Sakura

The Sakura (桜, Sakura) is a high-speed rail service on the Seiyo and Sakura Shinkansens. This is the fastest service on both Shinkansen lines, taking only 20 minutes to connect Lamtsu and Central South using HE4 series rolling stock to reach a maximum speed of 300km/h. This service only stops at the most important stations.

This train is the successor to the Galaxy service on the Seiyo Shinkansen, and due to the lower traffic on the Seiyo Shinkansen as compared to the Sakura Shinkansen, not all Sakura Shinkansens stop at Sakura. All Sakura trains on the Seiyo Shinkansen stop at Central South and Lamtsu, and all Sakura trains on the Sakura Shinkansen stop at Lamtsu, Ofuna and Sakura, with some special trains stopping at additional stations in between.

Stopping Patterns

Station	Distance From Central South	Central South-Lamtsu	Central South-Sakura	Lamtsu-Sakura
Central South	0.0	●	●
Lamtsu	50.2	●	●	●
Ofuna	52.7		●	●
Sakura	150.5		●	●

History

The Sakura name was first used for long-distance sleeper services from Lamtsu to Sakura, which were introduced in 1934. The services were withdrawn in 1993 with the opening of the Sakura Shinkansen. The Sakura services then inherited that name from the sleeper service.