Tohoku Shinkansen

Tohoku Shinkansen

An KCR E5 CAF Train boarding at Central South Station

General

Status	Operational
Termini	Central South Fuka Anda Touhou Metropolis
Stations	8

Service

Type	High-speed rail
Operator(s)	KCR
Rolling stock	Adtranz-CAF
Former Rolling Stock	Rotem EMU

History

Opened	July 7, 2001

Technical

Line Length	35km
Track gauge	1,435mm
Electrification	3 kV DC
Operating speed	200km/h-300km/h

The Tohoku Shinkansen (Chinese: 東北新幹線) is a High Speed Rail operated by KCR.

The route has a total of 8 Stations.

List of Stations and service

●	Stop
N/A	Not via
｜	Pass

Station Name	Station Name (English)	Azuma	Asama	Komachi	Hayate	Hayabusa	Transfers
中環南	Central South	N/A	N/A	N/A	●	●	Joestu Line Tsz Kiu Line Shuntien Line North South Line Central Light Rail Fuka Lightrail Rigel Line Airport Express Seiyo Shinkansen
湘南	Shonan	N/A	N/A	N/A	｜	●	Tsz Kiu Line North South Line Central Light Rail
光石	Lightstone	N/A	N/A	N/A	●	｜	Rigel Line Metropolis Line
負荷	Fuka	N/A	●	●	●	｜	Joestu Line Rigel Line Airport Express Fuka Lightrail
都心	Metropolis	N/A	●	｜	N/A	●	Watson Station
瑟里石礦場	Surry Quays	N/A	●	｜	N/A	N/A	Kansai APM Grundorf Express
安達	Anda	●	●	｜	N/A	N/A
東方	Touhou	N/A	●	●	N/A	N/A	Joestu Line Aozora Line
喬斯圖	Joestu	●	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Joestu Line

Route Map

Rolling stock

As of March 2023, the following types are used on Tohoku Shinkansen services.

• E7 series: Asama services
• 802 series: Azuma services
• K3-900 series: Komachi Services
• K5 series: Hayate services
• K5N series: Hayabusa services

Former Rolling Stock

• K5S series

History

The Tohoku Shinkansen has a complex history to how it formed the only Shinkansen in Joban.

By the early 2000s, the government started planning for a new express service parallel to the Joestu Line which would relieve the stress of the line and offer a more comfortable, fast and direct service towards Fuka from the eastern regions of Joban.

Joestu Express (East West Express)

Joestu Express (A merger between the Adobe Line and Aberdeen Line) is what came from the government's plan and was built and operated by Victoria Railway up until the early 2010s. Starting at Sheung Wan and ending at Adobe. In 2003, the line was extended to Central South with Sheung Wan station closing. However the line proved unpopular with commuters due to how far stations were from their KCR Counterparts and with decreasing ridership, the stretch of the line from Central South to Fuka would be closed for refurbishment.

Farewell picture of the Joestu Express at Kinstead South

The original allignment of the line from Fuka to Central South would be abandoned and later partially used by Rigel Corporation to build the Joban Light Rail, however several stations still lay abandoned at haven't been touched since closure, examples being Kinstead South and Shonan (The Tohoku Shinkansen did not reuse the original platforms)

Joestu Express Stations (When the line was still opened.)

Station Name	Station Name (English)	Connections	Opening Date
上環	Sheung Wan		7 July 2001
中環南	Central South	Joestu Line North South Line	15 October 2005
湘南	Shonan	Joestu Line Central Light Rail North South Line	7 July 2001
鐵錠山	Iron Hill		7 July 2001
鴨巴甸	Aberdeen		7 July 2001
金斯特德南	Kinstead South		7 July 2001
負荷	Fuka	Joestu Line, Fuka Lightrail Rigel Line	7 July 2001
華生東	Watson East	Watson Station	7 July 2001
奧運	Olympic		7 July 2001
阿豆比	Adobe	Surry Quays	7 July 2001

Mixed Fleet Operation

An Joestu Express 6 car K-Train boarding at Shenshui Station.

Platforms used by Joestu Express at Fuka were designed for only 4 cars, but Watson East and Adobe had platforms reserved for 6 car trains, with Joestu Express running 4 and 6 car trains. 6 car trains due to the limited platform space at Fuka will terminate at Shenshui and turn back to Adobe.

Merger with Joestu Express

Victoria Railway, the operator of Joestu Express had been considered to be merged with KCRC since the early 2010s, with VR's limited resources and with fierce competition from KCRC and nearing bankruptcy, approached the Government in 2011 requesting for a merger with KCRC with the KCRC being granted a service concession to operate the VR network for an initial period of 11 years. The decision was passed by the Executive Council on 11 April 2012, and was later approved by the Legislative Council and the minority shareholders of VR (the government, which had a 75% stake in VR, did not vote).

Sleigh Liner

In 2013, KCRC would start it's redevelopment scheme of the East West Express, with a new allignment between Adobe to Aomori and connections with the Joestu Line that could allow for express services from Fuka to Touhou, shortening travels times by 3-4 times. It would be decided to run a limited time service in Christmas 2014 to test if services in the long-run could be viable. The service would commence in Decemember of 2014 and was named the Sleigh Liner. Plans were also made to rename the service to Tsubasa once Christmas ended. It would be concluded that services were viable and soon this new line would be renamed to the Tohoku Shinkansen with connections to the Joestu Line removed and a new line extending from Aomori to Touhou.

Sleigh Liner

Station Name	Station Name (English)	Connections	Opening Date
負荷	Fuka	Joestu Line, Fuka Lightrail Rigel Line,Airport Express,Joestu Express	16 December 2015
阿豆比	Adobe	Joestu Express	16 December 2015
東方	Touhou	Joestu Line,Aozora Line	16 December 2015