The was a Japanese Shinkansen high-speed train type operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East) between 1992 and 2010 on Tsubasa services on Japan's first mini-Shinkansen line, the Yamagata Shinkansen branch from the main Tōhoku Shinkansen.
The fleet of 400 series trains was leased by JR East from the owning company, , a third-sector company jointly owned by JR East and Yamagata Prefecture.
The trains were originally formed as six-car sets, but a seventh car was added to each set in 1995 due to the popularity of the Tsubasa services.
Pre-series set The pre-series set, S4, was delivered in October 1990 and unveiled to the press on 26 October 1990. It was a six-car set, arranged as shown below, with all cars motored.
Car No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Numbering 401-1 402-1 403-1 404-1 405-1 406-1 Seating capacity 20 67 60 68 64 56
The unit featured three different types of bolsterless bogies: DT9028 on cars 1 and 3, DT9029 on cars 2 and 4, and DT9030 on cars 5 and 6. The Green car seats were fitted with seat-back television screens, a feature not adopted on subsequent production sets.
Cars 1 and 2 were built by Tokyu Car Corporation, cars 3 to 4 were built by Hitachi, and cars 5 to 6 were built by Kawasaki Heavy Industries. Cars 12 and 14 were equipped with pantographs.
Test running began on the Ōu Main Line between and on 14 November 1990. From 23 January 1991, testing was conducted in conjunction with a newly converted eight-car 200 series K set on the Tōhoku Shinkansen between and . On 26 March 1991, set S4 established a new Japanese speed record of on the Jōetsu Shinkansen in the Yuzawa Tunnel between and . On 19 September 1991, the train set a further record of on the same section of track.
Test running continued into 1992, with set S4 reaching Tokyo for the first time on 20 May 1992. The pre-series set was subsequently modified to production-standard specifications, becoming set L1 on 29 June 1992.
History Introduction
The fleet of twelve six-car sets entered service on Tsubasa Shinkansen services from 1 July 1992. Owing to sustained demand, all sets were later lengthened to seven cars. This took place between November and December 1995, with the insertion of a new type 429 trailer car as car 15.
Withdrawal Withdrawals began in December 2008, starting with set L1. The entire fleet was scheduled to be withdrawn by summer 2009 and replaced by E3-2000 series trains. However, one set, L3, remained in service until 18 April 2010, with the date chosen to mark 18 years of service. This final 400 series Shinkansen was coupled to an E4 series train during its last run.
Preservation The first eleven sets to be withdrawn were all cut up at Sendai General Depot, but one car (Green car 411-3) of the last set to be withdrawn, L3, was stored at the former Fukushima depot before being moved to Omiya in Saitama Prefecture in December 2017 where it is preserved at the Railway Museum.
Formation The production 400 series sets were configured as shown below following the addition of a trailer car (car 15) in late 1995.
Car No. 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Designation Msc M' M M' T M M'c ClassGreenOrdinary reservedOrdinary nonreserved Numbering 411 426-200 425 426 429 425 422 Capacity 20 67 60 68 64 64 56 Facilities Toilet, wheelchair space Payphone Toilet, payphone Luggage space Toilet, luggage space Toilet, payphone Luggage space
Fleet details Set No.ManufacturerDelivered7th car addedRefurbishedDS-ATC addedWithdrawnRemarks L1 Tokyu Car, Hitachi, Kawasaki 1 November 1990 14 November 1995 3 March 2000 27 July 2005 1 January 2009 Originally pre-series set S4, converted 29 June 1992. L2 Kawasaki 17 January 1992 20 November 1995 14 September 2001 7 October 2005 23 January 2009 L3 28 January 1992 2 December 1995 11 June 2001 12 September 2005 18 April 2010 Last set to be withdrawn. Car 411-3 preserved at the Railway Museum. L4 6 March 1992 12 December 1995 16 December 1999 28 May 2005 18 September 2009 First set to be refurbished and repainted. L5 23 March 1992 10 December 1995 28 July 2000 26 November 2005 21 April 2009 L6 2 April 1992 8 December 1995 16 October 2001 24 December 2005 26 May 2009 L7 13 April 1992 6 December 1995 19 September 2000 2 November 2005 15 May 2009 L8 1 May 1992 4 December 1995 19 June 2000 24 June 2005 3 April 2009 L9 11 May 1992 20 December 1995 14 April 2000 22 March 2006 21 February 2009 Car 15 built by Hitachi. L10 29 May 1992 14 December 1995 30 March 2001 28 February 2006 7 August 2009 L11 12 June 1992 16 December 1995 19 February 2001 6 February 2006 20 June 2009 L12 25 June 1992 18 December 1995 29 May 2000 27 April 2005 19 March 2009
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Design Exterior
The 400 series was originally painted medium silver-grey, with a darker roof and darkened areas around the cab windows and underframe. Between 1999 and 2001, the fleet was refurbished and repainted, adopting a revised livery featuring a higher area of dark bluish-grey on the lower body, rising to just below the side windows and separated from the silver-grey upper body by a green stripe. The dark grey treatment on the roof and around the cab windows was removed.
Compared with the purpose-built high-speed Shinkansen lines, the Yamagata Shinkansen route is constrained by its legacy infrastructure. While the track gauge was widened, the original loading gauge was retained, requiring the 400 series to be designed with a narrower cross-section, leading to the "mini-Shinkansen" designation. When stopping at stations on the purpose-built high-speed Shinkansen lines, a retractable step flips up from beneath the doors to bridge the platform gap.
Interior As a result of the narrower cross section, ordinary-class cars were fitted with 2+2 abreast seating, compared with the 3+2 configuration used on most Shinkansen trains. Green cars featured 2+1 abreast seating, compared with the 2+2 layout typical of other Shinkansen services. On subsequent mini-Shinkansen rolling stock, Green cars also adopted 2+2 seating, matching standard-class layouts. Seat pitch was in Green class (car 11), in reserved-seating cars (cars 12–15), and in non-reserved cars (cars 16 and 17).
During the life-extension refurbishment programme carried out between 1999 and 2001, the interiors were also upgraded with new moquette seat coverings. Green cars received blue moquette, reserved-seating cars received red moquette, and non-reserved seating cars were fitted with turquoise moquette.
See also List of high speed trains
References
External links