COVID-19 Coronavirus Notice

COVID-19 Coronavirus Notice

Updated 2 July 2020

If you are reading this message, please be aware of travel restrictions in place as part of measures to contain the spread of the COVID-19 "Coronavirus" and its symptoms. Japanese authorities are refusing entry to individuals from, or who have been to, a list of over 100 countries (More information). All other visitors must apply for a visa, and undergo a quarantine upon entering the country. Within the Japan, there are no longer any travel restrictions, and most public attractions have re-opened with precautions for sanitation and social distancing. In short, travel to Japan is not recommended at this time, until the situation normalises. I will not be editing my individual articles to reflect this, but again, please keep this in mind when reading them.

Saturday, March 18, 2017

Know Your Trains: Hokkaido Shinkansen

The lead car of a H5-series Shinkansen train approaching Omiya Station.
Rsa [GFDL or CC-BY-SA-3.0], from Wikimedia Commons
The Hokkaido Shinkansen (北海道新幹線, Hokkaidō Shinkansen) is a high-speed rail line linking the islands of Honshu and Hokkaido.  It runs from Aomori, the terminus of the Tohoku Shinkansen, through the undersea Seikan Tunnel, to its current terminus near Hakodate.  Owned and operated by JR Hokkaido, the line is the newest member of the Shinkansen family, opening in March 2016.  Combined with through services on the Tohoku Shinkansen, the two lines link Tokyo and Hakodate in less than four and a half hours.  Its top speed is 260 kilometers per hour (160 miles per hour), except for a limit of 140 km/h (85 mph) inside the Seikan Tunnel.

A map of the Hokkaido Shinkansen, including segments currently under construction.
Two types of services run on the Hokkaido Shinkansen, "Hayate" and "Hayabusa".  Both are through-services from the Tohoku Shinkansen.  The vast majority of services are Hayabusa, with Hayate services running mainly during the early morning or late evening.

Name Start Station End Station(s) Time Max. Frequency*
Hayate Shin-Aomori Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto 65 minutes 2 per day
Morioka (Tohoku) 2 hours 10 minutes
Hayabusa Shin-Aomori Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto 60 minutes 1 per hour
Tokyo (Tohoku) 4 hours 30 minutes
* Departure frequency is based on March 2017 schedules and are subject to change.

All Hayate and half of all Hayabusa services stop at every station, while the other Hayabusa trains run directly between the terminals in Aomori and Hakodate.  At the time of this post, the Hokkaido Shinkansen only includes four stops.  An extension to Sapporo is under construction, and is scheduled to open in 2030-2031.  Much of the line, including the planned extension, goes through various tunnels, so there may not be much to see from your window.

Name (English) Name (Japanese) Prefecture Hayate Hayabusa
Shin-Aomori 新青森 Aomori X X
Okutsugaru-Imabetsu 奥津軽いまべつ X O
Kikonai 木古内 Hokkaido X O
Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto 新函館北斗 X X
Shin-Yakumo* 新八雲
Under construction
Scheduled to open
in 2030-31
Oshamambe 長万部
Kutchan 倶知安
Shin-Otaru* 新小樽
Sapporo 札幌
Legend
X: All trains stop at this station.
O: Some trains stop at this station.
I: No trains stop at this station.
* Shin-Yakumo and Shin-Otaru are tentative names for stations to be newly built.

Notable stops
  • Shin-Aomori: Home of the Nebuta summer festival.
  • Okutsugaru-Imabetsu: The last stop on Honshu, before the Seikan Tunnel.
  • Kikonai: The first stop on Hokkaido.
  • Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto: One of Japan's first ports to open to foreign trade.
A GranClass car on a H5-series train.  The blue carpet in this car represents Hokkaido's seas and lakes.
くるみ１２１１ (Kurumi 1211) [CC BY-SA 4.0], from Wikimedia Commons
Hokkaido Shinkansen services use the new H5-series trains, a derivative of the E5-series used solely on the Tohoku Shinkansen.  The H5 is largely similar to the E5, except for a few mechanical modifications designed for the harsher Hokkaido winters, and colour and design changes meant to evoke the nature of the island.  Neither of the two services have any non-reserved cars, so seat reservations are mandatory.  If all seats are booked, standing-room tickets may be available.  Both the Hayate and Hayabusa also include one Green Car and one GranClass car.

