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Hokkaido Shinkansen preliminary schedules


bikkuri bahn

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Bit of old news from two weeks back, but it was revealed that the number of services on the Hokkaido Shinkansen will be set at 13 r/t a day

 

10 round trips will be Tokyo - Shin Hakodate-Hokuto services, the remaining 3 r/t will be SHH-Sendai, SHH-Morioka, and SHH-Shin-Aomori.  All Tokyo-SHH services and the SHH-Sendai service will be limited stop Hayabusa, while the SHH-Morioka and SHH-Shin-Aomori will be the frequent stop Hayate services.  During holiday/special event periods, up to 4 additional r/t will be added to meet passenger demand. 

 

Currently, there are 10 r/t Hakucho/Super Hakucho ltd. express services between Hakodate and Aomori.  Including the remaining night trains, approx. 4000 passengers are carried through the Seikan Tunnel daily.  It is projected that number will increase to 6000/day with the introduction of shinkansen services.  It is still unknown if the Tokyo-Shin Hakodate-Hokuto travel time will be under 4 hours, considered an important target, which would allow passengers from Tokyo departing before 8am to arrive in Hakodate around noontime.

 

A more official announcement is scheduled for mid-September.

 

*summarized from Hokkaido Shimbun print edition article 8/27/2015

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I think the question that has yet to be answered is what speed will the H5 trainsets traverse the Seikan Tunnel? Will it be limited to 140 km/h to maintain compatibility with JR Freight trains that frequently use the tunnel? Or will they space the freight trains so when the H5 trainset traverses the Tunnel, it can travel at speeds up to 200 km/h?

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I think the question that has yet to be answered is what speed will the H5 trainsets traverse the Seikan Tunnel? Will it be limited to 140 km/h to maintain compatibility with JR Freight trains that frequently use the tunnel? Or will they space the freight trains so when the H5 trainset traverses the Tunnel, it can travel at speeds up to 200 km/h?

Can't run with the freights. The high speeds of the H5 would send a shockwave with enough force to knock the freight off the rails.

 

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S6 using Tapatalk

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The speed questions have been answered.  In case you missed it.  Current speed will be 140kph until further evaluations are done.

 

I kind of figured that due to the need to be compatible with the frequent JR Freight trains that go through that tunnel (much of Hokkaido's agricultural exports to other parts of Japan go through the Seikan Tunnel now). 

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Official announcement was made yesterday, (Sept. 16) to the media.  Service will begin March 26.  Typically the spring timetable revision begins on the second Saturday of March, but the shinkansen service commencement was shifted to a later date to avoid any possible residual winter weather that would seriously affect the timetable.  As reported before, there will be 13 r/t services/day, including ten going the whole distance.  In addition, the number of Hokuto/Super-Hokuto ltd. expresses will be increased from the 9 r/t a day to 12 r/t day, with all stopping at Shin-Hakodate Hokuto Station to meet arriving shinkansen services.  There will also be 16 r/t a day Hakodate Liner shuttle services between the shinkansen station and Hakodate Station. Most of these will be three-car trains, with a few expanded to six cars as required.  These will meet all scheduled shinkansen services to allow seamless transfers.  Actual timetables will be revealed later in the year.  It was still not revealed if any of the Tokyo-Shin Hakodate services will be able to make the run in under 4 hours.  Apparently negotiations with JR-F are ongoing to make this possible.

 

http://www.jreast.co.jp/press/2015/20150914.pdf

Edited by bikkuri bahn
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6 Oct 2015,733-1000 series "Hakodate Liner" delivered from Kawasaki Heavy Industries,Kobe to Teine (JR Hokkaido Sapporo depot).

 

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Krackel Hopper

Has there been any discussion on what will happen with the Series 789 Super Hakucho sets once the H5 starts service?

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SuRoNeFu 25-501

6 Oct 2015,733-1000 series "Hakodate Liner" delivered from Kawasaki Heavy Industries,Kobe to Teine (JR Hokkaido Sapporo depot).

 

Interesting that JR Hokkaido still uses the old JNR-style number font on their new 733 series trains...

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I believe these 733-1000's use 20,000 V 50 Hz AC overhead power. Has JR Hokkaido released any renderings of what the interior seating will look like?

