100-series, 300-series Shinkansen to be retired in March

[JamieLei]

To be honest, this is more a translation exercise for me from a news report today (http://www.asahi.com/national/update/12 ... 60577.html) although the attention to detail for whittling away 2-3 minutes off each diagram is interesting. I tried not to leave anything out of the translation, even if it sounds odd and not in the reporting style that we'd normally expect. The bit about sleeper services being eliminated is interesting - with the expansion of the Shinkansen, general low fares from JAL and ANA (low-cost airlines have yet to enter the Japanese market) and the boom of cheap night buses, it can often work out far cheaper than taking sleeper trains which often cost just as much as the Shinkansen, if not more.

BEGINS

Today on the 16th December, the 7 companies of the JR Group announced changes to train diagrams to commence next year on the 17th March. All locations will have old Shinkansen models withdrawn, new models introduced and speed increased.

The 300-series Shinkansen which made its 1992 debut on the Tokaido [Tokyo - Nagoya - Osaka] and Sanyo [Osaka - Hiroshima - Fukuoka] Shinkansen will be retired in March. The 100-series Shinkansen which debuted in 1985 and were only ever used on on the Sanyo Shinkansen will also be retired.

On the other hand, the fastest "Nozomi" services will be consolidated into operations only by the N700. Until now, the time taken from Tokyo to Shin-Osaka was 2 hours 36-37minutes, which will be reduced by 3 minutes. The head of JR East commented that "With far reduced vibration, we have been deeply obsessed with ride quality of this train, and for this reason we would honourably like to utilize these trains to a greater extent."

The 200-series trains operating on the Tohoku Shinkansen [Tokyo - Fukushima - Sendai - Aomori] since its opening in 1982 were retired in November. According to JR East, at first the new model E5-series Shinkansen were and still are being slowly introduced and used exclusively on the "Hayabusa" service. From March next year, an additional 4 diagrams will be added, with the new trains also operating Tokyo to Shin-Aomori "Hayate" services.

This year through operations from the Sanyo Shinkansen to the Kyushu Shinkansen from Shin-Osaka to Kagoshima Chuo [Kagoshima Central] under the "Mizuho" and "Sakura" names have been increased from 15 return trips a day to a current 23. The time taken complete the journey will shrink by 1-3 minutes.

Furthermore, the sleeper express "Nihonkai" [The Japan Sea] (Osaka to Aomori) and the Express "Kitaguni" (Osaka - Nigata) will be abolished, and thus all the Blue Trains [Sleeper Trains] leaving Osaka will disappear.

ENDS

Translated from http://www.asahi.com/national/update/12 ... 60577.html.