Tōhoku Shinkansen

Infobox rail line
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name = Tōhoku Shinkansen
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caption = Tōhoku Shinkansen bilevel E4 series train
type = Shinkansen
system =
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locale = Japan
start = Tokyo
end = Hachinohe
stations = 21
routes =
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open = 23 June 1982
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owner = JR East
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depot = Tokyo, Sendai, Morioka
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linelength = 593.1 km
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gauge = 1,435 mm
el = 25 kV AC, overhead catenary
speed = 275 km/h
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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.

Timeline

* November 28, 1971: Construction starts on line.
* June 23, 1982: Ōmiya-Morioka section opens.
* March 14, 1985: Ueno-Ōmiya section opens.
* June 20, 1991: Tokyo-Ueno section opens.
* October 1998: 1 billionth passenger carried on Tōhoku, Jōetsu and Nagano Shinkansen lines.
* December 1, 2002: Morioka-Hachinohe section opens.

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Morioka-Hachinohe stretch, completed in 2000, was briefly the longest land rail tunnel at 25.8 km, but in 2005 it was superseded by the Hakkōda Tunnel on the extension to Aomori, at 26.5 km. The Lötschberg Base Tunnel in Switzerland has now superseded both.

ervices

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-Kōriyama 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.

List of stations

Planned extension

External links

* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4302291.stm Japan blasts longest land tunnel]