Press Releases（Archive）
Start of Operations under "Ordinary Schedule"
Following
Full Restoration of Tohoku Shinkansen Service
East Japan Railway Company
August 11, 2011
The Tohoku Shinkansen, which has been operating at reduced speeds between Fukushima and Ichinoseki because of the impact of the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake, has been the focus of restoration efforts since then. The outlook now indicates full restoration of the line, and therefore East Japan Railway Company (JR East) has decided to switch from the current special schedule back to the pre-earthquake schedule.
Operations under the ordinary schedule will resume September 23.
1. Resumption of operations under ordinary schedule
| September 23 (Friday/holiday) | |||||
2. Ordinary schedule
| • | The ordinary schedule is the schedule of regular trains effective March 5, 2011 (when "Hayabusa" began operating). This will shorten travel times as compared to the current special schedule and increase the number of trains departing Tokyo Station by six for a total of 167. | ||
| • | Although there will be no change in the number of "Hayabusa" trains (two round-trips between Tokyo and Shin-Aomori and one round-trip between Tokyo and Sendai), 300 km/h operation will resume between Utsunomiya and Morioka, reducing travel time by 20 minutes (as measured by fastest travel time from Tokyo to Shin-Aomori). (Under the current special schedule, trains are operating at 300 km/h between Utsunomiya and Fukushima and between Ichinoseki and Morioka.) | ||
Travel times (fastest traveling away from Tokyo) and number of trains on main sections
| Section | Train name | Current special schedule | Ordinary schedule from September 23 | ||
| Travel time | Trains | Travel time | Trains | ||
| Tokyo — Shin-Aomori |
Hayabusa | 3 h 30 min. | 4 | 3 h 10 min. (20 min. saved) |
4 (±0) |
| Hayate | 3 h 44 min. | 28 | 3 h 23 min. (21 min. saved) |
30 (+2) | |
| Tokyo — Morioka |
Hayabusa | 2 h 41 min. | 4 | 2 h 20 min. (21 min. saved) |
4 (±0) |
| Hayate | 2 h 43 min. | 39 | 2 h 23 min. (20 min. saved) |
44 (+5) | |
| Yamabiko | 3 h 17 min. | 20 | 3 h 6 min. (11 min. saved) |
21 (+1) | |
| Tokyo — Sendai |
Hayabusa | 1 h 44 min. | 6 | 1 h 36 min. (8 min. saved) |
6 (±0) |
| Hayate | 1 h 48 min. | 39 | 1 h 38 min. (10 min. saved) |
44 (+5) | |
| Yamabiko | 1 h 57 min. | 81 | 1 h 53 min. (4 min. saved) |
82 (+1) | |
| Tokyo — Akita |
Komachi | 4 h 18 min. | 28 | 3 h 50 min. (28 min. saved) |
30 (±2) |
| Tokyo — Yamagata |
Tsubasa | 2 h 30 min. | 32 | 2 h 30 min. (± 0min.) |
32 (±0) |
| Tokyo — Shinjō |
Tsubasa | 3 h 15 min. | 17 | 3 h 15 min. (± 0 min.) |
17 (±0) |
| • | The changes to the ordinary schedule will cause other schedule changes, including changes to previously announced times of increased trains on the Tohoku, Yamagata, Akita and Joetsu Shinkansen for the period September 23 - 30. Time details will be announced separately. | ||
| • | Times and train names will differ from the special schedule that ends September 22. Please refer to the attached timetable. | ||
3. Sales of reserved seat tickets
| Ticket sales begin at 10:00 AM one month prior to the travel date. | |||||
| * | Customers can also use Ekinet Yoyaku or Mobile Suica Tokkyuken. | ||||
| * | With Ekinet Yoyaku or Mobile Suica Tokkyuken, customers can make pre-reservations one month and one week in advance. | ||||
4. Other
| • | Because "Hayabusa" is now operating at reduced speeds, express charges are currently the same as "Hayate" and "Yamabiko," but regular "Hayabusa" express charges will resume September 23. | ||
| For details, please refer to the following attachment. | |||
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Attachment [PDF/477KB] | ||
