Tōhoku Shinkansen

The Tōhoku Shinkansen (東北新幹線) is a Japanese high-speed Shinkansen rail line that runs through the more sparsely populated Tōhoku region of Japan's main island, Honshu. Operated by the East Japan Railway Company, it links Tokyo in the south to Aomori in the north, with stops in population centers such as Morioka, Koriyama, Fukushima, Hachinohe, and Sendai. With a route length of 674.9 km (419.4 mi), it is Japan's longest Shinkansen line. It also has the highest operating speeds on the Shinkansen network, reaching a maximum of 320 km/h (199 mph) on a 387.5 km (241 mi) section between Utsunomiya and Morioka.
The first section of the Tōhoku Shinkansen opened in 1982 between Ōmiya and Morioka, with additional sections gradually built over the following decades; the final section between Hachinohe and Shin-Aomori was completed in 2010. A continuation of the line opened as the Hokkaido Shinkansen in 2016, which links Shin-Aomori to Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto via the Seikan Tunnel. The Tōhoku Shinkansen also has two Mini-Shinkansen branch lines, the Yamagata Shinkansen and Akita Shinkansen. Future plans include ongoing upgrade work to increase operating speeds throughout the line.
Four services currently operate on the Tōhoku Shinkansen, the all-stop Nasuno, and the limited-stop Yamabiko, Hayate, and Hayabusa, with the latter two providing through service onto the Hokkaido Shinkansen. As of 2021, the fastest travel times between Tokyo and Shin-Aomori are on the Hayabusa service, at 2 hours and 58 minutes. The Mini-Shinkansen also provides through service from Tokyo via the Tōhoku Shinkansen; typically, Tsubasa and Komachi trains are coupled to Hayabusa, Yamabiko, or Nasuno trains at Tokyo and are decoupled at Fukushima and Morioka respectively, where they continue on to their Mini-Shinkansen lines.
There are four 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.
As of March 2021, the maximum line speed is 110 km/h (68 mph) between Tokyo and Ueno, 130 km/h (81 mph) between Ueno and Ōmiya, 275 km/h (171 mph) between Ōmiya and Utsunomiya, 320 km/h (199 mph) between Utsunomiya and Morioka, and 260 km/h (162 mph) between Morioka and Shin-Aomori.
On 30 October 2012, JR East announced that it is pursuing research and development to increase speeds to 360 km/h (224 mph) on the Tohoku Shinkansen. Work seems to be ongoing to upgrade the section between Morioka and Shin-Aomori to 320 km/h (199 mph), primarily in the form of improved sound barriers. This should make operating at 360 km/h (224 mph) possible, if the improved noise dampening techniques being tested using the ALFA-X test train are successful. Upgrade works on this section started in October 2020, and are expected to take seven years to complete.
Legend:
As of March 2024, the following types are used on Tohoku Shinkansen services.
From Shin-Aomori, the line continues to Shin-Hakodate in Hokkaido (148.9 km or 92.5 mi, since March 26, 2016 under the name Hokkaido Shinkansen), passing through the world's longest undersea railway tunnel, the Seikan Tunnel. A further 211.3 km (131.3 mi) to Sapporo is due to open by 2030.
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 world's longest land rail tunnel at 25.8 km (16.0 mi), but in 2005 it was superseded by the Hakkōda Tunnel on the extension to Aomori, at 26.5 km (16.5 mi). In 2007 the Lötschberg Base Tunnel (34.57 km or 21.48 mi), and in 2010 the Gotthard Base Tunnel (57 km or 35 mi, bored through and due in service by 2016) in Switzerland superseded both.
On the afternoon of 11 March 2011, services on the Tohoku Shinkansen were suspended as a result of the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. JR East estimated that around 1,100 repairs would be required for the line between Omiya and Iwate-Numakunai, ranging from collapsed station roofs to bent power pylons.
Limited service on the line was restored in segments: Tokyo to Nasushiobara was re-opened on 15 March, and Morioka to Shin-Aomori was re-opened on 22 March. The line between Morioka and Ichinoseki re-opened on 7 April, Nasushiobara and Fukushima on 12 April, and the rest of the line on or around 30 April, although not at full speed or a full schedule. The trains returned to full-speed operations on 23 September 2011.
A magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck the Tohoku area approximately 46 km (29 mi) east of Namie on the evening of 13 February 2021. Following the quake, infrastructure damage was discovered between Shin-Shirakawa and Furukawa stations.
East Japan Railway closed the Tohoku Shinkansen between Nasushiobara and Morioka. The section between Ichinoseki and Morioka re-opened on 16 February, Sendai and Ichinoseki on 22 February, and the remaining section between Nasushiobara and Sendai on 24 February. Trains operated at 80% the usual timetable with top speeds reduced until 26 March, when repairs were completed and the normal timetable was restored.
On 6 March 2025 around 11:30 AM the Hayabusa-Komachi 21 train, composed of H5 and E6 series Shinkansen, travelling at around 60 km/h was uncoupled while travelling between Ueno and Omiya stations. Both trains had made emergency stop near Nishi-Nippori Station and no one among 642 passengers was injured. According to JR East press conference, the problem came from Komachi side.
On that day, 111 Shinkansen trains were cancelled and 166 were delayed, affecting more than 150,000 people. Not only Tohoku Shinkansen was affected, but also Joetsu and Hokuriku Shinkansen services. Coupled operations with Yamagata and Akita Shinkansen were cancelled. Passengers are guided to interchange at Fukushima station for Yamagata Shinkansen and Morioka station for Akita Shinkansen. It brought inconvenience for passengers, as interchanges require transferring from Shinkansen to conventional line platforms. Furthermore, congestion is expected.
A similar accident happened in September 2024, when Hayabusa-Komachi train travelling between Furukawa and Sendai stations uncoupled while travelling at more than 300 km/h. Train inspections and special measures were taken.
On 23 June 2007, 10-car set K47 was used for a special Yamabiko 931 service from Omiya to Morioka to mark the 25th anniversary of the opening of the Tohoku Shinkansen.
On 23 June 2012, 10-car set K47 was used for a special Yamabiko 235 service from Omiya to Morioka to mark the 30th anniversary of the opening of the Tohoku Shinkansen.