Kyushu Shinkansen
The Kyushu Shinkansen is a Japanese high-speed rail line and part of the nationwide Shinkansen network. It is an extension of the San'yō Shinkansen from Honshu, connecting Hakata Station in the city of Fukuoka on Japan's island of Kyūshū to Kagoshima-Chuo Station in the city of Kagoshima in the south. The line runs parallel to the existing Kagoshima Main Line and is operated by the Kyushu Railway Company.
The southernmost section was constructed first, opening on 13 March 2004. The double-track section offered a significant improvement in travel time over the equivalent single-track portion of the Kagoshima Main Line, despite the need for passengers to change to a Relay Tsubame narrow gauge train at Shin-Yatsushiro for the remainder of the journey to Hakata Station. The northernmost section opened on 12 March 2011, enabling through services to Shin-Ōsaka Station.
Route
Construction of the Kagoshima route began in 1991, and the first segment between Kagoshima and Shin-Yatsushiro opened on 13 March 2004. This initial section cut travel times between the two cities from 2 hours and 10 minutes to 35 minutes and reduced the time between Hakata and Kagoshima from 4 hours to 2 hours. When the entire line was completed, the travel time from Hakata to Kagoshima was further reduced to about an hour and 20 minutes. As of 2012, the maximum line speed is between Hakata and Kagoshima. Like all Shinkansen lines, the Kyushu Shinkansen is standard gauge.The line's Sakura and Mizuho services often operate through to Shin-Ōsaka Station via the San'yō Shinkansen. All-stop trains are named Tsubame, the name of the former Hakata-Kagoshima limited express service, and are solely truncated to the Kyushu Shinkansen.
In September 2011, six months after the line's completion, JR Kyushu reported a year-over-year increase in ridership of 64% to the southern part of Kyushu, easily surpassing the 40% increase projected by the company. By the first anniversary, ridership had increased, mainly from tourists from Kansai and Chugoku. In northern Kyushu, where there is fierce competition with conventional JR rapid service, the private Nishi-Nippon Railroad, and expressway buses, Shinkansen ridership increased by only 38%, falling short of estimates.
Stations
- Tsubame trains stop at all stations; other services have varying stopping patterns. All trains stop at Hakata, Kumamoto and Kagoshima-Chūō.
Services
Services not leaving the Kyushu Shinkansen are operated by 6-car 800 Series trains, with a maximum speed of. The trains were developed by Hitachi, and based on the 700 series trains already in service on the Tokaido/Sanyo Shinkansen line.Eight-car N700 series trains are used on through-running services between Shin-Osaka and Kagoshima-Chūō. The first set was delivered to Hakata Depot in October 2008.
Three services operate on the line, in order of speed: Mizuho, Sakura, and Tsubame. The Mizuho makes two return trips between Shin-Osaka and Kagoshima-Chūō during the morning hours, and two return trips during the evening, with an end-to-end journey time of 3 hours 45 minutes. Sakura services run once per hour throughout the day between Shin-Osaka and Kagoshima-Chūō making additional stops, with an end-to-end travel time of 4 hours 10 minutes. There are also one to two Sakura services every hour between Hakata and either Kumamoto or Kagoshima-Chūō. Tsubame trains operate the all-stations shuttle service between Hakata and Kumamoto once to twice per hour, with some services operating to/from Kagoshima-Chūō. Mizuho trains can be used by foreign passengers traveling with a Japan Rail Pass only upon payment of a supplement.
Incidents
2016 Kumamoto earthquakes
On the evening of 14 April 2016, the entire length of the Kagoshima Route was shut down after the first of two powerful earthquakes struck Kumamoto prefecture. There was extensive damage along the route, including cracks in elevated support structures at 25 locations and collapsed sound insulation walls in nearly 80 locations.An 800 series train was derailed near Kumamoto Station after the first tremor, while the train was deadheading. On 18 April, JR Kyushu began attempts to return the derailed train to the tracks.
On 27 April 2016, the line reopened with reduced speed and service frequency.