Top speeds of 300 km per hour. Tokyo to Shin-Aomori in as little as 3 hours and 10 minutes. Round-trip service now available twice-daily between Tokyo and Shin-Aomori, and daily between Tokyo and Sendai. Introducing Hayabusa Series E5 Shinkansen train service to the Tohoku Shinkansen Line.
The new trains will initially run at up to 300 kilometers per hour, the same speed as the older N700 series on the densely populated Tokaido route connecting Tokyo to Osaka, covering the 675 km stretch between the capital and a brand new station just outside Aomori City in three hours and 10 minutes (compared with the current 3 hours and 23 minutes). But from 2012, the training wheels will come off: Hayabusa will become Japan’s fastest train with speeds of up to 320 km/h.
Shinkansen services only previously went as far as Hachinohe in Aomori’s southeast corner, but the drilling of one of the world’s longest tunnels through a wall of mountains in the middle of the prefecture has opened up the region to high-speed rail. The line extension has been in operation since December, and marks another stage in the plan to eventually run shinkansen trains all the way up to the northern island of Hokkaido.
The train is also the first in Japan to offer a luxury 18-seat “Gran Class” car reminiscent of business-class air travel, with plush leather seats that recline by up to 45 degrees, as well as wool carpets, “relaxing dark wood finishes punctuated by metallic surfaces” and a dedicated cabin attendant. On board you can sample edible regional delicacies or take advantage of the offer of free drinks.
The Hayabusa is a new super speed Shinkansen service operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East) between Tokyo and Shin-Aomori in Japan since 5 March 2011.
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