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Tohoku Shinkansen
An E5 series shinkansen on a Hayabusa service in March 2011
Overview
Native name	東北新幹線
Type	Shinkansen
Status	Operational
Locale	Tokyo; Saitama, Tochigi, Fukushima, Miyagi, Iwate and Aomori Prefectures
Termini	Tokyo Shin-Aomori
Stations	23
Operation
Opened	23 June 1982
Owner	JR East
Depot(s)	Tokyo, Oyama, Nasushiobara, Sendai, Morioka, Shin-Aomori
Rolling stock	E2 series, E3 series, E5 series, E6 series, H5 series
Technical
Line length	674.9 km
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)
Electrification	25 kV AC, 50 Hz, overhead catenary
Operating speed	320 km/h (200 mph)
Route map

The Tohoku Shinkansen (東北新幹線, literally "northeastern Shinkansen") is a Japanese high-speed Shinkansen rail line, connecting Tokyo with Aomori in Aomori Prefecture in a route length of 674 km (419 mi), making it Japan's longest Shinkansen line. It runs through the more sparsely populated Tōhoku region of Japan's main island, Honshu, and is being extended as the Hokkaido Shinkansen through the Seikan Tunnel to Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto (this section opened March 2016) and on to Sapporo by 2030. It has two Mini-shinkansen branch lines, the Yamagata Shinkansen and Akita Shinkansen. The line is operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East).

Services

There are four services in operation:

• 
  Hayabusa, Tokyo – Shin-Aomori/Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto limited-stop, starting 5 March 2011


• 
  Hayate, Tokyo – Shin-Aomori/Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto limited-stop (slower than Hayabusa), starting December 2002


• 
  Yamabiko, Tokyo – Sendai limited-stop, and all-stations to Morioka, 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 16 March 2013, the maximum line speed is 110 km/h (70 mph) between Tokyo and Ōmiya, 275 km/h (170 mph) between Ōmiya and Utsunomiya, 320 km/h (200 mph) between Utsunomiya and Morioka, and 260 km/h (160 mph) between Morioka and Shin-Aomori.^[1][2] On 30 October 2012, JR East announced that it is pursuing research and development to increase speeds to 360 km/h (224 mph) on the Tohoku Shinkansen by 2020.^[3]

List of stations

〇→All trains stop

▲→Some trains pass

△->Some trains stop

レ→All trains pass
⇑,⇓　One direction only

Station	Japanese	Distance (km)	Nasuno	Yamabiko	Hayate	Hayabusa	Transfers	Location
Tokyo	東京	0.0	⇓	⇓	⇓	⇓	Tokaido Shinkansen, MTokyo Metro Marunouchi Line ■Yamanote Line ■Keihin-Tōhoku Line ■ Chūō Main Line ■■Tokaido Main Line ■Yokosuka Line ■Sōbu Line (Rapid) ■ Keiyō Line	Chiyoda	Tokyo
Ueno	上野	3.6	〇	▲	〇	▲	GTokyo Metro Ginza Line H Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line ■■ Keisei Main Line ■■ Jōban Line ■Yamanote Line ■Keihin-Tōhoku Line ■■ Utsunomiya Line ■■Takasaki Line	Taitō
Ōmiya	大宮	31.3	〇	〇	〇	〇	Joetsu Shinkansen ■ Tobu Urban Park Line, New Shuttle, Hokuriku Shinkansen, Keihin-Tōhoku Line, Saikyō Line, Kawagoe Line, Utsunomiya Line Takasaki Line	Ōmiya-ku, Saitama	Saitama Prefecture
Oyama	小山	80.6	〇	△	レ	レ	Utsunomiya Line, Ryōmō Line, Mito Line	Oyama	Tochigi Prefecture
Utsunomiya	宇都宮	109.0	〇	▲	レ	レ	Utsunomiya Line, Nikkō Line Karasuyama Line	Utsunomiya
Nasu-Shiobara	那須塩原	152.4	〇	△	レ	レ	Utsunomiya Line	Nasushiobara
Shin-Shirakawa	新白河	178.4	〇	△	レ	レ	Tōhoku Main Line	Nishigō	Fukushima Prefecture
Kōriyama	郡山	213.9	⇑	▲	レ	レ	Tōhoku Main Line, Ban'etsu East Line, Ban'etsu West Line, Suigun Line	Koriyama
Fukushima	福島	255.1		〇	レ	レ	Yamagata Shinkansen, Tōhoku Main Line, Yamagata Line Fukushima Kōtsū Iizaka Line, Abukuma Express Line	Fukushima
Shiroishi-Zaō	白石蔵王	286.2		▲	レ	レ		Shiroishi	Miyagi Prefecture
Sendai	仙台	325.4		〇	〇	〇	Tōhoku Main Line, Senzan Line, Senseki Line, Jōban Line, Sendai Airport Line Sendai Subway Namboku Line, Sendai Subway Tōzai Line	Aoba-ku, Sendai
Furukawa	古川	363.8		〇	〇	△	Rikuu East Line	Ōsaki
Kurikoma-Kōgen	くりこま高原	385.7		〇	〇	△		Kurihara
Ichinoseki	一ノ関	406.3		〇	〇	△	Tōhoku Main Line, Ofunato Line	Ichinoseki	Iwate Prefecture
Mizusawa-Esashi	水沢江刺	431.3		〇	〇	△		Ōshū
Kitakami	北上	448.6		〇	〇	△	Tōhoku Main Line, Kitakami Line	Kitakami
Shin-Hanamaki	新花巻	463.1		〇	〇	△	Kamaishi Line	Hanamaki
Morioka	盛岡	496.5		⇑	〇	〇	Akita Shinkansen, Tohoku Main Line, Tazawako Line, Yamada Line, Iwate Galaxy Railway Line (IGR), Hanawa Line (JR, via IGR)	Morioka
Iwate-Numakunai	いわて沼宮内	527.6			〇	△	Iwate Ginga Railway Line	Iwate
Ninohe	二戸	562.2			〇	▲	Iwate Ginga Railway Line	Ninohe
Hachinohe	八戸	593.1			〇	▲	Aoimori Railway Line, Hachinohe Line,	Hachinohe	Aomori Prefecture
Shichinohe-Towada	七戸十和田	628.2			〇	▲		Shichinohe
Shin-Aomori	新青森	674.9			〇	〇	Ōu Main Line Hokkaido Shinkansen (through-service)	Aomori

