Hokkaido Shinkansen to be launched in March 2016

Hokkaido Railway Co. and East Japan Railway Co announced that Hokkaido Shinkansen Line will be put into commercial service on March 26, 2016.
The Hokkaido Shinkansen Line servicing the stations of Shin-Aomori in Aomori Prefecture, northern Honshu, and Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto in Hokkaido will provide 13 round trips per day.
The new section of the Shinkansen line will enable passengers to travel from Tokyo, which is connected with Shin-Aomori on the Tohoku Shinkansen Line, to Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto in a minimum of four hours. The timetable will be finalized by the end of this year.
The Hokkaido Shinkansen Line is scheduled to eventually extend to Sapporo, the line’s last stop, in fiscal 2030.
Upon Hokkaido Shinkansen launch, Southern Hokkaido will become connected to the capital Tokyo and the Tohoku region through the Shinkansen network.