Kyushu Shinkansen
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The Kyushu Shinkansen (九州新幹線) is a 249 km high-speed railway line between the Japanese cities of Fukuoka and Kagoshima, on Kyushu Island, running parallel to the existing Kagoshima Main Line. It is currently being built by the Kyushu Railway Company (JR-Kyushu), and scheduled for completion in 2013.
The segment between Kagoshima and Yatsushiro began operations on March 13, 2004. It cuts travel times between the two cities from 130 minutes to 35 minutes, and reduces the time between Hakata and Kagoshima from 4 hours to just 2 hours. When the entire line is complete, the travel time from Hakata to Kagoshima will be just over an hour.
Like the original Shinkansen lines, the Kyushu Shinkansen is standard gauge.
The line will connect to the Sanyo Shinkansen at Hakata Station upon its final completion. It may use part or all of the Hakata Minami Line.
A spur to Nagasaki is in early planning stages.
Stations
- Hakata Station
- Shin-Tosu Station
- Kurume Station
- Shin-Omuta Station
- Shin-Tamana Station
- Kumamoto Station
- Shin-Yatsushiro Station
- Shin-Minamata Station
- Izumi Station
- Sendai Station
- Kagoshima-Chuo Station
Trains
The line uses a new train set model, the 800 Series Shinkansen, with a maximum speed of 260 km/h (160 mph). The trains have been developed by Hitachi, which also manufactured the 500 and 700 series trains on the Tokaido-Sanyo line.
Individual trains are named Tsubame, or "Swallow," the name of the former Hakata-Kagoshima limited express service. While the line is being completed, the old Tsubame trains carry passengers to Shin-Yatsushiro, where they can transfer to the Shinkansen for the remainder of their journey. The old trains have been redubbed Relay Tsubame for this purpose.
External links
- http://www.jrkyushu.co.jp/shinkansen (official site in Japanese)
- http://www.jrkyushu.co.jp/shinkansen/news/index.html (TVCF movie)
- http://www.jrkyushu.co.jp/shinkansen/syaryo_info/index.html (exterior)
- http://www.jrkyushu.co.jp/shinkansen/syaryo_info/naiso01.html (interior page1)
- http://www.jrkyushu.co.jp/shinkansen/syaryo_info/naiso02.html (interior page2)