Rolling stock

As of March 2015, the following types are used on Tohoku Shinkansen services.

• 
  E2 series: Hayate / Yamabiko / Nasuno services


• 
  E3 series: Tsubasa / Yamabiko / Nasuno services


• 
  E5 series: Hayabusa / Hayate / Yamabiko / Nasuno services


• 
  E6 series: Komachi / Hayabusa / Yamabiko / Nasuno services

Types no longer used

Tohoku Shinkansen bilevel E4 series train

• 
  200 series: Yamabiko / Nasuno services (1982 – November 2011)^[4]
  


• 
  400 series: Tsubasa / Nasuno services (July 1992 – April 2010)


• 
  E1 series: Max Yamabiko services (July 1994 – December 1999)


• 
  E4 series: Max Yamabiko / Max Nasuno services (until September 2012)

Non-revenue-earning types

• Class E926 East i

Timeline

History

• 28 November 1971: Construction starts on the line.


• 23 June 1982: The Ōmiya–Morioka section opens.


• 14 March 1985: The Ueno–Ōmiya section opens.


• 20 June 1991: The Tokyo–Ueno section opens.


• October 1998: 1 billionth passenger carried on Tōhoku, Joetsu and Nagano Shinkansen lines.


• 1 December 2002: The Morioka–Hachinohe section opens.


• 13 April 2010: Test running starts on the extension from Hachinohe to Shin-Aomori.^[5]
  


• 4 December 2010: The extension from Hachinohe to Shin-Aomori opens.^[6]
  


• 5 March 2011: New Hayabusa services operating at 300 km/h (190 mph) commence operation between Tokyo and Shin-Aomori using new E5 series trainsets.^[7]
  


• 23 June 2012: The line's 30th anniversary was celebrated, with approximately 1.93 billion passengers having been transported on the line.^[8]
  

From Shin-Aomori, construction is underway to continue the line to Shin-Hakodate in Hokkaido (148.9 km or 92.5 mi, due to open by March 2016 under the name Hokkaido Shinkansen), passing through the world's longest undersea railway tunnel, the Seikan Tunnel, and a further 211.3 km (131.3 mi) to Sapporo 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 25.8 km (16.0 mi), but in 2005 it was superseded by the Hakkōda Tunnel on the extension to Aomori, at 26.5 km (16.5 mi). In 2007 the Lötschberg Base Tunnel (34.57 km or 21.48 mi), and in 2010 the Gotthard Base Tunnel (57 km or 35 mi, bored through and due in service by 2016) in Switzerland superseded both.

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.^[9]

Limited service on the line was restored in segments: Tokyo to Nasushiobara was re-opened on 15 March, and Morioka to Shin-Aomori was re-opened on 22 March.^[10] The line between Morioka and Ichinoseki re-opened on 7 April, Nasu-Shiobara 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.^[11][12][13] The trains returned to full-speed operations on 23 September 2011.^[14]

Special event train services

25th anniversary

Refurbished 10-car set K47 in "revival livery" on a special 25th anniversary working, 23 June 2007

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.^[15]

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.^[16]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tōhoku Shinkansen.

• 
  JR East website (in Japanese)
  


• Japan blasts longest land tunnel