Tōhoku Shinkansen
Image:Tohoku-Shinkansen Furukawa-Kurikomakogen.ogg
Tōhoku Shinkansen (東北新幹線) is a high-speed rail line, connecting Tokyo with Hachinohe in Aomori Prefecture for a total length of 593 km, Japan's longest Shinkansen line. It runs through the more sparsely populated Tōhoku region of Japan's main island Honshū. It has two spur lines, Yamagata Shinkansen and Akita Shinkansen, not shown on the map. The line is operated by East Japan Railway Company.
[edit] Timeline
An extension from Hachinohe to Aomori is under construction and is scheduled for completion around 2010. From Aomori, construction is underway to continue the line under the name Hokkaidō Shinkansen, passing through the world's longest railway tunnel, the Seikan Tunnel to Shin-Hakodate on Hokkaidō, and eventually all the way to Sapporo.
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Morioka-Hachinohe stretch, completed in 2000, was briefly the longest land rail tunnel at 25.8 km, but in 2005 it was superseded by the Hakkoda Tunnel on the extension to Aomori, at 26.5 km. The Lötschberg Base Tunnel in Switzerland has now superseded both.
[edit] Services
There are currently three services in operation:
- Hayate, Tokyo-Hachinohe express, starting December 2002
- Yamabiko, Tokyo-Sendai express, then local to Morioka, starting June 1982
- Nasuno, Tokyo-Koriyama local, starting 1995
One service has been discontinued:
- Aoba, Tokyo - Sendai local, 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.
[edit] List of stations
| Station
| Japanese
| Distance (km)
(from Tokyo)
| Transfers
| Location
|
| Tokyo Station
| 東京
| 0.0
| Tōkaidō Shinkansen, Tokyo Metro Marunouchi Line, Yamanote Line, Keihin-Tōhoku Line, Chūō Main Line, Tōkaidō Main Line, Yokosuka Line, Sōbu Line, Keiyo Line
| Chiyoda
| Tokyo
|
| Ueno Station
| 上野
| 3.6
| Tokyo Metro Ginza Line, Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line, Keisei Main Line, Jōban Line, Yamanote Line, Keihin-Tōhoku Line, Tōhoku Main Line, Takasaki Line
| Taito
|
| Ōmiya Station
| 大宮
| 31.3
| Jōetsu Shinkansen, Tobu Noda Line, New Shuttle, Nagano Shinkansen, Keihin-Tōhoku Line, Saikyo Line, Kawagoe Line, Tōhoku Main Line, Takasaki Line
| Ōmiya-ku, Saitama
| Saitama Prefecture
|
| Oyama Station
| 小山
| 80.6
| Tōhoku Main Line, Ryomo Line, Mito Line
| Oyama
| Tochigi Prefecture
|
| Utsunomiya Station
| 宇都宮
| 109.0
| Tōhoku Main Line, Nikkō Line
| Utsunomiya
|
| Nasu-Shiobara Station
| 那須塩原
| 152.4
| Tōhoku Main Line
| Nasushiobara
|
| Shin-Shirakawa Station
| 新白河
| 178.4
| Tōhoku Main Line
| Nishigō
| Fukushima Prefecture
|
| Kōriyama Station
| 郡山
| 213.9
| Tōhoku Main Line, East Ban'etsu Line, West Ban'etsu Line, Suigun Line
| Koriyama
|
| Fukushima Station
| 福島
| 255.1
| Yamagata Shinkansen, Tōhoku Main Line, Ōu Main Line, Fukushima Kotsu Iizaka Line, Abukuma Express Line
| Fukushima
|
| Shiroishi-Zaō Station
| 白石蔵王
| 286.2
|
| Shiroishi
| Miyagi Prefecture
|
| Sendai Station
| 仙台
| 325.4
| Tōhoku Main Line, Senzan Line, Senseki Line, Jōban Line, Sendai Subway Nanboku Line
| Aoba-ku, Sendai
|
| Furukawa Station
| 古川
| 363.8
| East Riku'u Line
| Ōsaki
|
| Kurikoma-Kōgen Station
| くりこま高原
| 385.7
|
| Shiwahime
|
| Ichinoseki Station
| 一ノ関
| 406.3
| Tōhoku Main Line, Ofunato Line
| Ichinoseki
| Iwate Prefecture
|
| Mizusawa-Esashi Station
| 水沢江刺
| 431.3
|
| Mizusawa
|
| Kitakami Station
| 北上
| 448.6
| Tōhoku Main Line, Kitakami Line
| Kitakami
|
| Shin-Hanamaki Station
| 新花巻
| 463.1
| Kamaishi Line
| Hanamaki
|
| Morioka Station
| 盛岡
| 496.5
| Akita Shinkansen, Tōhoku Main Line, Tazawako Line, Yamada Line, Iwate Ginga Railway Line(IGR), Hanawa Line(JR, through IGR)
| Morioka
|
| Iwate-Numakunai Station
| いわて沼宮内
| 527.6
| Iwate Ginga Railway Line
| Iwate
|
| Ninohe Station
| 二戸
| 562.2
| Iwate Ginga Railway Line
| Ninohe
|
| Hachinohe Station
| 八戸
| 593.1
| Tōhoku Main Line, Hachinohe Line, Aoimori Railway Line
| Hachinohe
| Aomori Prefecture
|
[edit] External links
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