The fleet of 27 Series E7 trains has been ordered for the Nagano – Toyama – Kanazawa Shinkansen, which is due to open in March 2015, reducing the journey time for the 354km trip between Tokyo and Kanazawa from 3h 47min to 2h 30min. The line includes a new depot at Hakusan, 10km west of Kanazawa, which will service the E7 fleet.
The 12-car trains are capable of 260km/h and designed to operate on the 25kV ac electrification system at both 50Hz and 60Hz due to variation in the commercial frequency on the Japanese network. The trains will switch between frequencies without stopping three times on the section of the route between Tokyo and Unaduki.
The first E7s are due to enter service between Tokyo and Nagano in March 2014.
