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| Above, a view from the Joetsu Shinkansen. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
The East Japan Railway Co. (JR East) celebrated the 30th anniversary of its Joetsu Shinkansen Line that runs between Tokyo and Niigata this past week.
According to Kyodo News:
The Joetsu section of the bullet train network opened Nov. 15, 1982, on a 303.6 kilometer stretch between Omiya and Niigata. For the 30.3 km sector between Omiya and Tokyo, it now shares the tracks with the Tohoku line. It links Tokyo and Niigata in slightly less than 100 minutes on its fastest service.
The services on the Joetsu line run through one of the most heavily snow-covered regions in the country. In areas north of the Echigo-Yuzawa station, its tracks are equipped with hot water sprinklers, while trains are mounted with snow plow gear.
I rode the Joetsu Shinkansen in December 2010 when I visited Niigata, which is on the Sea of Japan side of Honshu. It is a very scenic ride as the train's route goes through some mountain passes.
To read the full article, go here.
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