JAPAN: East Japan Railway put its first Series E8 high speed trainsets into revenue service on the Yamagata Shinkansen on March 16.
The small-profile Series E8s are intended to replace the Series E3 units which have operated services to Yamagata and Shinjo for the past 25 years, succeeding the original Series 400 sets introduced by Japanese National Railway.
The mini-Shinkansen lines to Yamagata, Akita and Shinjo were converted from sections of the conventional network, being regauged from 1 067 mm to 1 435 mm to accommodate through high speed services. As such, they must be operated by small-profile dual-system trainsets.
The trains can run at high speed on the Tohoku Shinkansen, where they normally operate in multiple with full-sized trainsets serving other destinations, but must operate at lower speeds on the converted alignments.
Mini-Shinkansen services were launched between Tokyo and Yamagata in July 1992 and extended to Shinjo in December 1999 over a section of the former Ohu Main Line. The 421·4 km route to Shinjo comprises 212·8 km on the Tohoku Shinkansen from Tokyo to Fukushima and 148·6 km on the Yamagata Shinkansen.
JR East has ordered 15 seven-car Series E8 trainsets from Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd and Hitachi for delivery by 2026. They have 20 m long aluminium-bodied vehicles with a maximum width of 2 945 mm, and provide seats for 352 passengers per train.
Each trainset is formed of five powered vehicles and two trailers, riding on bolsterless bogies with active suspensions to maintain a high level of ride quality. Snow melting equipment is installed under the floors to facilitate operation through mountainous areas with high snowfall.
The dual-system trainsets are equipped with two low-noise single arm pantographs. They take power at 20 kV 50 Hz on the mini-Shinkansen and 25 kV 50 Hz on the high speed line. Automatic couplings are provided for joining and splitting with Series E5 trainsets at Fukushima.
The Series E8s are designed to run at up to 300 km/h on the Tohoku Shinkansen, whereas the Series E3s they will replace are limited to 275 km/h, like the Series E2s. The E8s are similar to the Series E6 trainsets introduced on the Akita mini-Shinkansen in 2012, but have 9 m long nose sections compared with the 13 m of the E6s, which run in multiple with the 320 km/h Series E5 units. Maximum speed on the mini-Shinkansen will be limited to 130 km/h.
The new trains are decked in a three-colour livery, combining the purple of a mandarin duck and the yellow of the saffron flowers which grow in Yamagata Prefecture with Zao-bianco white which represents the mountain region.
