Nishi Kyushu Shinkansen begins low speed test runs

[bikkuri bahn]

Began last week.  Revenue service begins this autumn.

 

NTV new report:

 

[Steve4031]

I understand that this is the new Shinkansen line that partly goes to Nagasaki.  If I wanted to ride on this line, how does this service operate.  Would it be possible to board a Shinkansen in Osaka and have a 1 seat ride to the end of the new line to Nagasaki, or do I need to change trains at some point?.

 

Thank you

[Guest]

From Osaka to Nagasaki, you’d need to take 3 trains, including the Nishikyushu Shinkansen.

 

Osaka>Hakata>Takeo Onsen>Nagasaki.

 

Edited December 16, 2022 by Bob Martin

[Steve4031]

Thank you.  That is kind of strange.  Is this because of different track guages?

[Yavianice]

There is no shinkansen between Takeo-Onsen and Shin-Tosu. This is operated by ordinary JR express trains (Relay Kamome and HTB/Midori).

 

There is a dispute with Saga Prefecture about the construction of a dedicated Shinkansen line. There are no plans to build a Shinkansen through Saga Prefecture. So for the foreseeable future the Nishi Kyushu Shinkansen goes back and forth between Nagasaki and Takeo-Onsen.

[Steve4031]

Wow!!  I see that politics in Japan can be just as problematic as in the United States.  

[Kamome]

On 12/17/2022 at 3:24 AM, Yavianice said:

There is no shinkansen between Takeo-Onsen and Shin-Tosu. This is operated by ordinary JR express trains (Relay Kamome and HTB/Midori).

 

There is a dispute with Saga Prefecture about the construction of a dedicated Shinkansen line. There are no plans to build a Shinkansen through Saga Prefecture. So for the foreseeable future the Nishi Kyushu Shinkansen goes back and forth between Nagasaki and Takeo-Onsen.

What an oversight! This is the issue with many local governments trying to get the Shinkansen to come to their town or city. In some cases, its just not that necessary. Certainly a lot of Saga is very rural but with a lot of historical significance. Little else in terms of large infrastructure. Tosu, a commuter belt town south of Fukuoka and just inside Saga, is already served by the Kagoshima mainline as well as the Kagoshima shinkansen.  

 

You would have thought this would all need to be agreed before they started investing in building work and rolling stock but the whole project has been hampered with various changes, such as the gauge-changing trains, that were abandoned due to the cost of running and maintenance. Having to take an express from Hakata to Takeo Onsen, then change to the Shinkansen seems a bit stupid. I wonder how much time is really saved from just getting the 2 hour Kamome express service from Hakata.

 

Perhaps they're looking at the long game. You used to have to get the Tohoku shinkansen from Omiya which then, only went as far as Morioka.

[katoftw]

Yup the whole saga about the est Kyushu Shinkansen has been getting weird for sometime.  Been following it for about 5 years plus now.

 

They way they are doing things isn't much different from the original Kyushu Shinkansen when the built the Shin-Yatsushiro to Kagoshima-Chuo section first with a Hakata to Shin-Yatsushiro relay.  And Kumamoto saw the benefits of the shinkansen and was willing to help fund the project.

 

I can understand why Saga has little interest investing.  They are somewhat close to Fukuoka at only 40 minutes away, they wont get back the money invested into a new trunk line.

 

Personally the West Kyushu shinkansen should have been a mini shinkansen.  And only build a new section of track between Takeo and Isahaya or Nagasaki.  A ramp from the current shinkansen tracks down to ground level at Tosu.  So like the Akita shinkansen.  Tosa to Takeo is almost dead straight, so easily re-engineered for 130kph when laying the wider guage.

[James-SNMB]

JP Rail explains it very well in a video (I think it's this one), going into detail about why it's not connected to the rest of the Shinkansen network:

https://youtu.be/oENVv87X1ic

 

(As an aside, I've learned a ton about rail projects in Japan that I didn't even know I wanted to learn from this YouTube Channel. The creator does a superb job of explaining complexities and challenges for these projects.)