Moonlight Echigo Explained

Moonlight Echigo
Type:Rapid
Status:Discontinued
Locale:Japan
First:1986
Last:2014
Operator:JR East
Formeroperator:JNR
Stops:,,,,,,,
Line Used:Tohoku Main Line, Takasaki Line, Joetsu Line, Shinetsu Main Line
Catering:None
Stock:485 series EMU
El:1,500 V DC

The was a seasonal rapid overnight train service operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East), which runs from to in Niigata Prefecture via the Takasaki Line, the Joetsu Line, and the Shinetsu Main Line. The name is taken from the Echigo Province, the old name of Niigata Prefecture. Service was reduced to run on a seasonal basis in 2009 and, while JR East has not formally announced its discontinuation, no services have operated since May 2014.

Rolling stock

Moonlight Echigo services are formed of 6-car 485 series electric multiple unit (EMU) sets K1 and K2 based at Niigata Depot.[1]

Past rolling stock

History

The service was first introduced on 30 June 1986, as a seasonal train named simply, to directly compete with overnight bus services between Tokyo and Niigata introduced the previous year.[2] The locomotive-hauled rolling stock was replaced by EMUs from September 1987.[2] The service became a regular daily service from March 1988.[2]

From March 14, 2009, the daily Moonlight Echigo was discontinued and became a seasonal train running only during Japanese holidays.[3] The last Moonlight Echigo service operated in May 2014, with the service excluded entirely from the subsequent summer schedule in 2014 and 2015.[4]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Book: JR電車編成表 2014冬 . JR EMU Formations - Winter 2014. JRR . 1 December 2013 . Japan . 35. 978-4-330-42413-2.
  2. Book: JR急行・快速列車. JR Express & Rapid Trains. Railway Journal. 2 November 1991 . Tokyo, Japan. 54.
  3. Web site: http://sankei.jp.msn.com/life/trend/081219/trd0812191556015-n1.htm. ja:東京発ブルトレ終焉「はやぶさ・富士」廃止へ. Hayabusa and Fuji Blue Trains from Tokyo to be abolished. 19 December 2008. MSN Japan. The Sankei Shimbun & Sankei Digital. Japan. ja. https://web.archive.org/web/20090201070823/http://sankei.jp.msn.com/life/trend/081219/trd0812191556015-n1.htm. 1 February 2009. 17 May 2014.
  4. http://www.jreast.co.jp/press/2015/20150516.pdf