Akita Shinkansen

Akita Shinkansen
Class E6 train on the Ōu main line
Route length:	127.3 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Power system :	20 kV 50 Hz (25 kV 50 Hz)  ~
Top speed:	130 km / h
Legend - 0.0 Tokyo (東京 駅) JR East : Tōhoku Shinkansen ↑ JR East: Tōhoku Main Line 0.0 496.5 Morioka (盛 岡 駅) ↓ JR East: Tazawako Line JR East: Yamada Line JR East: Tōhoku Shinkansen Iwate Ginga Railway ↑ 25 kV / ↓ 20 kV 6.0 Ōkama (大 釜 駅) 10.5 Koiwai (小 岩 井 駅) 16.0 512.5 Shizukuishi (雫 石 駅) Katsukonda (river) 18.7 Harukiba (春 木 場 駅) 22.0 Akabuchi (赤 渕 駅) Hashiba (橋 場 駅) 28.6 Ōchizawa depot (大地 沢 信号 場) Sengan Tunnel (3,915 m) 34.4 Shidonai depot (志 度 内 信号 場) 40.1 536.3 Tazawa-Ko (田 沢 湖 駅) Obonai (river) 44.4 Sashimaki (刺 巻 駅) 52.8 Jinkai (神 代 駅) 55.3 Syōden (生 田 駅) Akita Transinland Railway: Akita Inland Line 58.8 555.3 Kakunodate (角 館 駅) Tama (river) 61.6 Uguisu-No (鶯 野 駅) 64.6 Ugo-Nagano (羽 後 長野 駅) 67.9 Yariminai (鑓 見 内 駅) 70.2 Ugo-Yotsuya (羽 後 四 ツ 屋 駅) 72.0 North Ōmagari (北大 曲 駅) ↑ JR East: Tazawako Line 75.6 572.1 Ōmagari (大曲 駅) ↓ → JR East: Ōu main line Tama (river) ↓ three-rail track 81.6 Jingūji (神宮 寺 駅) 89.2 Kariwano (刈 和 野 駅) ↑ Three-rail track 94.0 Mineyoshi-Gawa (峰 吉川 駅) Minenoyama tunnel 100.5 Ugo-Sakai (羽 後 境 駅) Funaoka tunnel 108.6 Ōbarino (大 張 野 駅) 114.0 Wada (和田 駅) 120.9 Yotsugoya (四 ツ 小屋 駅) Akita depot → JR East: Uetsu main line 127.3 623.8 Akita (秋田 駅) ↓ JR East: Ōu Main Line

The Akita Shinkansen ( Japanese 秋田 新 幹線 ) is a mini-Shinkansen Japanese railway line between Akita and Morioka operated by the JR East railway company .

history

The Akita Shinkansen is the second mini Shinkansen in Japan after the Yamagata Shinkansen. With mini-Shinkansen, unlike the rest of the Shinkansen network, a separate high-speed route is not being built, but an existing route is being converted from Cape Gauge to Standard Gauge so that the Shinkansen trains can be tied through to Tokyo . In the case of Akita Shinkansen between was Morioka and Omagari the Tazawako Line and between Omagari and Akita , a portion of Ou Main Line rebuilt. The southern section of the Ōu main line had already been converted into the Yamagata Shinkansen. While with the Yamagata Shinkansen, however, the entire section between Fukushima and Shinjō was converted to standard gauge and thus only one standard gauge rolling stock can be used in addition to the Shinkansen trains, various solutions were chosen for the Akita Shinkansen. So has the track structure of the Akita Shinkansen

• Standard gauge tracks between Morioka and Ōmagari,
• Three- rail tracks between Ōmagari and Kariwano as well
• parallel normal and Cape Gauge tracks between Kariwano and Akita.

The Akita Shinkansen opened on March 22, 1997. Initially, 5-car formations of the Shinkansen series E3 were used, which, however, had to be expanded to six cars as early as 1998, as demand developed very positively. After heavy rains and floods, traffic between Ōmagari and Akita was interrupted for a week in July 2017.

Connections and fleet

E3 and E6 series trains at Ōmiya station

Until 2017, trains of the E3 series operated on the Akita Shinkansen as a Komachi connection between Akita and Tokyo. From Morioka the trains were coupled together with the trains of the Hayate connection of the Tōhoku Shinkansen . The top speed is limited to 130 km / h between Akita and Morioka. From Morioka, the trains reached a maximum speed of 275 km / h on the Tōhoku Shinkansen, which was developed as a full Shinkansen route.

The trains of the E3 series were replaced by the new E6 series vehicles from 2013 . As a result, the speed for the section between Morioka and Tokyo was initially increased to 300 km / h, and from 2014 to 320 km / h. The travel time between Tokyo and Akita was reduced by 10 to 15 minutes. In the transition period between spring 2013 and spring 2014, when both trains from the E3 series and the E6 series were in use, the connections on which the E6 series is used were marketed as Super Komachi , as they took around 5 minutes had shorter travel time to Tokyo. Since the E3 series was completely phased out, the faster connections have been called Komachi again .

Stations

Train stations	Japanese	Distance from Tokyo (km)	Transfer options	place
Morioka	盛 岡	496.5	Tōhoku Shinkansen , Tōhoku Main Line , Yamada Line , Tazawako Line , Iwate Ginga Railway , Hanawa Line	Morioka	Iwate Prefecture
Shizukuishi	雫 石	512.5	Tazawako line	Shizukuishi
Tazawako	田 沢 湖	536.3	Tazawako line	Semboku	Akita Prefecture
Kakunodate	角 館	555.3	Tazawako Line, Akita Transinland Railway: Akita Inland Line	Semboku
Ōmagari	大曲	572.1	Ōu main line, Tazawako line	Daisen
Akita	秋田	623.8	Ōu main line , Uetsu main line , Oga line	Akita

The Ōmagari station is a through station for the Ōu main line , but the Akita Shinkansen trains turn heads there .

Web links

Commons : Akita Shinkansen  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Japan Railway & Technology Review, April 1997, p. 66 ( Memento of the original of May 13, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Japanese; PDF file; 570 kB) 
2. ↑ "ＪＲ 東 日本 の 新 幹線 １３ 年 ３ 月 メ ド に「 Ｅ６ 系 」導入" ( Memento from June 24, 2009 in the Internet Archive ). Yomiuri Shimbun, June 18, 2009. (Japanese)
3. ↑ Mainichi Shinbum: "秋田 新 幹線: 新型 列車 名「 ス ー パ ー こ ま ち 」に…"  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . November 6, 2012, Japanese