IntroductionIt's been quite a while since I did my last post. I'm very sorry for the long delay. Before we get started, let me tell you about the exciting new things I will be talking about in this season. I will be talking about China's High Speed Rail, Amtrak (America's Regional Rail) and Eurostar (Europe's High Speed Rail Network). Once all of those topics have been concluded I will move onto Season 3. Now let's get started. In today's blog post, I will talk about the trains that have been used on the Japanese High Speed Rail Network and the upcoming projects that have been planned and have already started construction. The TrainsIn the first part of this mini-series, I told you about the first few trains. I will start from the 300 series Shinkansen train. The 300 Series was first introduced in 1992. They were constructed between 1990 and 1998 and they scraped the trains between 2007 and 2012. The last one ended its service that year. These trains actually replaced the 100 series and ran on the first two lines that opened. The Sanyo and Tokaido lines. Next is the 400 Series. This is a very stylish train. It had a pointy, grey nose, grey body and a green stripe along the body. They came into operation only 4 months after the 300 series and got scraped in 2010. It was used in the Yamagata Mini-Shinkansen line. They were constructed from 1992 - 1995, got refurbished between 1999 - 2001 and got scraped between 2008 and 2010. The next series is the 500 series. This train only ran on the Sanyo line. It came into service, replacing the 0 series and started operation in 1997 it is still in operation to this day. The train got built between 1995 and 1998. Sadly, only 9 of these trains have ever been made but they had some of the coolest livires I've seen on a train. Let's move on from the 0-9 series to the E series. The next train is the E5 Series. If you have ever been or lived in Japan you have seen this train. It's that weirdly shaped nose, green train. They started operation in 2011, started construction from 2009 till now and haven't been refurbished. They are used on the Tohoku and Hokkaido Shinkansen lines. Upcoming Project 1 - The Chuo LineThis is my favourite line of all! This is my favourite line because its powered by Maglev. Maglev is a rail link that goes from Tokyo to Osaka. The line between Tokyo to Nagoya will open in 2027. It will then be extended to Osaka in 2045. The Tokyo to Nagoya part has been under construction since 2014 and the part to Osaka is still under planning. This maglev technology means that trains will be able to float on the track and go to speeds of up to 800 km/h. Instead of waiting 2.5 hours to use the Tokaido line, the Chuo line will take just 67 minutes. The line cost $67 billion dollars for 290 km of track. Only to Nagoya!! Upcoming Project 2 - The Hokkaido LineThe Hokkaido Line is another upcoming project. This is a half-half project because the first part is already opened. This part of the line goes from Shin-Aomori to Shin-Hakodate and it opened in 2016. The second part of the line will go from Hakodate to Sapporo which is the main city of the island of Hokkaido. This part of the line is the latest line to open and will open in 2030. In the paragraph about the trains above, I told you about the E5 series. The green train. This train will be mainly used on this line and is why JR (the Japanese rail company), made the trains in the first place. Picture 1 - E5 series train
Picture 2 - 300 series train Picture 3 - 400 series train Picture 4 - 500 series train with special body Picture 5 - 500 series train Picture 6 - Hokkaido Line
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The Third Line - The Tohoku LineThe next line to open was the Tohoku Shinkansen line. This line is a bit complex. It is a bit confusing as 3 other lines are coming out of it. It's very complicated on a map. It runs from Tokyo to Shin-Aomori which is the last station before moving to Hokkaido. The stations include, Tokyo, Ueno, Omiya, Oyama, Utsunomiya, Nasu-Shiobara, Shin-Shirakawa, Koriyama, Fukushima, Shiroishi-Zao, Sendai, Furukawa, Kurikoma-Kogen, Ichinoseki, Mizusawa-Esashi, Kitakami, Shin-Hanamaki, Morioka, Iwate-Numakunai, Ninohe, Hachinohe, Shichinohe-Towada, Shin-Aomori. The line opened between 1982 and 2010. In 1982 the line opened from Tokyo to Morioka and other lines like the Joetsu line and the 2 mini Shinkansen lines opened before it got extended all the way to Shin-Aomori in 2010. The Fourth Line - The Joetsu LineThe fourth line to open is the Joetsu Shinkansen. This line is a pretty small line and it runs from Omiya to Niigata. The line goes from Omiya to Takasaki and then takes a turn and goes up until it reaches the shore of Niigata. The stations are