Hayabusa (train)

The "Peregrine falcon" (はやぶさ) is a high-speed Shinkansen service operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East) and Hokkaido Railway Company (JR Hokkaido) between Tokyo and Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto in Japan since 26 March 2016. The name was formerly used for a limited express sleeping car service operated by JR Kyushu, which ran from Tokyo to Kumamoto, and was discontinued in March 2009.

Service pattern
Hayabusa trains stop at Tōkyō, Ueno*, Ōmiya, Sendai, Furukawa*, Kurikoma-Kōgen*, Ichinoseki*, Mizusawa-Esashi*, Kitakami*, Shin-Hanamaki*, Morioka, Iwate-Numakunai*, Ninohe*, Hachinohe*, Shichinohe-Towada*, Shin-Aomori, Okutsugaru-Imabetsu*, Kikonai*, and Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto station. Additionally, some Hayabusa services begin or end at Shin-Aomori Station.

(*) Not served by all trains

Most Hayabusa trains are coupled to an Akita Shinkansen Komachi train between Tokyo and Morioka.

The fastest service from Tokyo to Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto station takes approximately 3 hours 57 minutes.

Train formation
Hayabusa services are normally operated by 10-car E5 series or H5 series trainsets, with car 1 at the Tokyo end. All seats are reserved and non-smoking.

Hayabusa trains feature premium GranClass accommodation with 2+1 leather seating and complimentary food and drinks, including alcohol.

In 2021, payphones were removed from cars 3 and 5.

Sleeping car service (1958–2009)
The Hayabusa service commenced on 1 October 1958, operating between Tokyo and Kagoshima. From 20 July 1960, the train was upgraded with 20 series sleeping cars, and extended to run to and from Nishi-Kagoshima (now Kagoshima-Chūō). From 9 March 1975, the train was upgraded with 24 series sleeping cars.

The Hayabusa, along with its counterpart service, the Fuji, was discontinued from the start of the revised timetable on 14 March 2009 due to declining ridership.

Shinkansen service (2011–)
From 5 March 2011, the Hayabusa name was revived for the new 300 km/h shinkansen services operated by JR East between Tokyo and Shin-Aomori using new E5 series trainsets, and extended to Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto Station on 26 March 2016.

Sleeping car service
In its final days, the limited express train was formed of 14 series sleeping cars based at JR Kyushu's Kumamoto Depot, typically consisting of six cars in the Hayabusa portion and six cars in the Fuji portion. The train was hauled by a JR West EF66 electric locomotive between Tokyo and Shimonoseki, a JR Kyushu EF81-400 electric locomotive between Shimonoseki and Moji (through the undersea Kanmon Tunnel), and by a JR Kyushu ED76 electric locomotive from Moji to Kumamoto.

Locomotive types used

 * EF60-500 (Tokyo – Shimonoseki, from 29 December 1963)
 * EF65-500 (Tokyo – Shimonoseki, from 1 October 1965)
 * EF65-1000 (Tokyo – Shimonoseki, from July 1978)
 * EF66 (Tokyo – Shimonoseki, from 14 March 1985)

Shinkansen service
The new shinkansen Hayabusa services use 10-car E5 series sets, which initially operated at a maximum speed of 300 km/h (185 mp/h) between Utsunomiya and Morioka. The maximum speed was raised to 320 km/h (200 mp/h) from the start of the revised timetable on 16 March 2013. From the same date, some services run coupled to E6 series Super Komachi services between Tokyo and Morioka. These services were limited to a maximum speed of 300 km/h. Although the train could run up to speeds of 400kmph during test runs, from 2012 its top speed was fixed to 320kmph for passenger and environmental comfort. Since 15 March 2014, the name of Super Komachi services was returned simply to Komachi, and the maximum speed has been raised to 320 km/h; from the same date, some Hayabusa services are operated by 10-car E5 series sets coupled to 7-car E6 series sets. At Morioka, the E5 series and E6 series sets decouple, with the E5 series set continuing along the Tohoku Shinkansen as the Hayabusa and the E6 series set turning onto the Akita Shinkansen as the Komachi.

From 26 March 2016, with the opening of the Hokkaido Shinkansen from Shin-Aomori to Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto, the Hayabusa name was used for services operating between Tokyo, Sendai, and Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto. From the start of the 26 March 2016 timetable revision, ten return services operate daily between Tokyo and Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto, and one return service daily operates between Sendai and Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto.