Photo/Illutration Direct bullet train services from Yamagata Station to Tokyo on the Yamagata Shinkansen Line resumed April 2 for the first time in 17 days after a powerful earthquake. A Tsubasa bullet train at Yamagata Station is shown here the same day. (Daisuke Tsujioka)

FUKUSHIMA--Bullet train services resumed between Tokyo and Fukushima in northeastern Japan on April 2 for the first time since a powerful earthquake off the coast of Fukushima Prefecture last month disrupted runs on the Tohoku Shinkansen Line.

However, services between Koriyama and Fukushima stations are operating at only half of normal capacity.

Still, the development came as a great relief to passengers seeking to reach the capital swiftly.

A 24-year-old company employee who lives in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, boarded a bullet train bound for Tokyo from Fukushima Station. She said she had to spend an hour and 30 minutes to reach her point of departure by existing railway services as bullet train runs remain suspended from Fukushima to Sendai stations due to damage caused by the quake.

“It’s good news that the service to Fukushima Station has been restored,” she said. “I strongly hope that that will also be the case with Sendai Station soon.”

The resumption of operations between Tokyo and Fukushima stations means that the Yamagata Shinkansen Line is also fully restored.

Before the reopening, bullet train services were available only between Shinjo Station in Yamagata Prefecture and Fukushima Station.

The powerful quake that hit on the night of March 16 derailed a bullet train in Shiroishi, Miyagi Prefecture. It also caused extensive damage to elevated tracks and utility poles, forcing services between Nasushiobara, Tochigi Prefecture, and Morioka in Iwate Prefecture to be suspended.

However, operations between Nasushiobara and Koriyama stations resumed about a week later, together with services between Ichinoseki and Morioka stations.

East Japan Railway Co. said services between Sendai and Ichinoseki stations are expected to reopen on April 4.

The company said services between Fukushima and Sendai stations are expected to resume around April 20, raising the likelihood of a full reopening of the Tohoku Shinkansen Line later this month before the Golden Week holiday period gets under way.

(This article was written by Keitaro Fukuchi and Daisuke Tsujioka.)

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