Tazawako, Ōu line [Shinjō - Akita] and Akita Shinkansen

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Prefectures on this page: Akita Yamagata Iwate

Lines on this page

Railway	Line	Linetype
JR East	Akita Shinkansen	Shinkansen
	Ōu Hon (Shinjō - Akita)	JR railway
	Tazawako	JR railway

JR East 東日本旅客鉄道 Higashi Nihon Ryokaku Tetsudō East Japan Railway

Akita Shinkansen 秋田新幹線 Shinkansen 1435 mm 20 kV 50 Hz AC

You can find Kitayama Rail Maps for this line on these pages: Akita Morioka

	Opened	March 22, 1997			Average speed	91 km/h
	Fastest train	1h24	Morioka - Akita		Maximum speed	130 km/h

Akita Shinkansen uses the Tazawako and Ōu lines (see below) between Morioka and Akita. The lines are rebuilt, including a re-gauge from 1067 mm to 1435 mm, for Shinkansen services, but they are still used also for local trains.
The Akita Shinkansen trains are kalled Komachi. The legend tells that Komachi was a bright and beautiful poetess born in Akita a long time ago.

Article about Akita Shinkansen with photos (PDF-file) Byun Byun Shinkansen page

Mapion	Major stations	Connecting lines	Km	City	Prefecture
Map	Morioka	IGR: Iwate Ginga Tetsudō, JR East: Tōhoku Shinkansen, JR East: Tōhoku Hon (Sendai - Morioka), JR East: Hanawa, JR East: Yamada	0.0	Morioka-shi	Iwate
Map	Shizukuishi		16.0	Shizukuishi-chō
Map	Tazawako		40.1	Senboku-shi	Akita
Map	Kakunodate	Akita Nairiku: Akita Nairiku	58.8	Senboku-shi
Map	Ōmagari	JR East: Ōu Hon (Shinjō - Akita)	75.6	Daisen-shi
Map	Akita	JR East: Ōu Hon (Akita - Aomori), JR East: Uetsu Hon	127.3	Akita-shi

Traffic pattern
The traffic pattern shown does not include all details and could change at any time.

Type	Name	Origin - Major stops - Destination	Frequency	Fastest train	Average speed
Shinkansen	Komachi	Tōkyō - Sendai - Morioka - Akita	15/day	3h50	163 km/h
Shinkansen	Komachi	Sendai - Morioka - Akita	1/day	2h55	102 km/h

Ōu Hon (Shinjō - Akita) 奥羽本線 20 kV 50 Hz AC

You can find Kitayama Rail Maps for this line on these pages: Akita Sendai & Yamagata

Opened	1903-1905		Tracks	Single track (1067 mm)	Ōmagari - Jingūji	Rebuilt	1997	1435 mm added Ōmagari - Akita
Tracks	Single track	Shinjō - Nozoki		Single track (1435 mm)	Ōmagari - Jingūji	Gauge	1067 mm	Shinjō - Ōmagari
	Double track	Nozoki - Innai		Single 1435 + Mixed 1067/1435	Jingūji - Mine-Yoshikawa	Gauge	1067 mm + 1435 mm	Ōmagari - Akita
	Single track	Innai - Ōmagari		Single track (1067 mm)	Mine-Yoshikawa - Akita
				Single track (1435 mm)	Mine-Yoshikawa - Akita

The section Ōmagari - Akita is both 1067 mm and 1435 mm gauge. There is one single track for each gauge on 39 km of the section, the remaining 13 km have one single standard gauge track and one single mixed gauge track, allowing the Shinkansen trains to meet each other.
The Akita Shinkansen traffic is described above.

Mapion	Major stations	Connecting lines	Km	City	Prefecture
Map	Shinjō	JR East: Rikuu-tō, JR East: Rikuu-sai, JR East: Ōu Hon [Yamagata] (Fukushima - Shinjō ), JR East: Yamagata Shinkansen	148.6	Shinjō-shi	Yamagata
Map	Mamurogawa		164.0	Mamurogawa-machi
Map	Nozoki		185.8	Mamurogawa-machi
Map	Innai		194.4	Yuzawa-shi	Akita
Map	Yuzawa		210.4	Yuzawa-shi
Map	Yokote	JR East: Kitakami	228.3	Yokote-shi
Map	Ōmagari	JR East: Akita Shinkansen, JR East: Tazawako	247.0	Daisen-shi
Map	Jingūji		253.0	Daisen-shi
Map	Mine-Yoshikawa		265.4	Daisen-shi
Map	Akita	JR East: Ōu Hon (Akita - Aomori), JR East: Uetsu Hon	298.7	Akita-shi

Traffic pattern
The traffic pattern shown does not include all details and could change at any time.

Type	Origin - Major stops - Destination	Frequency	Fastest train	Average speed
Local	Shinjō - Ōmagari - Akita	10/day	2h30	43 km/h
	Shinjō - Mamurogawa	3/day	16 min	58 km/h
	Innai - Akita	3/day	1h52	56 km/h
	Yuzawa - Akita	3/day	1h14	72 km/h
	Yokote - Akita	3/day	1h06	61 km/h

Tazawako 田沢湖線 1435 mm 20 kV 50 Hz AC

You can find Kitayama Rail Maps for this line on these pages: Akita Morioka

Opened	1921	Morioka - Shizukuishi	Re-gauged	1997	1067 mm > 1435 mm
	1921-1923	Ōmagari - Tazawako	Tracks	Single track
	1964	Shizukuishi - Akabuchi
	1966	Akabuchi - Tazawako

The line is rebuilt to standard gauge and serves primarily the Akita Shinkansen trains (described above) but there is some local traffic as well.

Mapion	Major stations	Connecting lines	Km	City	Prefecture
Map	Morioka	IGR: Iwate Ginga Tetsudō, JR East: Tōhoku Shinkansen, JR East: Tōhoku Hon (Sendai - Morioka), JR East: Yamada	0.0	Morioka-shi	Iwate
Map	Shizukuishi		16.0	Shizukuishi-chō
Map	Akabuchi		22.0	Shizukuishi-chō
Map	Tazawako		40.1	Senboku-shi	Akita
Map	Kakunodate	Akita Nairiku: Akita Nairiku	58.8	Senboku-shi
Map	Ōmagari	JR East: Ōu Hon (Shinjō - Akita)	75.6	Daisen-shi

Traffic pattern
The traffic pattern shown does not include all details and could change at any time.

Type	Origin - Major stops - Destination	Frequency	Fastest train	Average speed
Local	Morioka - Shizukuishi	7/day	16 min	60 km/h
	Morioka - Akabuchi	3/day	24 min	55 km/h
	Morioka - Tazawako	1/day	47 min	51 km/h
	Morioka - Ōmagari	3/day	1h46	43 km/h
	Tazawako - Ōmagari	4/day	40 min	53 km/h

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This page is updated Oct 17, 2009