NAGANO SHINKANSEN

Nagano Shinkansen connects Tokyo with Nagano. The Nagano Shinkansen travels Nagano Tokyo in a minimum of 79 minutes.

The Nagano Shinkansen (長野新幹線) is a Shinkansen high-speed rail line operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East) between Tokyo, via Takasaki to Nagano Japan. It opened on 1 October 1997, connecting Tokyo and Nagano in time for the 1998 Winter Olympics held in Nagano. The Nagano Shinkansen forms the first section of the planned Hokuriku Shinkansen line currently under construction to Kanazawa, Tsuruga, and eventually Osaka.

The Asama trains, named for Mount Asama, an active volcano alongside the line, currently connect Tokyo and Nagano in a minimum of 79 minutes, at a maximum speed of 260 km/h. These services are run by JR East E2 Series sets. There are approximately 2 services an hour; stopping patterns are varied, with only a few services stopping at all stations. The trains run along the Jōetsu and Tōhoku Shinkansen lines from Tokyo to Takasaki.

The Nagano Shinkansen services replaced the conventional Shinetsu Main Line limited express services, also named Asama, which previously took 2 hours 50 minutes from Tokyo (Ueno Station) to Nagano. Following the opening of the Shinkansen, part of the conventional line was abandoned between Yokokawa and Karuizawa. This segment included the steeply-graded Usui Pass which required the use of bank engines on all trains.

A new island platform was constructed at Tokyo Station to coincide with the new services; this increased the number of JR East Shinkansen platforms to two (serving four tracks).

(Article based on Wikipedia article and used under the GNU Free Documentation License)