Is it too minor? The special train "Harbor Rainbow" connecting Akita Prefecture and Hokkaido
table of contents
- 1 What is Harbor Rainbow?
- 2 It's rare to see JR Hokkaido trains entering Akita Prefecture
- 3 It is rare for a self-propelled diesel railcar to be pulled by a locomotive
- 4 It is rare that a full-space train can run on a diesel railcar
- 5 It is no longer possible to operate special trains between Akita and Hakodate
From around 1994 to the early 2000s, JR operated a special train called the Harbor Rainbow
was not well known due to the limited period and days it operated , and it was an unusual and rare train in many ways
What is Harbor Rainbow?
that JR's special train "Harbor Rainbow" first ran around 1994. It initially ran as an express train, and became a limited express train around 2000. However, it seems that it ceased operation not many years after becoming a limited express train. Not only was it in operation for a limited period of time, but it also only ran a few days a year, or at most 16 days , so it was undoubtedly a fairly unknown train.
The service area Akita Station Hakodate Station via Aomori Station . It was established to promote tourism in the Akita area. The journey time from Akita Station to Hakodate Station was generally less than seven hours.
The lines it passed through were, in order from Akita Station, the Ou Main Line, Tsugaru Line, Kaikyo Line, Esashi Line (now the Dounan Isaribi Railway Line), and Hakodate Main Line. At the time, the section from Aomori Station to Hakodate Station (the four lines from the Tsugaru Line to the Hakodate Main Line) was collectively called the "Tsugaru Kaikyo Line."
The Ou Main Line and Tsugaru Line are under the jurisdiction of JR East, while the Seikan Line, Esashi Line (at the time), and Hakodate Main Line are under the jurisdiction of JR Hokkaido, so the "Harbor Rainbow" was a special train that ran across the areas of JR East and JR Hokkaido
This is (embarrassingly) all the information I can provide regarding details such as the operating times of the "Harbor Rainbow," but even from this limited information, we can see that this train had several unusual features
It's rare to see JR Hokkaido trains entering Akita Prefecture
The train used for the "Harbor Rainbow" the "North Rainbow Express" owned by JR Hokkaido . The train type is a diesel railcar called the "Kiha 183 series 5200 series." It began commercial operation in 1992.
(not the photo from when it was running as the "Harbor Rainbow")
As the name suggests, JR Hokkaido is a company whose main business area is Hokkaido. However, it is not uncommon for JR Hokkaido-owned trains to enter Honshu via the Seikan Tunnel, an undersea tunnel that connects the two islands (in fact, the sections of the Kaikyo Line and Hokkaido Shinkansen that run through Aomori Prefecture on the Honshu side are also under the jurisdiction of JR Hokkaido)
Until the Hokkaido Shinkansen opened in 2016, the "Super Hakucho" limited express train, which connected Shin-Aomori Station (formerly Hachinohe Station until 2010) and Hakodate Station, was operated by trains owned by JR Hokkaido. In addition, some of the "Hokutosei" sleeper express trains, which connected Ueno Station in Tokyo and Sapporo Station in Hokkaido, and the "Hamanasu" overnight express train, which connected Aomori Station and Sapporo Station, used passenger cars owned by JR Hokkaido
After the Hokkaido Shinkansen opened, JR Hokkaido's H5 series trains entered Honshu through the Seikan Tunnel and ran directly onto the Tohoku Shinkansen to Tokyo Station
However, it seems that there are very few cases where JR Hokkaido vehicles have entered Akita Prefecture
It is rare for a self-propelled diesel railcar to be pulled by a locomotive
The North Rainbow Express used for the Harbor Rainbow was a type of vehicle called a diesel railcar. It runs on a diesel engine that uses diesel fuel, and is a different type of vehicle from the electric trains used on Japan's main railways and Shinkansen. However, like an electric train, it is a self-propelled vehicle .
However, even though the train uses self-propelled diesel railcars, the "Harbor Rainbow" was pulled by an electric locomotive between Aomori Station and Hakodate Station . This was because diesel railcars could not be driven inside the Seikan Tunnel, a long tunnel that runs under the sea, for disaster prevention reasons. As a result, the unusual sight of a diesel railcar being pulled by a locomotive was created.
However, the "rare sight" is only a story from that time. During the days of the Japanese National Railways (JNR) before the launch of JR, trains in which diesel railcars were pulled by electric locomotives to intermediate stations ran every day from 1968 to 1982. For more details, please see the article below
To get a bit more technical, each train that runs on the main line has a unique number called a "train number." In the case of the Harbor Rainbow, it was numbered as a "diesel train" on the section from Akita Station to Aomori Station, and as a "passenger train (a train pulled by a locomotive)" on the section from Aomori Station to Hakodate Station . This further supports the idea that the Harbor Rainbow was pulled by a locomotive on the Seikan Tunnel section (although, as mentioned above, it is not possible for the train to run on its own for disaster prevention reasons).
