Quake-hit Tohoku Shinkansen service to resume full operations around April 20

East Japan Railway Co. (JR East) said Monday it will aim to resume full operations of the quake-hit Tohoku Shinkansen service around April 20.

The powerful quake that hit the country’s northeast on March 16 derailed 16 cars of a 17-car shinkansen train some 2 kilometers from a station in Shiroishi, Miyagi Prefecture. The company said Sunday it expects to take at least two weeks to remove the derailed train.

Until Monday, the service was suspended between Nasushiobara and Morioka stations. Starting Tuesday, the service is to be restored between Nasushiobara and Koriyama stations and between Ichinoseki and Morioka stations, leaving operations between Koriyama and Ichinoseki Station still suspended.

The company then plans to resume operations between Koriyama and Fukushima stations around April 2, and between Sendai and Ichinoseki stations around April 4, it said in a statement.

The firm has also suspended the Joban Line service between Tomioka and Shinchi stations since the quake. But operations between Tomioka and Haranomachi stations will resume on Tuesday due to the progress of restoration work in some sections.

If restoration work progresses smoothly, operations between Haranomachi and Shinchi stations are expected to resume on Thursday, the company said.

The magnitude 7.4 quake struck off Fukushima Prefecture late Wednesday, leaving three people dead and more than 180 injured across 12 prefectures.

The delay in relaunching full services has created concern over the impact on tourism in the region and the local economy as a whole.

The government is set to fully lift the COVID-19 quasi-emergency at the end of Monday, and JR East is hoping that tourists will flock to the Tohoku region during the Golden Week holidays from late April to early May.

Meanwhile, all expressway closures caused by the quake were lifted by Friday, with numerous cracks and bumps having been restored in less than two days.