Takasaki, Jomo-Kogen, Echigo-Yuzawa, Urasa, Nagaoka, Tsumbane and Niigata. It opened all at once in 1982 and uses the track of the Tohoku line until Omiya. It is a pretty busy line and has an annual ridership of 35 million people. The Fifth Line - The Hokuriku LineThe fifth line to open is the Hokuriku line. This is also a very confusing line. If you look at the map below, you will see that it is in 2 colours. This is because the line is operated by both, JR East and West. It runs between Takasaki and Kanazawa. It opened between 1997 and 2015. It took the longest to open so far and it is the longest line in Japan. This is line is as used as the others but it will be extended all the way down to Kyoto and Osaka. With the new extension, the line might reach the 500km mark. The stations are Takasaki, Annaka-Haruna, Karuizawa, Sakudaira, Uedo, Nagano, Iyama, Joetsu, Itoigawa, Kurobe-Onsen, Toyama, Shin-Takaoka and Kanazawa. The Sixth Line - The Kyushu LineThe sixth line to open is the newest line opening between 2004 and 2011. The line runs from Hakata all the way to Kagoshima. A new route on this line will also open going to Nagasaki. The stations on the first route include, Hakata, Shin-Tosu, Kurume, Chigoku-Funagoya, Shin-Omuta, Shin-Tamana, Kumamoto, Yatsushiro, Shin-Minamata, Izumi, Sendai and Kagoshima. The Nagasaki route is a very short one. The stations are Takeo-Onsen, Ureshino-Onsen, Shin-Omura, Isahaya and Nagasaki. The first part from Kagoshima was opened in 2004 and then connected to Hakata in 2015. This is the second part of the Japan High Speed Rail series. In the next part, I will talk about the trains and the upcoming projects. Photos will also be added to the other parts when Part 3 gets uploaded. Thank You!
Introduction to The Rail LinkThe Japanese High Speed Rail Link is the second largest high speed rail link in the world. It is also the oldest High Speed Rail link in the world opening all the way back in 1964 and the latest line opening in 2030. The rail reaches all corners of the country including Hokkaido as well. In this week's blog post, I will tell you about the history of the Rail and many more things. This blog post maybe split into 2 or more parts because it will be quite lengthy. Where it All StartedThe Japanese High Speed rail link first opened in 1964 by the company, JR Central. The line went from Tokyo through Yokohama and Kyoto before arriving at Osaka. The stops included, Tokyo, Yokohama, Odawara, Atami, Mishima, Shin-Fuji, Shizuoka, Kakegawa, Hamamatsu, Toyohashi, Mikawa-Anjo, Nagoya, Gifu-Hashima, Maibara, Kyoto and Osaka. The first Shinkansen train started operation 56 years ago on the 1st of October 1964. It was called the 0 series Shinkansen. Sadly, these trains retired in 2008 and none remain in operation however, 27 of them have been preserved. Shinkansen TrainsNow you know where this whole rail link started, lets see the trains that it used over the years. First up we have the 0 series Shinkansen. This train started operation when the High Speed rail link opened in 1964 and ended its service in 2008. They were all white with glass in the middle and a square-like nose at the front. Next, we have the 100 series. The 100 series train started operation in 1985 and left service just back in 2012. They were constructed in 1984 till 1992 and refurbished between 2000 - 2004. Something strange was that they started scraping the trains between 1999 and 2012 which is before they got refurbished. Why refurbish a train if you are going to scrap it the next year. What a waste. The last train I will describe will be the 200 series Shinkansen. They started service earlier than the 100 series and started in 1982. They ended their service in 2013. They were refurbished between 1999 - 2002 and mainly served on the Tohoku Line which ran from Tokyo to Osaka. I will write about the other trains in a separate blog post. The Second LineThe second line is the Sanyo Line and it opened between 1972 and 1975. It runs between Osaka and Hakata. The stops include, Shin-Osaka, Shin-Kobe, Nishi-Akashi, Himeji, Aioi, Okayama, Shin-Kurashiki, Fukuyama, Shin-Onomichi, Mihara, Higashi-Hiroshima, Hiroshima, Shin-Iwakuni, Tokuyama, Shin-Yamaguchi, Asa, Shin-Shimonoseki, Kokura and Hakata. The line is run by JR West and the first series of trains to run on the line was as well, the 0 Series and currently on the line serves the 500 Series, 700 Series and N700 Series. I will add more parts to this series in the following days so stay tuned! This is just Part 1. Thanks for reading.
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AuthorI'd love to share my knowledge about trains with the world. Archives
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Photo used under Creative Commons from Tutenkhamun Sleeping