JR Hokkaido H5s leave Kawasaki factory

[miyakoji]

Well, the Tetsudou Fan news makes it look like it just happened, then I found the videos from a few days ago :(.  Anyway the lavender stripe looks good.

 

http://railf.jp/news/2014/10/12/191500.html

 

 

[Densha]

The Tetsudou Fan news article is from 12 October, but it does say in the text that it's news from 8 October. A bit strange to post a news article 4 days late.

 

But looking good. Not really better or worse than the original E5 livery. The lavender looks very subtle, quite fitting for Hokkaido methinks.

[katoftw]

Where will these be running?

[bikkuri bahn]

Arrived today at Hakodate.  Once a complete set is delivered and assembled, running tests will begin Dec. 1.

[westfalen]

Do they have enough track to test them on Hokkaido?  I thought they would have started testing them on the Tohoku Shinkansen.

[miyakoji]

Do they have enough track to test them on Hokkaido?  I thought they would have started testing them on the Tohoku Shinkansen.

 

I was thinking that too.  That facility shown at the end of the video surprised me a bit, I didn't know that such infrastructure was complete.  There must be some track to go with it.

[Densha]

Actually I read somewhere that the Shinkansen infrastructure from Aomori to Hakodate is pretty much complete. In fact, although it still still take many years they have already started on building the Hakodate-Sapporo section.

[railsquid]

According to Wikipedia: "On 1 November 2014, a ceremony is to be held at Kikonai Station to mark the completion of track-laying for the line between Shin-Aomori and Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto."

[Sacto1985]

That was fast. While we've seen a LOT of pictures and videos of the construction of the Hokuriku Shinkansen line from Nagano to Kanazawa, I've seen very few pictures and videos of the Hokkaido Shinkansen line between Shin-Aomori and Shin-Hakodate Stations.

 

Speaking of which, has JR Hokkaido decided on what trainset they're going to use for the service from Shin-Hakodate to Hakodate Stations?

[katoftw]

That was fast. While we've seen a LOT of pictures and videos of the construction of the Hokuriku Shinkansen line from Nagano to Kanazawa, I've seen very few pictures and videos of the Hokkaido Shinkansen line between Shin-Aomori and Shin-Hakodate Stations.

 

Speaking of which, has JR Hokkaido decided on what trainset they're going to use for the service from Shin-Hakodate to Hakodate Stations?

Um?  Wouldn't they be using the H5 in this thread?

[miyakoji]

As far as I know, like Shin-Osaka, they couldn't get the new line quite where they wanted it, so Shin-Hakodate will be some distance from existing Hakodate service.  The connection will be by an existing conventional line, which is what Sacto is talking about.

[katoftw]

Yes Hakodate being on a peninsula would make it impossible to make a throught station unless you made the station a old skool switch back style.  Which modern lines do not have.

 

What trains currently run between Nanae and Hakodate on the Hakodate main line?

 

Edit// 3 car 733 series will do the relay services.

Edited October 14, 2014 by katoftw

[westfalen]

That was fast. While we've seen a LOT of pictures and videos of the construction of the Hokuriku Shinkansen line from Nagano to Kanazawa, I've seen very few pictures and videos of the Hokkaido Shinkansen line between Shin-Aomori and Shin-Hakodate Stations.

 

Speaking of which, has JR Hokkaido decided on what trainset they're going to use for the service from Shin-Hakodate to Hakodate Stations?

I guess the Shin Aomori to Shin Hakodate section is rather short as far as Shinkansen lines go and much of the infrastructure in the shape of the Seikan Tunnel was already there.

[westfalen]

Yes Hakodate being on a peninsula would make it impossible to make a throught station unless you made the station a old skool switch back style.  Which modern lines do not have.

 

What trains currently run between Nanae and Hakodate on the Hakodate main line?

 

Edit// 3 car 733 series will do the relay services.

Would there be many, if any, trains not stopping at Hakodate?  If you are going to stop anyway it's easy enough to have a new driver waiting at the outward end of the platform to take the train back the other direction in no more time than a regular station stop, and you don't lose one of rail's great advantages over air, dropping you right in downtown.

Edited October 15, 2014 by westfalen

[bikkuri bahn]

Though I'm sure Hakodate would have liked very much to have the shinkansen reverse into its city center station, the ultimate goal of the line is to reach Sapporo, Standard gauging the line and the associated expenses wouldn't be worth it as once the extension to Sapporo is complete, albeit in the far future, the service to Hakodate proper would be abandoned. Also, since there is very little business travel between Kanto and Hakodate, the need for direct downtown to downtown service is less, i.e. the main touristic traffic to Hakodate is relatively inelastic.

[bikkuri bahn]

Moved by road from the port to the maintenance depot in Nanae Town:

[bikkuri bahn]

Do they have enough track to test them on Hokkaido?

 

Starting Dec. 1 and lasting through Mar. 1, for about 60 days in that period, one to three round trip test runs a day will be conducted between Oku Tsugaru Imabetsu and Shin-Hakodate Hokuto Stations.

[westfalen]

I'm thinking the test runs will mainly be for testing the track as the trains are really only E5s and shouldn't need much testing other than commisioning runs to make sure everything is working properly.  Another reason could be to get some trains running on Hokkaido so the locals can see some results.

[Densha]

The 733-1000 series for the Hakodate relay services will look like this: http://s.news.mynavi.jp/news/2014/11/20/376/

So with the same purple stripe as the H5 Shinkansen has and another stripe in "JR Hokkaido-green".

 

Also, the Shinkansen services on the Hokkaido Shinkansen will be called Hayabusa and Hayate. JR Hokkaido and JR East chose for these names because it is easy for passengers to understand because they are already used to those names on the Tohoku Shinkansen.

The Hayabusa will do through running from Tokyo to Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto and the Hayate will run from Morioka to Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto. So you will have separate Hayate services Tokyo-Morioka(-Shin-Aomori?) and Hayate services Morioka to Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto.

(http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20141120/k10013361451000.html)

Edited November 20, 2014 by Densha

[miyakoji]

The only shinkansen relay rolling stock I'm familiar with is the 185 series, which were built for express service and have cross seats.  This seems very 'commuter' with the long seats, a bit of a step down after riding from Tokyo on an E5.  What other types have been used on relay services?

[katoftw]

Relay services are really just commuter services anyway. Personally I dont know why they need to call something "relay."

[railsquid]

Marketing.

[bikkuri bahn]

Marketing.

Exactly.  Hakodate really wants people to know that their city is "connected" with the shinkansen- after all, they are the second most popular tourist destination in Japan, after Kyoto.

[katoftw]

A little off topic, but what makes Hakodate so popular? I though Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Hiroshima and possibly Fukuoka would be more popular? Or is it's distance from the major population of Tokyo/Yokohama?

[railsquid]

I suspect bikkuri bahn is being facetious.