Japan links northernmost island with new bullet train

Japan's new Hokkaido Shinkansen, or Bullet Train, took off from Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto station early on Saturday (March 26), finally connecting the nation's northernmost island by high-speed train to the main island of Honshu.

The project to construct this section of the bullet train line began in 1972, aimed at taking passengers to the nation's capital via an under-sea tunnel 53.85 kilometers (33.4 miles) long and 240 meters (790 feet) below sea level at its deepest point. The tunnel, called the Seikan Tunnel, is the world's deepest operational main-line rail tunnel in the world and along side the Channel Tunnel, one of the longest undersea tunnels in the world.

The new service cuts the journey from Tokyo to Hakodate by nearly an hour to just over four hours.

Japanese media reported that over 500 people gathered to see the first Hokkaido Shinkansen leave the station early in the morning on Saturday.

One of the passengers on the first train, unidentified by local television broadcasters, said he couldn't sleep all night from excitement.

"I am getting even more excited now that I finally see the Hayabusa 10 in front of me. But even last night, I just couldn't sleep. I woke up at 1 am and was tossing and turning in bed and even woke up the kids," he said referring the name of the first bullet train.

Tickets for the train ride were reservation only and sold out last month in 25 seconds, local media said.

A total of 32 trains will be operating to and from Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto on Saturday, media said.

Japan's top government spokesman talking the day before the official start of the Hokkaido Shinkansen's service said it would help boost the regional economies of northern Japan.

"It is finally completed. It is not only a very happy moment but also a moment we hope it will help with increasing tourism and boosting the local economies there," he told reporters at his regular news conference on Friday (March 25).

The Hokkaido Shinkansen is expected to be extended to the island's main city of Sapporo by 2030. —Reuters