International Railroad Discussion > Hokutosei Ueno-Sapporo overnight express train to end

The Japanese Times has run a story that JR East will cease operations of the Hokutosei Tokyo - Sapporo sleepier train in March 2015.

<http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/12/05/national/hokutosei-ueno-sapporo-overnight-express-train-retire-march/#.VIMKSWea8wb&gt;

If i understand this correctly, the change will leave the Cassiopeia luxury sleeper as one of the few if not the only sleeper train remaining in Japan.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/07/14 08:50 by Christo.

Christo Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The Japanese Times has run a story that JR East
> will cease operations of the Hokutosei Tokyo -
> Sapporo sleepier train in March 2015'
>
>
>
> If i understand this correctly, the change will
> leave the Cassiopeia luxury sleeper as one of the
> few if not the only sleeper train remaining in
> Japan.

Wow, what a bummer. Since Cassiopeia does not run everyday, it will become tougher to plan an overnight trip to/from Hokkaido from the Kanto area in the future.　There's still the Express Hanamasu, a redeye train that travels between Aomori and Sapporo, and it seems there's no official word on its cancellation yet, but railfan rumors are speculating the end of that train in 2016 when the Hokkaido Shinkansen is planned to start revenue service.

Back when I visited the Sapporo Snow Festival in February of 2002, there were TWO Hokutoseis per direction per day (4 total), plus the tri-weekly Cassiopeia if you wanted to travel to/from Hokkaido. Tohoku Shinkansen terminated at Morioka to the north in those days.

It seems the Sunrise Limited Express EMU sleepers (Seto & Izumo) are in no danger of being cancelled, so add that to the shrinking list of sleeper trains that'll continue to run in the near future.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/06/14 20:56 by cchan006.

Christo Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The Japanese Times has run a story that JR East
> will cease operations of the Hokutosei Tokyo -
> Sapporo sleepier train in March 2015.
>
>
>
> If i understand this correctly, the change will
> leave the Cassiopeia luxury sleeper as one of the
> few if not the only sleeper train remaining in
> Japan.

The article needs a bit more explanation, I believe. Yes, preparation for Shinkasen is now underway, so that they will set a maintenance of way window during the nite time so that it prevent overniters going through the tunnel section. This is my some of trains have been cancelled till the end of the year. During the new year period, they will re-operate overniters again.
Another issue behind is that Shinkansen runs under AC 25000 instead of AC 20000 volt that conventional lines are using. Shinkansen trains have to share the Seikan tunnel, it have to increase volagate by 5000 to accommodate the operation. This gave JR Hokkaido a big problem of ordering new locomotives. At the end, JR Hottakido did not want to order new ones. This leaves no room for passenger train operation through Seikan Tunnel. Besides, JR wants to perfume MoW during the night time after Shinkasen trains operate through the tunnel, at lease 6-hour long window. This will not allow to operate any overniters through the tunnel.

Hope this helps.

Hiroshi

Hiroshi-san:

Thank you for the details. If I understand the situation, the cancellation is due to a) the nightly maintenance work occupying the track, and b) and lack of non-Shinkansen locomotives that can operate under the higher electrical voltage.

These leads me tio 2 questions:
1) Will the Cassiopeia train being cancelled too?
2) Because the JR East and JR Hokkaido are different companies and JR Hokaido operates the Seikan tunnel, would JR Hokkaido need to borrow a locomotive that operates under 25K voltage from JR East to run non-Shinkansen passenger equipment?

Christo Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hiroshi-san:
>
> Thank you for the details. If I understand the
> situation, the cancellation is due to a) the
> nightly maintenance work occupying the track, and
> b) and lack of non-Shinkansen locomotives that can
> operate under the higher electrical voltage.
>
> These leads me tio 2 questions:
> 1) Will the Cassiopeia train being cancelled too?
> 2) Because the JR East and JR Hokkaido are
> different companies and JR Hokaido operates the
> Seikan tunnel, would JR Hokkaido need to borrow a
> locomotive that operates under 25K voltage from JR
> East to run non-Shinkansen passenger equipment?

