| Tōhoku Shinkansen | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Tōhoku Shinkansen bilevel E4 series train |
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| Overview | |||
| Type | Shinkansen | ||
| Locale | Japan | ||
| Termini | Tokyo Hachinohe |
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| Stations | 21 | ||
| Operation | |||
| Opened | 23 June 1982 | ||
| Owner | JR East | ||
| Depot(s) | Tokyo, Sendai, Morioka | ||
| Technical | |||
| Line length | 593.1 km | ||
| Track gauge | 1,435 mm | ||
| Electrification | 25 kV AC, overhead catenary | ||
| Operating speed | 275 km/h | ||
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The Tōhoku Shinkansen (東北新幹線) is a Japanese high-speed Shinkansen 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 (JR East).
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An extension from Hachinohe to Shin-Aomori is under construction and is scheduled to open in December 2010.[1] 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Morioka-Hachinohe stretch, completed in 2000, was briefly the longest land rail tunnel at 25.8 km, but in 2005 it was superseded by the Hakkōda Tunnel on the extension to Aomori, at 26.5 km. The Lötschberg Base Tunnel in Switzerland has now superseded both.
There are currently three services in operation:
One service has been discontinued:
Through trains on the Akita Shinkansen and Yamagata Shinkansen lines also run on Tōhoku Shinkansen tracks from Morioka and Fukushima respectively.
The maximum line speed is currently 240 km/h between Ōmiya and Utsunomiya, 275 km/h between Utsunomiya and Morioka, and 260 km/h between Morioka and Hachinohe. From early 2011, the maximum line speed is scheduled to be raised to 275 km/h between Ōmiya and Utsunomiya, and to 300 km/h between Utsunomiya and Morioka. The line speed will be further increased to 320 km/h between Utsunomiya and Morioka from early 2013.[1]
As of June 2009, the following types are used on Tōhoku Shinkansen services.
| Station | Japanese | Distance (km) (from Tokyo) |
Transfers | Location | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hachinohe Station | 八戸 | 593.1 | Hachinohe Line, Aoimori Railway Line | Hachinohe | Aomori Prefecture |
| Shichinohe-Towada Station | 七戸十和田 | 628.2 | Shichinohe | ||
| Shin-Aomori Station | 新青森 | 674.9 | Ōu Main Line, Hokkaido Shinkansen (2015?) | Aomori | |
Media related to Tōhoku
Shinkansen at Wikimedia Commons
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