Shin-Yatsushiro Station Explained

Shin-Yatsushiro Station
Native Name:新八代駅
Native Name Lang:ja
Style:JR Kyushu
Address:4774-2 Kamihiokicho, Yatsushiro City
Borough:Kumamoto Prefecture
Country:Japan
Map Type:Japan Kumamoto Prefecture#Japan Kyushu#Japan
Platforms:4 side platforms (2 for Shinkansen, 2 for conventional lines)
Tracks:4 (2 for Shinkansen, 2 for conventional lines)
Structure:Elevated (Shinkansen)
At grade (conventional)

is a railway station in Yatsushiro, Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan, operated by Kyushu Railway Company (JR Kyushu).

Layout

A special elevated spur runs from north of the station to the Shinkansen platform. From 2004 to 2011, Relay Tsubame limited express trains from Hakata on the Kagoshima Line provided the link to the Shinkansen line, and Shin-Yatsushiro was designed to facilitate an easy and fast connection between the Relay Tsubame train and the Tsubame shinkansen train on the same platform.

The spur line is not used by regular services, but was utilized in 2014 for reliability trials of the Gauge Change Train between Kumamoto and Kagoshima-Chuo Station, including gauge changing on the spur line.[1] The trials were originally planned to run for three years starting in April 2014, but were suspended that December after defects were found in the train bogies.[2]

History

The station opened on 13 March 2004, to coincide with the opening of a section of the Kyushu Shinkansen high speed railway line. The Kyushu Shinkansen Tsubame was operational from Shin-Yatushiro to Kagoshima-Chuo station in Kagoshima until 2011, when the Shinkansen was extended north to Hakata station in Fukuoka and joined with the Sanyo Shinkansen line.

On 8 November 2021, a man was arrested at the station after an attempted arson on board a Sakura service.[3]

Platforms

PlatformLinesDestinationNotes
1 Kagoshima Main LineFor Yatsushiro StationHitoyoshi StationSome trains depart from 2nd platform
2For Kumamoto Station 
1117px|■ Kyushu ShinkansenFor KumamotoHakataHiroshimaShin-Ōsaka 
12For Kagoshima-Chūō Station 

See also

External links

32.5186°N 130.6347°W

Notes and References

  1. 軌間可変電車に新型台車を装着. Gauge Change Train fitted with new bogies. Tetsudō Daiya Jōhō Magazine . 40. 329. 65. Kōtsū Shimbun . Japan . September 2011.
  2. Web site: http://news.mynavi.jp/news/2014/12/24/335/ . ja:九州新幹線のフリーゲージトレイン、欠損が見つかり耐久走行試験を一時休止 . Kyushu Shinkansen Free Gauge Train endurance testing suspended following discovery of defects . 24 December 2014. Mynavi News. Mynavi Corporation . Japan. ja. 27 December 2014.
  3. Web site: 8 November 2021 . Man Arrested after Setting Fire on Kyushu Shinkansen Train . 6 September 2022 . nippon.com . en.