When I rode the Hokutosei in March, the conductor I chatted with mentioned the nightly maintenance work for the Hokkaido Shinkansen, and he was speculating changes to both Cassiopeia and Hokutosei as early as this October (as posted in one of my threads earlier this year). Service changes and cancellations usually occur in October and March, when JR groups implement system-wide schedule changes in those months. Oh well, he was five months off.

Currently, ED79 locomotive is the one assigned for both freight and passenger duties to take trains through the Seikan Tunnel. It was first manufactured in 1986, so it's a 28 year old design, but it was a modified ED75 (first manufactured in 1963), so the platform is actually 51 years old. JR Freight relies mostly on the EH500 ("Kintaro" locomotive I've covered in several threads) for their trains through the Seikan Tunnel. Both ED79 and EH500 are AC 20k volts.

Toshiba has the first prototype of the EH800 locomotive which can run under both 20k and 25k volts, as well as use the same ATC system Shinkansens use, so at least for JR Freight trains, there won't be a locomotive problem. Quick search on the web says it has been undergoing testing, and it should go into service fairly soon.

JR East is unwilling to financially support the sleeper trains, primarily due to aging equipment (as mentioned in the Japanese version of the article above). I'm going to speculate further that at least for the Hokutosei and Cassiopeia, the trains run on non-JR tracks ("Dai-san sector," or Third Sector Railroad, as it is called) between Morioka and Aomori, so why bother supporting trains on that line when JR East can make money on the Tohoku Shinkansen running on their own lines? So futures of both Hokutosei and Cassiopeia are equally uncertain, in my opinion.

If JR Hokkaido is willing to pay for a passenger-capable version of the EH800, then there's still hope that at least the Cassiopeia will remain running until the Type 26 sleeper cars become too old. EH800 can do double-duty hauling the Hamanasu, and maybe other redeye trains if needed.

All is not lost on the Hokutosei, as the Japanese version of the article says only the regularly scheduled service is being cancelled in March. It will continue to run as a special after that, probably in summer months, and if I were to guess, probably during Golden Week.

We'll probably have to revisit this thread as 2016 approaches, to see what will happen when the Hokkaido Shinkansens actually start running.

Arrogate, Hiroshi-San.

I have considered a trip from Oarai in ibaraki to Hokkaido by ferry and a return to a Tokyo by train. It would allow me to see the coast line of Japan. With the changes coming to the sleeper trains, I may end up riding a Shinkansen by the time I am ready to travel in 2015 or 2016.

Thanks again for your accurate information on Japanese railroads.

Christopher

Christo-san

On the 18th of this month, “freshly shopped” Cassiopeia will be running again. But it is still not certain it will run after March 2015. JR East may decide the operation by then. It is getting very hard to reserve Cassiopeia. If you are planning the trip, please book asap.

By the tine Shinkasen going to Hokkaido through Seikan Tunnel, Dual gauged tunnel has to be under AC 25000 voltage to accommodate Shikasen trains to run. At the same time the tunnel has to host conventional passenger and freight trains. That’s why Toshiaba plays an important role to provide a new locomotive. But non of JRs announced yet to obtain such locomotives.

Meantime they got a quite aged fleet of ED 75s, ED79s and DD51s in service. These need to be replaced soon. But non plan is revealed yet.

Hope this helps.

Hiroshi



Christo Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hiroshi-san:
>
> Thank you for the details. If I understand the
> situation, the cancellation is due to a) the
> nightly maintenance work occupying the track, and
> b) and lack of non-Shinkansen locomotives that can
> operate under the higher electrical voltage.
>
> These leads me tio 2 questions:
> 1) Will the Cassiopeia train being cancelled too?
> 2) Because the JR East and JR Hokkaido are
> different companies and JR Hokaido operates the
> Seikan tunnel, would JR Hokkaido need to borrow a
> locomotive that operates under 25K voltage from JR
> East to run non-Shinkansen passenger equipment?