Kamome (train)

Kamome (かもめ) is a limited express train service operated by JR Kyushu in Japan. It operates between Hakata and Nagasaki on the Kagoshima Main Line and the Nagasaki Main Line. Kamome means seagull in Japanese.

Kamome/Relay Kamome/Kasasagi
N700S-8000 series Kamome
Overview
Service typeShinkansen (Kamome), Limited express (Relay Kamome / Kasasagi)
First service1937, 2022 (Shinkansen)
Current operator(s)Logo of the Kyushu Railway Company (JR Kyushu). JR Kyushu
Route
TerminiHakata
Nagasaki
Line(s) used
Technical
Rolling stock
Operating speed
  • 260 km/h (160 mph) (Kamome)
  • 130 km/h (80 mph) (Relay Kamome / Kasasagi)
787 series Relay Kamome

As of 23 September 2022, the name was inherited by the new Shinkansen service to Nagasaki, at which point the remaining limited express services between Takeo-Onsen and Hakata were renamed Relay Kamome.

History

The Kamome name (written as "鷗") was first used from 1 July 1937 on limited express trains operating between Tokyo and Kobe. This service continued until February 1943.[1]

The name (written as "かもめ") was subsequently revived from 15 March 1953 for use on limited express services operating between Kyoto and Hakata. This service was discontinued in March 1975 with the completion of the Sanyō Shinkansen to Hakata.[1]

On 1 July 1976, with the electrification of the Nagasaki Main Line, services resumed (initially between Kokura and Nagasaki, later between Hakata and Nagasaki) using 485 series EMUs.[1]

The service in its current form commenced on 23 September 2022, with the opening of the Nishi-Kyushu Shinkansen which opened from Takeo-Onsen to Nagasaki. With the Shinkansen now being the primary route to Nagasaki, Kamome services were reallocated to Shinkansen services on the newly-built Shinkansen line. This also resulted in Kamome services bypassing Hizen-Kashima, a major station on the Nagasaki Main line but not on the Shinkansen, to be served by the newly-introduced Kasasagi limited express departing from either Hizen-Kashima or Saga.[2] Kasasagi is named after the Eurasian magpie, which is the prefectural bird of Saga.[2]

Nishi Kyushu Shinkansen

On 28 October 2020, JR Kyushu announced it would utilize a 6-car version of the N700S series for the isolated section of Shinkansen from Nagasaki, named the Nishi Kyushu Shinkansen, with a cross platform interchange to a relay service called Relay Kamome at Takeo-Onsen to connect to Hakata.[3][4][5] JR Kyushu also announced it would continue to use the name Kamome, which has been in use since 1961, for the Nishi Kyushu Shinkansen service.[4] Most of the new Kamome Shinkansen services stop at every station between Takeo-Onsen and Nagasaki, with some services bypassing Ureshino-Onsen, with a few services only stopping at Isahaya. Between Takeo-Onsen and Hakata, the so-called Relay Kamome will continue as a non-Shinkansen train service for the foreseeable future until the Shinkansen is eventually extended to Hakata. Some Midori/Huis Ten Bosch services will also operate as an additional Relay Kamome at Takeo-Onsen styled as either Midori (Relay Kamome) or Huis Ten Bosch (Relay Kamome).[6]

Rolling stock
885 series Relay Kamome

Relay Kamome & Kasasagi

Kamome

Former rolling stock
485 series, December 1992

Station stops

Relay Kamome / Kasasagi

Stations in parentheses are not served by all trains. Some trains depart from Mojikō or Kokura in the city of Kitakyushu.[7]

Kamome

Legend:

● All trains stop
▲ Some trains stop
Station Japanese Distance from
Takeo-Onsen (km)		 Kamome
(from fiscal 2022)		 Transfers Location
Opened on 23 September 2022[8]
Takeo-Onsen 武雄温泉 0.0 ●
Takeo Saga
Ureshino-Onsen 嬉野温泉 10.9 ▲ Ureshino
Shin-Ōmura 新大村 32.2 ▲ Ōmura Nagasaki
Isahaya 諫早 44.8 ●
Isahaya
Nagasaki 長崎 66.0 ●
Nagasaki

Special stops

References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kamome.
  • JR Timetable, December 2008
  • ＪＲ新幹線＆特急列車ファイル (JR Shinkansen & Limited Express Train File). Japan: Kōtsū Shimbun. 2008. ISBN 978-4-330-00608-6.
  1. 列車名鑑１９９5 (Train Name Directory 1995). Japan: Railway Journal. August 1995.
  2. "新特急「かささぎ」「リレーかもめ」9月23日デビュー 西九州新幹線開業に合わせ誕生". 乗りものニュース (in Japanese). 2022-06-10. Retrieved 2023-08-06.
  3. "Shorter N700S to serve Nagasaki".
  4. "2022年度秋頃に西九州新幹線が開業します!列車名「かもめ」". Retrieved 2021-08-04.
  5. "JR初の新型特急｢783系｣は型破りな異端児だった ｢ハイパーサルーン｣の愛称でJR九州の主力担う". 30 July 2021. Retrieved 2021-08-04.
  6. "新特急「かささぎ」「リレーかもめ」9月23日デビュー 西九州新幹線開業に合わせ誕生（乗りものニュース）". Yahoo!ニュース (in Japanese). Retrieved 2022-09-23.
  7. JR時刻表2022年10月号 [JR Timetable October 2022 issue] (in Japanese). Tokyo: Kotsu Shimbunsha. 20 September 2022. pp. 120–127. ASIN B0B7QRGTTR.
  8. 西九州新幹線の開業日について [About the opening date of the West Kyushu Shinkansen] (PDF). jrkyushu.co.jp (in Japanese). 2 February 2022. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 May 2022. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
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