Service Total Cars Non-Reserved Cars Reserved Cars Green Cars GranClass Cars
Hayate 100 8 (Cars #1-8) 1 (Car #9) 1 (Car #10)
Hayabusa 10 0 8 (Cars #1-8) 1 (Car #9) 1 (Car #10)

Tips
  • All seats on Hayate and Hayabusa services are reserved.  Seat reservations are free when using a Japan Rail Pass or JR East area pass.  In the event that all seats on a train are booked, it may be possible to buy a standing-room ticket.
  • Unlike on the Tokaido, Sanyo, and Kyushu lines, the Japan Rail Pass is valid for ALL services on the Hokkaido Shinkansen.  In addition, the JR East South Hokkaido Area Pass (English) also covers the full line from Tokyo to Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto.
  • The JR Hokkaido Area Pass, on the other hand, does not cover any of the Hokkaido Shinkansen.  Only regular and limited-express trains are covered by it.
  • Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto station is located in the suburb of Hokuto, which is somewhat far away from the more centrally-located Hakodate Station.  The two stations are connected by the Hakodate Line.  A rapid service called the Hakodate Liner travels between them in 20 minutes, costs ¥360, and is timed to arrive and depart with Shinkansen services.
  • The Japan Rail Pass and Hokkaido Rail Pass do not cover the South Hokkaido Railway, a regular line that was transferred to a non-JR company after the opening of the Hokkaido Shinkansen (see the Trivia section below).
  • For those using the Seishun 18 Ticket (more information), which normally does not allow free use of the Shinkansen, it is possible to purchase a supplement ticket, called the "Seishun 18 Kippu Hokkaido Shinkansen Ticket".  It costs ¥2,300, and allows one-way use of the Hokkaido Shinkansen between Oku-Tsugaru-Imabetsu and Kikonai, and the South Hokkaido Railway between Kikonai and Hakodate.
Trivia
  • The Hokkaido Shinkansen travels through the Seikan Tunnel, an undersea tunnel between the islands of Honshu and Hokkaido.  Since the Shinkansen shares this section with regular freight trains, its speed limit is lowered to 140 km/h (85 mph) within the tunnel.  This is to prevent freight trains from being knocked off the rails by the shockwave of fast-moving Shinkansen trains.  JR Hokkaido is developing solutions to allow trains to run faster within the tunnel, such as "Train on Train", which involves loading cars onto transporter wagons designed to withstand higher speeds.
  • There used to be two train stations within the Seikan Tunnel.  Tappi-Kaitei, on the Honshu side, and Yoshioka-Kaitei, on the Hokkaido side, opened in 1988 along with the tunnel.  These stations closed in 2013, while the Hokkaido Shinkansen was under construction.  The line which served these stations, the Kaikyo Line, is today only used by freight trains.
  • Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto Station, formerly known as Oshima-Ono Station, was renamed and renovated in 2016 to coincide with the opening of the Hokkaido Shinkansen.  A statue of Kenshiro, the main character from the manga and anime Fist of the North Star (or "Hokuto no Ken" in Japanese), was added in front of the station.  The new name of the station comes from its location in the town of Hokuto (literally "north star" in English), not from the show.  More information on this development has been posted on the website Rocket News 24.
  • When the Hokkaido Shinkansen was first opened, a section of JR's conventional Esashi Line was sold to a new semi-private company.  The section between Kikonai and Goryokaku was transferred to the new South Hokkaido Railway (道南いさりび鉄道, Dōnan Isaribi Tetsudō).
A full-size mockup of a "Train on Train".
100yen [GFDL or CC BY-SA 3.0], from Wikimedia Commons
Posted by at
Labels: , ,