When the Harbor Rainbow first appeared in 1994, it was pulled by a locomotive for the entire distance from Akita Station to Hakodate Station
By the way, the "Harbor Rainbow" also had a sister train called the "Harbor Hakodate." It also ran between Akita Station and Hakodate Station, and was a type of train in which a locomotive pulled passenger cars. In its later years, the "Harbor Hakodate" was operated by a 485 series train owned by JR East. This train also seems to have ceased operation in the early 2000s
It is rare that a full-space train can run on a diesel railcar
As the name suggests, trains are vehicles that run on electricity. Basically, they cannot run on their own unless the line is equipped with facilities to supply electricity from an external source (electrified)
*However, there are now trains that are equipped with storage batteries and can run on non-electrified lines. Please see the article below for details
On the other hand, diesel railcars run on their own fuel, so they can run on non-electrified lines . Since non-electrified lines are the norm in rural areas with few passengers, diesel railcars are widely used.
By the way, the line from Akita Station to Hakodate Station on which the "Harbor Rainbow" operated is electrified throughout, so it could also be operated by electric trains. However, for some reason, the special train was operated using diesel railcars, which can run even without electrification
such as the "Harbor Rainbow," which were electrified from start to finish but operated by diesel railcars . However, in recent years, they have become rare, although they have not become extinct.
I previously wrote an article introducing trains with this characteristic, titled "An express train that ran only under overhead wires, despite being a diesel locomotive." In this article, I mainly focused on regular trains that run daily, but if it had been okay to include special trains, I might have been able to introduce the "Harbor Rainbow" in the "Japan Sea Longitudinal Line Edition."
The reason I say "may" is because, as I have already explained, the "Harbor Rainbow" was pulled by a locomotive and not propelled under its own power between Aomori Station and Hakodate Station, so it is possible that it did not run the train number was "not a diesel train" ). In short, if we define the word "ran" as "propelled under its own power," then it does not apply, but if we define it as "traveling," then it does apply.
It is no longer possible to operate special trains between Akita and Hakodate
As you can see, the Harbor Rainbow was a train that combined many unusual features, but there is information that it was not very well used, and it appears that its operation ceased in the early 2000s
The North Rainbow Express, the train that was in use, will cease operation in the spring of 2023 due to aging and will be dismantled the following year.
I believe that there will be no more special trains operating between Akita Station and Hakodate Station, the same route as the Harbor Rainbow. The reason for this is not because the North Rainbow Express has been discontinued, nor is it simply because it was not well-used. The main reason is the opening of the Hokkaido Shinkansen in 2016 .
With the opening of the Hokkaido Shinkansen, the specifications of the facilities inside the Seikan Tunnel have been significantly changed. As a result, most existing vehicles can no longer pass through the Seikan Tunnel , and the main vehicles that can pass through the tunnel under their own power are limited to the following:
- E5 and H5 series trains used on the Tohoku and Hokkaido Shinkansen lines
- EH800 electric locomotive pulling a freight train through the Seikan Tunnel
- The excursion sleeper train "TRAIN SUITE Shikishima" (E001 series)
(In addition, vehicles used for equipment inspections also pass through the Seikan Tunnel.)
First of all, the E5 and H5 series trains cannot run on lines other than the Shinkansen (conventional lines), so they cannot go to Hakodate Station or Akita Station, which are not Shinkansen stations, even if they are pulled by a locomotive . You might be wondering if there is an Akita Shinkansen at Akita Station, but the Akita Shinkansen section between Morioka Station and Akita Station is actually a conventional line.
The Train Suite Shiki-shima, which debuted in 2017, actually operates on the route between Akita Station and Hakodate Station, so there are no issues with that. However, it is a vehicle used for tours that cost anywhere from several hundred thousand yen to over one million yen. It is highly unlikely that it would ever be used for a special train between Akita Station and Hakodate Station
So, have an EH800 electric locomotive pull a carriage carrying passengers through the Seikan Tunnel, just like the Harbor Rainbow did.
However, there was one instance when the EH800 series pulled a passenger train shortly after the Hokkaido Shinkansen opened, but that ended within a year and has not happened since. Why is that?
As already explained, the EH800 series is a locomotive used to pull freight trains that pass through the Seikan Tunnel. With the opening of the Hokkaido Shinkansen, a locomotive with different specifications than conventional locomotives was needed, so the EH800 series was manufactured. Because this locomotive was needed due to the opening of the Shinkansen, which is a national policy received financial support for introducing the EH800 series from the Railway Construction, Transport and Technology Agency, an independent administrative institution
Please note that the following information is of unknown veracity, but it has been pointed out that using the EH800 series, which was introduced in the circumstances described above, to pull passenger trains is a "misuse of subsidies" and may have become problematic . If this is true, it means that the EH800 series will no longer be used to pull passenger trains.
These are the reasons why I believe that there will no longer be special trains running between Akita Station and Hakodate Station. I would like to say that the "Harbor Rainbow" will be remembered as a phantom train in many ways, but because it is such a minor train, it may never be remembered. I hope that this article will help ensure that it is remembered
A former railway engineer and current freelance writer who has loved trains since childhood. His dream is to make railway travel his job.
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