The was a seasonal overnight

express Express, The Expresss or EXPRESS may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Film * ''Express: Aisle to Glory'', a 1998 comedy short film featuring Kal Penn * ''The Express: The Ernie Davis Story'', a 2008 film starring Dennis Quaid * The Expre ...

train service in Japan operated by

East Japan Railway Company The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and the largest of the seven Japan Railways Group companies. The company name is officially abbreviated as JR-EAST or JR East in English, and as in Japanese. The company's headquarters are in ...

(JR East), which runs between

Ueno Station is a major railway station in Tokyo's Taitō ward. It is the station used to reach the Ueno district and Ueno Park—which contains Tokyo National Museum, The National Museum of Western Art, Ueno Zoo, Tokyo University of the Arts and other ...

in Tokyo and via the

Shinetsu Main Line The is a railway line, consisting of three geographically separated sections, operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East) in Japan. It was originally one continuous line connecting and via . Since the opening and later extension of ...

and

Hokuriku Main Line The Hokuriku Main Line () is a railway line owned by the West Japan Railway Company (JR West) connecting Maibara Station in Maibara, Shiga, with Tsuruga Station in Tsuruga, Fukui. The line formerly extended as far as Naoetsu Station in ...

. The journey takes approximately seven hours."JR Timetable" October 2009 issue The train was operated as a regular daily service by

West Japan Railway Company , also referred to as , is one of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) companies and operates in western Honshu. It has its headquarters in Kita-ku, Osaka. It is listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange, is a constituent of the TOPIX Large70 index, ...

(JR West) until 13 March 2010, with operations transferred to JR East from this date. While JR East has not formally announced its discontinuation, no services have operated since February 2012.

Rolling stock

Trains were formed of 6-car

485 series The (and the earlier 481 and 483 series variants) was a Japanese limited express electric multiple unit (EMU) type introduced in 1964 by Japanese National Railways (JNR), and later operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East), West Jap ...

electric multiple unit An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple-unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a number o ...

s (EMU) owned by JR East and based at Niigata depot. All seats are reserved.

Formation

The 6-car 485 series sets based at Niigata are formed as follows, with car 1 at the Ueno and Kanazawa end (trains reverse en route at Nagaoka).

Past rolling stock

From 1982 onward, services were formed of eight 14 series coaches, consisting of three B-type 3-level berth sleeping cars and five seating coaches. These services were hauled by a Tabata-based

JNR Class EF62 The is a Co′Co′ wheel arrangement DC electric locomotive type built between 1962 and 1969 for use hauling passenger and freight on the Shinetsu Main Line and particularly over the extreme 66.7‰, (6.67 %), gradient of the Usui Pass betwee ...

electric locomotive between Ueno and Naoetsu, and by a Nagaoka-based

JNR Class EF81 The Class EF81 is a six-axle Bo-Bo-Bo wheel arrangement multi-voltage AC/ DC electric locomotive type operated on passenger and freight services in Japan since 1968. , 44 locomotives remained in service, operated by JR Freight, JR East, and J ...

electric locomotive between Naoetsu and Kanazawa. From March 1993, the locomotive-hauled trains were replaced by 9-car JR West

489 series The was a limited express electric multiple unit (EMU) train type introduced in March 1972 by Japanese National Railways (JNR) in Japan, and later operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East) and West Japan Railway Company (JR-West) until 2 ...

EMUs based at Kanazawa depot, formed as shown below. File:JRE-EF6243-Exp-Noto.jpg, ''Noto'' express hauled by EF62 electric locomotive in 1989 File:JNR 489 Express Noto.jpg, ''Noto'' service formed of JR West "bonnet-style" 489 series EMU in May 2007

History

The ''Noto'' name was first used from 22 September 1959 for express services operating between Tokyo and Kanazawa via , introduced to supplement the existing '' Hokuriku'' services connecting Tokyo and the

Hokuriku region The is located in the northwestern part of Honshu, the main island of Japan. It lies along the Sea of Japan and is part of the larger Chūbu region. It is almost equivalent to the former Koshi Province (Japan), Koshi Province and Hokurikudō are ...

. The " down" working departed from Tokyo Station at 20:30, arriving in Kanazawa at 08:44, and the "up" working departed from Kanazawa Station at 18:00, arriving in Tokyo at 06:25. Initially, the trains were formed of seven cars (three sleeping cars and four seating cars), but from 1962, trains were increased to 13-car formations. Following the opening of the

Tokaido Shinkansen The is a Japanese high-speed rail line that is part of the nationwide Shinkansen network. Along with the San'yō Shinkansen, it forms a continuous high-speed railway through the Taiheiyō Belt, also known as the Tokaido corridor. Opening in 19 ...

between Tokyo and Osaka in October 1964, ridership of the ''Noto'' decreased, and from October 1965, ''Noto'' services ran in conjunction with ''Yamato'' services. The services were discontinued from the start of the 1 October 1968 timetable revision. The name was resurrected from the start of the timetable revision on 10 March 1975 for use on overnight services between Ueno and Kanazawa via the Joetsu Line, replacing one return '' Hokuriku'' working. From 15 November 1982, following the opening of the Joetsu Shinkansen, ''Noto'' services were re-routed via the

, and the ageing rolling stock was replaced with newer 14 series cars. From 1987, the "down" service was extended to run to on the

Nanao Line The is a railway line in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan, operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR West) and the Noto Railway. It runs between Tsubata Station in Tsubata, Ishikawa, Tsubata and Anamizu Station in Anamizu, Ishikawa, Anamizu. JR Wes ...

during busy seasons, using

JNR Class DE10 The is a class of Japanese C-B wheel arrangement diesel-hydraulic locomotives. 708 locomotives were built between 1966 and 1978. , 138 locomotives remained in operation. Variants DE10-0 subclass 158 DE10-0 locomotives were built with steam g ...

diesel locomotive haulage, but this was discontinued from March 1990. From October 1997, following the opening of the

Nagano Shinkansen The Hokuriku Shinkansen () is a high-speed Shinkansen railway line connecting Tokyo with Tsuruga in the Hokuriku region of Japan. It is jointly operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East) and West Japan Railway Company (JR West). The fir ...

and severing of the Shinetsu Main Line at Karuizawa, the ''Noto'' services were re-routed via the Joetsu Line. Regular daily ''Noto'' services were discontinued on 13 March 2010. The ''Noto'', however, continued to operate as a "seasonal" service during holiday periods.

References

{{JR West trains East Japan Railway Company West Japan Railway Company Named passenger trains of Japan Night trains of Japan Railway services introduced in 1959 Railway services discontinued in 2012 2012 disestablishments in Japan

Rolling stock

Formation

Past rolling stock

History

See also

References