Resuming Shinkansen Service to Northern Japan
JR resumed service on the Tohoku shinkansen line between Tokyo and Sendai yesterday:
The new aerodynamic green, pink and silver train, named “Hayabusa” in Japanese, is one of the fastest in the nation. It travels at 180 miles per hour.
The Sendai-Fukushima section of the line runs through the region most severely affected by the earthquake.
The (Hayabusa) service began just one week before the earthquake and having it back in operation is seen as one of the milestones of recovery for northern Japan.
Although some of the trains ran yesterday, a power outage caused by a loose cable forced the trains to stop for several hours in the afternoon.
Service up to Aomori is expected to resume on the 29th:
Another stretch of the line between Ichinoseki and Shin-Aomori stations has also been repaired, leaving only the section between Sendai and Ichinoseki to be completed before the entire length of the Tohoku Shinkansen Line, from Tokyo to Shin-Aomori, is reopened. The stretch between Sendai and Ichinoseki is scheduled to reopen on April 29.
Also from April 29, the cutting-edge E5-type train “Hayabusa” will run round trips between Shin-Aomori and Tokyo, and Sendai and Tokyo, both once per day, as a symbol of Tohoku’s recovery. Five thousand yen out of the price of tickets for the train’s luxury “Gran Class” seats will be donated to disaster victims. Reserved seat tickets will go on sale from April 26 at 11:00 a.m.
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