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Once you’ve ridden a shinkansen (bullet train) in Japan, you’ll never want to travel any other way. They’re incredibly efficient, clean, and are continually connecting more and more parts of the country for an oh-so-smooth and hassle-free ride from as far north as Hokkaido to as far south as Kyushu.
Speaking of Japan’s southern island of Kyushu, the current Kyushu shinkansen service runs between Hakata Station in Fukuoka Prefecture and Kagoshima-Chuo Station in Kagoshima Prefecture. Since 2008, however, an extension of the line to the west has been under construction and is finally ready to open in September
▼ The current Kyushu shinkansen route is marked in purple and the new West Kyushu shinkansen route is marked in red.
JR Kyushu has finally announced that this West Kyushu (“Nishi Kyushu”) shinkansen service will officially begin operations on Sept 23, 2022. The route will run between Takeo-Onsen Station in Saga Prefecture and Nagasaki Station in Nagasaki Prefecture, comprising of five total stations over approximately 66 kilometers.
▼ Left to right: Takeo-Onsen Station, Ureshino-Onsen Station (newly named), Shin-Omura Station (newly named), Isahaya Station, Nagasaki Station
As previously revealed, the West Kyushu Shinkansen will utilize six-passenger car versions of the N700S series of rolling stock dubbed Kamome (top photo), which means “Seagull.” Kamome trains pay homage to JR Kyushu’s image color of red in their design.
Furthermore, the new service will utilize a simple cross-platform interchange at Hakata Station to connect to Takeo-Station via the Relay Kamome limited express train service. All in all, travel between Hakata Station and Nagasaki Station will now take 1 hour and 20 minutes, which is a time reduction of 30 minutes.
Read more stories from SoraNews24.
-- We visit Kyushu’s oldest wooden train station building, get hit with a nostalgia overload
-- The ultimate Shinkansen trip: Riding Japan’s bullet train network from one end to the other
-- Shinkansen will require reservations for large suitcases, charge penalty fees for those without
- External Link
- https://soranews24.com/2022/03/01/japans-west-kyushu-shinkansen-bullet-train-service-to-nagasaki-is-set-to-open-this-fall/
4 Comments
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Concerned Citizen
Gotta hand it to the Japanese. They know how to provide fast, efficient and comfortable rapid transport. Well done.
ebisen
I tried the "bullet trains" in France, Germany, China and Japan. Japan wins hands down in almost all criteria. Besides, unlike the other countries, nobody every died in a crash caused by the Shinkansen itself, even in case of natural disasters such as earthquakes. That can't be said for the other countries - with both China and Germany systems having caused at least one catastrophic accident already.
snowymountainhell
That roadside Shinkansen boarding as depicted would also be really convenient.