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Despite pressure to make the run in under four hours to compete with airlines, the fastest bullet train between Tokyo and Hokkaido will take four hours and two minutes, it was revealed Dec. 3.

The government, ruling parties and local authorities along the route were pressing for less than four hours, a time that was believed would convince travelers to hop on a train rather than a plane.

But Hokkaido Railway Co. (JR Hokkaido) and East Japan Railway Co. (JR East) concluded that it would be difficult to maintain a schedule of under four hours due to expected delays caused by high winds and snow.

 

http://ajw.asahi.com/article/behind_news/social_affairs/AJ201512040059

 

The 2 minutes comes from the need to stop at Shin-Aomori, where there is a crew change.

 

*the official schedule is to be revealed on Dec. 18.

Edited by bikkuri bahn
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Yap... Most of the Japanese people would still consider taking a plane to Hakodate, as the journey is around 4 hours and also you land at Hakodate airport, which is only 7.6km away from Hakodate station or the city centre, while the Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto station is around 18km away... That adds in around 0.5 hours more to get to Hakodate station...

 

Anyhow, I think it is more targeted for the tourist perhaps, since we can use the JR pass to get there free. And that is a very good news as compared with the current 6 hours just to get to Hakodate... Let's await 2020 where hopefully we can reach Sapporo from Tokyo in 4 hours!  :)

 

 

Tokyosapporotrainchart.png

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I still think JR Freight is looking at the idea of running freight trains through the Seikan Tunnel between 2100 hours and 0600 hours, which would minimize interference with the Hokkaido Shinkansen trains. That way, JR Freight trains could run between 140 and 150 km/h during their operational hours and Hokkaido Shinkansen trains can run as fast as 200-210 km/h through the Tunnel.

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One thing to keep in mind is any new high speed rail line in Japan always starts out with top revenue speed at a conservative figure.* There is typically *some* room for speed up in the future, though the Seikan Tunnel poses signficant challenges.

 

I still think JR Freight is looking at the idea of running freight trains through the Seikan Tunnel between 2100 hours and 0600 hours, which would minimize interference with the Hokkaido Shinkansen trains.

 

JR Freight runs 51 trains/day through the tunnel, it will be nigh impossible to squeeze those pathings into that time frame, both spatially (freight trains originate as far as Kyushu), and commercially (heavily restricted delivery cut-off times at railhead for consignees or forwarders). Whither train on train??

 

*edit

Sure enough, here is this tidbit from The Japan News (Yomiuri):

JR Hokkaido will examine the possibility of shortening the travel time between Tokyo and Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto below four hours after the opening of the Hokkaido Shinkansen Line. (emphasis mine)

 

http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0002603516

Edited by bikkuri bahn
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I still think JR Freight is looking at the idea of running freight trains through the Seikan Tunnel between 2100 hours and 0600 hours, which would minimize interference with the Hokkaido Shinkansen trains. That way, JR Freight trains could run between 140 and 150 km/h during their operational hours and Hokkaido Shinkansen trains can run as fast as 200-210 km/h through the Tunnel.

 

Interesting thought... will be great if such arrangement can be done.. but need to know the actual figure of train traffics in a day, not to forget the maintenance/inspection portion which will be more often if more trains are to be in service operating 24/7..

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I think one thing JR East and JR Hokkaido could do is put in longer and/or more sidings at the JR Hokkaido Kikonai Station and JR East Shin-Nakaoguni Signal Station so they could temporarily park JR Freight trains before and after the Hokkaido Shinkansen trains go through. That way, the H5 trainsets could be the only trains in the Seikan Tunnel at certain times of the day and at most other times the JR Freight trains can use the tunnel.

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With longer sidings, that could be an option too.. but I imagine too many freight trains will be in line waiting for the tunnel passing.. :) 

 

I ever watched video about Seikan Tunnel, and an economic expert on Hokkaido area said that reducing numbers of freight trains will not be a good option as it will have bad impact on Hokkaido economy... but at the same time, another new shinkansen service is introduced to increase passengers traffic, thus JR should consider the best possible new revised timetable..

 

My opinion for another idea is perhaps to pull more freight cars in one set - let's say 50 cars or more - at one go so it could save more trip but still at the same current speed... still not sure if this would work though

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