Photo/Illutration JR East has converted a high‑speed passenger train into a dedicated freight unit. (Artist's rendering provided by East Japan Railway Co.)

For the first time in Japan’s rail history, a Shinkansen train converted exclusively for cargo transport will begin regular service in March, East Japan Railway Co. (JR East) said Dec. 9.

The E3-series bullet train, which once operated as the Tsubasa service on the Yamagata Shinkansen Line, has been stripped of all 394 passenger seats across its seven cars.

The interior has been refitted with anti-slip flooring and belts to secure cargo, enabling the transport of up to 1,000 boxes, or five times the capacity of a passenger train only partly adapted for freight.

The exterior has also been redesigned in white, with windows decorated with images of scallops, medical supplies and koi carp--items already carried under Shinkansen cargo service.

The train will depart from Morioka for Tokyo on weekdays, with loading and unloading handled at rail depots near the stations. It will be coupled to a passenger train during operation.

Cargo transport by Shinkansen began in 2021, when JR East repurposed passenger cars amid plummeting ridership during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Other JR companies followed suit, and by 2024, the service had expanded nationwide from Hokkaido to Kyushu.

The debut of the cargo-only train was initially planned for autumn 2025. But it was delayed after mechanical troubles with newer E8-series forced JR East to keep older E3-series units in passenger service.

The railway operator aims to build freight trains from scratch and expand high-speed cargo operations to Sendai and Niigata.

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