Nozomi (Shinkansen)
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| Nozomi | |
 |
|
|---|---|
| 500 Series Nozomi Shinkansen at Kyoto Station, March 2005 | |
| Service type | Super Express |
| Operator | JR Central, JR West |
| Line used | Tōkaidō Shinkansen, Sanyō Shinkansen |
| Started | 1992 |
| Rolling stock | 300/500/700/N700 series |
Nozomi (のぞみ?) is the fastest train service running on the Tōkaidō/Sanyō Shinkansen. Along the stretch between Shin-Kobe and Hakata, Nozomi services using 500 series equipment reach speeds of 300 km/h (186 mph). The trip between Tokyo and Osaka, a distance of 515 kilometers, takes only 2.5 hours on the Nozomi.
The 300 Series Shinkansen, 500 Series Shinkansen, 700 Series Shinkansen, and N700 Series Shinkansen are presently used for Nozomi services. The latest, the N700, was introduced on Nozomi services on July 1, 2007, with four daily round-trip runs.[1] It is projected that all through Nozomi services (i.e. Tokyo-Hakata) will be operated by N700 trains by 2009, and all regularly-scheduled Nozomi services will be operated by N700 trains by 2011.
The trains stop at slightly fewer stations than the Hikari trains. On the Tōkaidō Shinkansen, Nozomi trains stop at Tokyo Station, Nagoya Station, Kyoto Station, and Shin-Ōsaka Station. On the Sanyō line, all Nozomi trains stop at Shin-Kobe Station, Okayama Station, Hiroshima Station, Kokura Station, and Hakata Station. Certain Nozomi trains stop at additional stations as well. The Nozomi is the only JR daytime train service not covered by the Japan Rail Pass.
The word nozomi in Japanese means "hope" or "wish". It was selected since something faster than the existing services Hikari, "light, ray", and Kodama, "echo", was needed.
Nozomi began service on March 14, 1992.
[edit] Nozomi Stopping Patterns (As of March, 2008)
Key
● All trains stop
▲ Some trains stop
▬ No trains stop/Service does not run here
(###) Train numbers included in/excluded from table
1 Some trains begin/terminate in Nishi-Akashi, Himeji, Okayama or Hiroshima.
2 Some trains begin/terminate in Nagoya.
NOTE: Basic Nozomi stopping patterns are shown. Additional Nozomi trains with differing stopping patterns are added during holiday and high-peak travel periods, and are not included in this table. Stations not served by Nozomi trains are also not included.
| Station | in Japanese | Ward / City | Distance (km) (from Tokyo) |
Tokyo - Hakata1 | Tokyo- Shin-Osaka2 |
Nagoya - Hakata |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tokyo | 東京 | Chiyoda, Tokyo | 0.0 | ● (Except 99) |
● | ▬ |
| Shinagawa | 品川 | Minato, Tokyo | 6.8 | ● | ● | ▬ |
| Shin-Yokohama | 新横浜 | Kōhoku-ku, Yokohama | 25.5 | ● | ● | ▬ |
| Nagoya | 名古屋 | Nakamura-ku, Nagoya | 342.0 | ● | ● | ● (Except 500) |
| Kyoto | 京都 | Shimogyo-ku, Kyoto | 476.3 | ● | ● | ● (Except 500) |
| Shin-Ōsaka | 新大阪 | Yodogawa-ku, Osaka | 515.4 | ● | ● | ● |
| Shin-Kobe | 新神戸 | Chūō-ku, Kobe | 548.0 | ● | ▬ | ● |
| Nishi-Akashi | 西明石 | Akashi, Hyōgo | 570.2 | ▲ (60 only) |
▬ | ▬ |
| Himeji | 姫路 | Himeji, Hyōgo | 601.3 | ▲ | ▬ | ▬ |
| Okayama | 岡山 | Okayama, Okayama | 676.3 | ● | ▬ | ● |
| Fukuyama | 福山 | Fukuyama, Hiroshima | 733.1 | ▲ | ▬ | ▲ |
| Hiroshima | 広島 | Minami-ku, Hiroshima | 821.2 | ● | ▬ | ● |
| Tokuyama | 徳山 | Shunan, Yamaguchi | 903.5 | ▲ | ▬ | ▬ |
| Shin-Yamaguchi | 新山口 | Yamaguchi, Yamaguchi | 944.6 | ▲ | ▬ | ▲ |
| Kokura | 小倉 | Kokura Kita-ku, Kitakyūshū | 1013.2 | ● | ▬ | ● |
| Hakata | 博多 | Hakata-ku, Fukuoka | 1069.1 | ● | ▬ | ● |
