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Information About

Kyushu Shinkansen




The Kyushu Shinkansen (九州新幹線) is a 249 km high-speed railway line between the Japan ese cities of Fukuoka and Kagoshima , on Kyushu Island, running parallel to the existing Kagoshima Main Line . It is currently being built by the Kyushu Railway Company ( JR -Kyushu), and scheduled for completion in 2013 .

The segment between Kagoshima and Yatsushiro began operations on March 13 , 2004 . It cuts travel times between the two cities from 130 minutes to 35 minutes, and reduces the time between Hakata and Kagoshima from 4 hours to just 2 hours. When the entire line is complete, the travel time from Hakata to Kagoshima will be just over an hour.

Like the original Shinkansen lines, the Kyushu Shinkansen is Standard Gauge .

The line will connect to the Sanyo Shinkansen at Hakata Station upon its final completion. It may use part or all of the Hakata Minami Line .

A spur to Nagasaki from Shin-Tosu Station is in planning stages, with construction provisionally authorized for part of the line but with the exact route not yet fixed.


STATIONS


Kagoshima Route




TRAINS

The line uses a new train set model, the 800 Series Shinkansen , with a maximum speed of 260 km/h (160 mph). The trains have been developed by Hitachi , which also manufactured the 500 and 700 series trains on the Tokaido-Sanyo line.

Individual trains are named '' Tsubame '', or "Swallow," the name of the former Hakata-Kagoshima Limited Express service. While the line is being completed, the old Tsubame trains carry passengers to Shin-Yatsushiro, where they can transfer to the Shinkansen for the remainder of their journey. The old trains have been redubbed ''Relay Tsubame'' for this purpose.


EXTERNAL LINKS

  • http://www.jrkyushu.co.jp/shinkansen (official site in Japanese)

  • http://www.jrkyushu.co.jp/shinkansen/news/index.html (TVCF movie)

  • http://www.jrkyushu.co.jp/shinkansen/syaryo_info/index.html (exterior)

  • http://www.jrkyushu.co.jp/shinkansen/syaryo_info/naiso01.html (interior page1)

  • http://www.jrkyushu.co.jp/shinkansen/syaryo_info/naiso02.html (interior page2)

  • http://www.jrkyushu.co.jp/english/tsubame_top.html (official site in English)