JR East's freight-only shinkansen train goes into service

East Japan Railway's freight-only Shinkansen bullet train arrives at a train yard in Tokyo on Monday
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East Japan Railway (JR East) started operating a freight-only shinkansen bullet train Monday, transporting goods from Morioka, Iwate Prefecture, to Tokyo.The seven-car train, converted from an E3 series passenger train that had been used for the Yamagata Shinkansen line, will be operated on weekdays and carry up to about 1,000 containers of goods on each trip
It has a maximum loading capacity of 17.4 tons.On Monday, the freight-only train, coupled with a Yamabiko train, left Morioka Station on the Tohoku Shinkansen line shortly after noon
It arrived at Tokyo Station 3 hours and 15 minutes later.Loading and unloading work takes place at rail yards, and unmanned vehicles are used to transport cargo within the yards.JR East has so far transported cargo together with passengers on shinkansen trains under the "Hakobyun" brand service, delivering specialties from Hokkaido, Tohoku and other regions, as well as medical equipment, precision machinery and other goods.The company decided to introduce a cargo-only shinkansen because demand is expected to increase amid challenges such as shortages of truck drivers and a need to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.Just before 4 p.m
on Monday, the train, loaded with about 800 containers, including those for scallops produced in Iwate Prefecture and precision equipment, arrived at a train base in Tokyo
Workers unloaded the containers and put them in trucks."We would like to carry as much cargo as possible by leveraging our capability to transport goods on time and smoothly," said Yosuke Mitsui, a JR East official in charge of cargo transport.

KEYWORDS
Shinkansen(https://www.japantimes.co.jp/tag/shinkansen), RAIL(https://www.japantimes.co.jp/tag/rail), JR East(https://www.japantimes.co.jp/tag/jr-east), BULLET TRAINS(https://www.japantimes.co.jp/tag/bullet-trains), FREIGHT(https://www.japantimes.co.jp/tag/freight)
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