Tohoku Shinkansen Services Fully Resumed
The Tohoku Shinkansen bullet train line has fully reopend after a section of the route was affected by a powerful earthquake earlier this month.
East Japan Railway reopened the entire line on Wednesday, 11 days after the quake struck northeastern Japan. Services between Sendai and Morioka stations had been restarted earlier.
The company had suspended services between Nasushiobara and Morioka stations because the tremor damaged utility poles supporting overhead wires and pillars of elevated tracks in Fukushima and Miyagi prefectures.
At Tokyo Station, business travelers and people heading for their hometowns were seen climbing onto the first train leaving just after 6 a.m.
A 40-year-old office worker said he is glad that operations have resumed as he will no longer have to drive from Chiba, where he works, to see his family in Fukushima. He said the Shinkansen enables him to travel much more quickly.
The train operator says the number of trains will be cut to about 80 percent of normal levels for the time being for safety reasons.
It adds that trips between Tokyo and Sendai or Morioka will take about one hour longer than usual because trains will run at lower speeds.
The company says regular services will resume in about a month.