Kintaro? What is the EH500 type electric locomotive that is mainly used on the Tohoku Main Line?

In addition to passenger trains, the JR Tohoku Main Line, Iwate Galaxy Railway Line, and Aoimori Railway Line that run through the Tohoku region also operate a large number of freight trains.
The locomotive at the head of these freight trains is almost always one with "Kintaro" written on its side.
in this article we will take a look at what kind of locomotive "Kintaro" is the EH500 series electric locomotive

The EH500 "Kintaro" was born to tow vehicles from the Tokyo metropolitan area to the Tohoku region and Hokkaido

Before the Seikan Tunnel opened in 1988, freight trains connecting Honshu and Hokkaido operated by loading freight cars (vehicles carrying cargo) onto ships called Seikan Ferries

With the opening of the Seikan Tunnel, Aomori Prefecture and Hokkaido were connected by rail, eliminating the need to load freight cars onto the Seikan Ferry and allowing them to travel directly across the Tsugaru Strait.
However, freight trains running between the capital and Hokkaido faced a problem:
the locomotives pulling the freight trains had to be changed twice along the way.

In the Tokyo metropolitan area, the electricity used to run trains is direct current, so locomotives designed specifically for direct current (mainly EF65 electric locomotives) were used.
On the other hand, the section of the Tohoku Main Line north of Kuroiso Station in Tochigi Prefecture uses alternating current, so locomotives designed specifically for the Seikan Tunnel (ED75 electric locomotives) were used.
Furthermore, the Seikan Tunnel, which connects Aomori Prefecture and Hokkaido, uses locomotives (ED79 electric locomotives) that are specially designed for the tunnel
(after entering Hokkaido, trains heading towards Sapporo also had to switch to diesel locomotives that run on diesel).
In addition, the ED75 and ED79 types were used to pull trains in multiple-unit (two-car combination).

The ED75 electric locomotive was widely used on lines mainly in the Tohoku region.
We have also introduced some of the activities of this locomotive in another article.

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A picture book by the late Tadayoshi Yamamoto, published by Fukuinkan Shoten. I think many people have had the experience of reading ``. For me, this is one of my favorite picture books as a child, and now I sometimes read it aloud to my own children. This time, I will explain the train journey depicted in this picture book, which is said to be set in the Tohoku region. Shuppatsu Shinkou! “Shuppattsu Shinkou!” in the author’s collection. ” Limited express train on the cover Express train (right) and local train on the back cover ``Shuppattsu Shinkou!'' The synopsis of ``Okaasan'' and ``Miyo-chan...''

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A train with a locomotive and passenger train! ? Trains with a strange formation [Aomori, Akita, Iwate]

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It's fair to say that electric trains are the mainstay of Japan's railways today. On non-electrified lines where electricity is unavailable, diesel railcars, which run on diesel fuel, are used. While this has disappeared completely in recent years, during the days of the Japanese National Railways (JNR), before the founding of JR, trains operated in various locations using locomotives to pull passenger cars. Because electric trains and diesel railcars are self-propelled, they are rarely, with very few exceptions, pulled by locomotives for commercial operation. However, on the Tohoku Main Line during the JNR era, locomotives pulled passenger cars...

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Changing locomotives twice along the way would result in a loss of time.
On the other hand, if there were locomotives that could run on both DC and AC and were equipped with equipment suitable for the Seikan Tunnel, the hassle of changing locomotives along the way would be unnecessary.
Not only that, but it would also enable JR Freight, which operates freight trains, to reduce the number of locomotive types it owns in the future, which would have the added benefit of simplifying locomotive operations and reducing maintenance.

Three prototypes were made to meet these specifications, but the EH500 electric locomotive was selected and put into mass production. It was
unique for the time in that it featured two car bodies coupled together to ensure the tractive effort equivalent to that of two conventional locomotives.

Initially, operation was centered on AC electrified sections

The prototype of the EH500 electric locomotive was completed in 1997, with mass production beginning in 2000.
Around the time mass production began, a public contest was held to suggest a nickname, resulting in the name
ECO-POWER Kintaro As planned, Kintaro was deployed on freight trains connecting the Tokyo metropolitan area and Hokkaido. However, due to the long distances it covered, the train required more frequent inspections, and its operating rate declined due to breakdowns. For a time, it was primarily used on the AC electrified section north of Kuroiso Station.
Despite having developed a locomotive that could run on DC, there was a time when it was a waste of its valuable resources.
Furthermore, due to the declining operating rate of Kintaro and the resulting shortage of locomotives, the ED75 series locomotives, which were supposed to be phased out by Kintaro, were brought back into service to make up for the shortage.

In the 2010s, perhaps because the operating rate had stabilized, the use of electric locomotives in the metropolitan area with DC electrification expanded again.
In 2012, the ED75 series finally came to an end , and freight trains running on the Tohoku Main Line (north of Kuroiso Station) were basically pulled by Kintaro.

Meanwhile, with the opening of the Hokkaido Shinkansen in 2016, the electrification system of the Seikan Tunnel, which Shinkansen trains also pass through, was changed (voltage increased from 20,000 volts to 25,000 volts). The
EH800 series, a locomotive dedicated to the Seikan Tunnel section, is now responsible for towing freight trains through the Seikan Tunnel, and Kintaro has ceased to operate through the tunnel.

While one of the original missions of Kintaro's development, namely running through the Seikan Tunnel, has come to an end, Kintaro's operations have become more flexible, and it now runs to stations that it did not previously run to, such as Akita Freight Station on the Ou Main Line and Sagami Freight Station on the Tokaido Main Line

Also deployed in the Kanmon Tunnel

In 2007, Kintaro locomotives also began to be used in the Kanmon Tunnel, which connects Yamaguchi and Fukuoka prefectures.
The purpose of their introduction was to replace the existing EF81 locomotives manufactured during the Japan National Railways era, and to begin operating long freight trains (1,300-ton freight trains) carrying 26 container freight cars within Kyushu.
The operating area of ​​the Kintaro for the Kanmon Tunnel is almost exclusively limited to the section from Hatabu Yard in Yamaguchi Prefecture to Fukuoka Freight Terminal Station in Fukuoka Prefecture, so freight trains operating beyond this section are generally switched with other locomotives at either station.
This means that a different operating policy is followed compared to the Kintaros used in the Tohoku region, which are used to pull trains over a wider area.

Kintaro becomes the ace locomotive of the Tohoku region

EH500 Series: Kintaro: A total of 82 Kintaros were manufactured, 67 of which are mainly used on the Tohoku Main Line, and 15 are in service in the Kanmon Tunnel section.
Although they also run in the Kanmon Tunnel, the author gets the impression that they are locomotives from the Tohoku region, given that they were originally developed for the Tohoku Main Line and the large number of vehicles in operation on the Tohoku Main Line.

As it is a JR Freight locomotive, it does not generally pull passenger trains, but in 2017, as part of the "30th Anniversary Tour of the Establishment of JR Companies," an EH500 type locomotive was seen pulling a passenger car for JR East's luxury sleeper express "Cassiopea," with passengers on board, of course

Just like the former ED75 type, it can now be said that the EH500 type: Kintaro is the undisputed ace locomotive of the Tohoku region

Yuto Ono

A former railway engineer and current freelance writer who has loved trains since childhood. His dream is to make railway travel his job.