Tsubame (Shinkansen)
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| Tsubame | |
 |
|
|---|---|
| Service type | Shinkansen |
| Operator | JR Kyushu |
| Line used | Kyushu Shinkansen |
| Started | 2004 |
| Rolling stock | 800 series |
Tsubame (つばめ?) is the initial service running on the Kyūshū Shinkansen since the line opened in March 2004. It is operated by 800 Series Shinkansen trains.
The word tsubame (燕) in Japanese means "swallow".
Prior to the opening of the Tsubame Shinkansen, the name Tsubame was used for JR Kyūshū's limited express trains running on the Kagoshima Main Line from Nishi Kagoshima Station (since renamed Kagoshima-Chūō Station) to Hakata Station in Fukuoka. These trains are still in use between Shin-Yatsushiro Station and Hakata (as "Relay Tsubame"). The Relay Tsubame will be retired when the Kyūshū Shinkansen is completed in 2010. The design of the Relay Tsubame service is unique, as it is the only station in Japan where normal trains stop at platforms adjacent to the shinkansen platforms. This is to facilitate transfer of passengers from shinkansen to Relay Tsubame and vice-versa. Normally, shinkansen platforms are physically separated from normal train platforms with fare gates and may be at a different level (usually above the normal train platforms.).
[edit] Other Express Tsubame
The Tsubame name was also used for the main Tōkaidō and Sanyo Main Line express services.
- 1930-1943: Tokyo - Kobe, hauled by C51 and C53 steam locomotive.
- 1950-1960: Tokyo - Osaka, hauled by C62 steam locomotive and EF58 electric locomotives
- 1960-1962: Tokyo - Osaka, operated by 151 series
- 1962-1964: Tokyo - Hiroshima
- 1964-1965: Shin-Osaka - Hakata
- 1965-1972: Nagoya - Kumamoto, operated by 481 and 583 series
- 1972-1973: Okayama - Kumamoto
- 1973-1975: Okayama - Nishi Kagoshima
- 1992-2004: Hakata - Nishi Kagoshima, operated by 787 series
Asteroid 6211 Tsubame is named from Tsubame before electrification.
