First H5 series cars offloaded in Hokkaido

The new Shinkansen railcars were towed over pavement. Here one of them passes under a viaduct that will be used by the Hokkaido Shinkansen. (Photo taken by Takehiko Suzuki)

New H5 series railcars were offloaded at the port of Hakodate, Hokkaido on October 13 and shown to the public for the first time. The arrival was another step toward the inauguration of Hokkaido Shinkansen services in March 2016.

The two cars are Cars 1 and 2, for the southern end of a 10-car Shinkansen trainset. They were delivered by sea from the Hyogo Works of Kawasaki Heavy Industries in Kobe.

JR Hokkaido Railway Company and the city of Hakodate held a welcoming ceremony at the port and exhibited the new cars, the first to land on the island.

The cars’ color scheme is green and white with a purple stripe running along the middle. The purple calls to mind Hokkaido’s lavender and lilac flowers.

Before dawn on the 14th the cars were towed over pavement to the Hakodate Central Car Depot, where they will be prepared for operations.

The cars will be used in trial runs between Tsugaru-imabetsu in Aomori Prefecture on the island of Honshu, Main island, and Shin Hakodate-Hokuto on the island of Hokkaido, beginning in December.

This article appeared in the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper on Wednesday, October 14, 2014. We thank the publisher, The Yomiuri Shimbun, for granting us permission to present the article in translation.