/h, primarily in the form of improved sound barriers. This should make operating at 360 km/h 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:

Rolling stock

As of March 2020, the following types are used on Tohoku Shinkansen services. * E2 series: ''

'' / ''

'' services * E3 series: '' Tsubasa'' / ''

'' / ''

'' services * E5 series: '' Hayabusa'' / '' Hayate'' / ''

'' / ''

'' services * E6 series: '' Komachi'' / '' Hayabusa'' / ''

'' / ''

'' services * H5 series: '' Hayabusa'' / '' Hayate'' / ''

'' / ''

'' 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:H5系 H1編成仙台駅入線.JPG, H5 series

Former rolling stock

* 200 series: ''

'' / ''

'' / '' Aoba'' services (1982 – November 2011) * 400 series: '' Tsubasa'' / ''

'' services (July 1992 – April 2010) * E1 series: '' Max Yamabiko'' / '' Max Aoba'' services (July 1994 – December 1999) * E4 series: '' Max Yamabiko'' / '' Max Nasuno'' services (until 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

Future rolling stock

* E8 series: '' Tsubasa'' / ''

'' / ''

'' services (from 2024 onwards)

Non-revenue-earning types

* Class E926 ''East i'' 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 is Japan, Japan's Japanese archipelago, second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost Prefectures of Japan, prefecture, making up its own List of regions of Japan, region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; th ...

(, since March 26, 2016 under the name Hokkaido Shinkansen), passing through the world's longest undersea railway tunnel, the

. A further to

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 ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

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 46 km 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

. 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.

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.

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