The Joetsu Shinkansen (上越新幹線) is a high-speed line run by East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It runs from Ōmiya Station in Saitama City to Niigata Station in Niigata City.
History
The line was first planned in 1969. On 30 May 1969 the cabinet approved the New National General Development Plan (新全国総合開発計画). It included a Shinkansen from Tokyo through Takasaki to the Sea of Japan coast. In May 1970 the National Shinkansen Railway Development Act (全国新幹線鉄道整備法) became law. In January 1971 the basic plan named the Tokyo to Niigata route. On 1 April 1971 the construction plan was set, with a design speed of 260 km/h. The Japan Railway Construction Public Corporation (日本鉄道建設公団) was named to build it. Work on the Ōmiya to Niigata section began in December 1971, and the Ōshimizu Tunnel (大清水トンネル) was started on 9 December.
Residents of Kita ward in Tokyo and of Toda, Yono and Urawa cities in Saitama opposed the work in large protests from 26 April 1973. The protests helped lead to noise measures and other requests from local people. The opening target was first set for 1976. It moved to 1980 in 1977 and to 1986 in 1981. The cause was the economic slump after the oil shock and the poor finances of Japanese National Railways (JNR). On 20 March 1979 a fire broke out at the Ōshimizu Tunnel construction site, and 16 people died. In the Nakayama Tunnel, two sudden water-inflow accidents happened during construction. The route through that tunnel was changed, and trains there are limited to 160 km/h.
Trial runs with trains began between Nagaoka and Niigata in November 1980. In December 1980 the opening was set for spring 1982, with Ōmiya as a temporary terminal. The Nakayama Tunnel was finished through in December 1981. The line opened from Ōmiya to Niigata on 15 November 1982, five months after the Tohoku Shinkansen opened from Ōmiya to Morioka. The line was 303.6 km long. The fast service was named Asahi (あさひ) and the all-stop service was named Toki (とき). The 200 series trains began regular service. Former officials later gave accounts of the cost. Nisugi Iwao, who had led both the construction corporation and JNR, said the line had many stations, depots and station tracks, and that most sections outside tunnels were elevated. Sakaiya Taichi said Tanaka Kakuei told him he had asked for a Shinkansen but had not asked for a design speed of 260 km/h.
On 1 April 1987 the national railway was split up and privatised. The Shinkansen facilities were owned by the Shinkansen Holding Corporation (新幹線鉄道保有機構), which leased them to JR East. On 13 March 1988 some Asahi trains began running at 240 km/h, and the shortest trip from Ueno to Niigata became 1 hour 39 minutes. On 10 March 1990 some down Asahi trains between Jōmō-Kōgen and Urasa began running at 275 km/h, using modified 200 series trains. The line was called the fastest Shinkansen in Japan, and the 275 km/h service ran until 4 December 1999. On 20 June 1991 the Tohoku Shinkansen reached Tokyo Station, and Joetsu trains began running to Tokyo Station. The trip from Tokyo to Niigata became 1 hour 40 minutes, 20 minutes shorter than before. On 1 October 1991 JR East bought the line's facilities, and the Shinkansen Holding Corporation was dissolved. On 15 July 1994 the E1 Max series began service as Max Asahi and Max Toki.
In November 1995 the line began using a new train operations system called COSMOS (新幹線総合システム). In March 1997 the Hokuhoku Line (北越急行ほくほく線) opened, giving a route from Tokyo to Toyama and Ishikawa that changed trains at Echigo-Yuzawa. On 1 October 1997 the Nagano Shinkansen opened between Takasaki and Nagano, with through trains to Tokyo. Trains were renamed by destination. Tanigawa (たにがわ) became the name for all-stop trains to Echigo-Yuzawa, and the Toki name was dropped for a time. Regular trains from Ueno stopped because new platforms were built at Tokyo Station. On 1 December 2002 the Asahi name was changed back to Toki, the first use of that name in five years. On 13 March 2004 Honjo-Waseda Station opened, and all Toki trains began running at 240 km/h. On 23 October 2004 the Chūetsu earthquake hit. Toki 325, a 200 series train, was running at about 200 km/h when eight of its ten cars derailed near Nagaoka. No one was hurt. It was the first in-service Shinkansen derailment in Japan since the Tokaido Shinkansen opened on 1 October 1964. Trains between Takasaki and Niigata were stopped. Full service resumed on 28 December 2004.
On 14 March 2015 the Hokuriku Shinkansen opened from Nagano to Kanazawa, and Joetsu Shinkansen services were reduced. From that day all regular trains stopped at Ōmiya. On 16 March 2019 the E7 series first entered service on some Toki and Tanigawa trains, and Gran Class seats (グランクラス) began. Mobile phone dead zones on the line were removed section by section from 2017. On 23 July 2020 mobile phone service became available across the whole line. On 14 March 2020 regular trains from Ueno returned for the first time since 1997.
On 30 September 2021 the Shinkansen small parcel service (新幹線レールゴー・サービス) ended. On 1 October 2021 the E4 Max trains ended regular service, and on 2 October 2021 the trains were renamed Toki and Tanigawa. In 2019 the plan to raise the speed between Ōmiya and Niigata to 275 km/h was announced. In 2022 the line held events for its 40th anniversary, which fell on 15 November. On 18 March 2023 all Joetsu Shinkansen services switched to the E7 series, and the speed between Ōmiya and Niigata rose to 275 km/h. The trip from Tokyo to Niigata was 7 minutes shorter. The fastest down train took 1 hour 29 minutes and the fastest up train took 1 hour 31 minutes. On 31 August 2023 JR East ran a trial in which a whole Shinkansen set carried only freight between Niigata and Tokyo. It was the first time JR East had used a whole set for freight.
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Written by an AI from the line's history on Japanese Wikipedia, nothing else, and checked by a program for dates and numbers that are not in those facts. It can still be wrong. Adapted from Japanese Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0; this text is shared under the same licence.