Link: Train fans send off final 500-series Nozomi service from Tokyo - The Mainichi Daily News
Train fans send off final 500-series Nozomi service from Tokyo
Railway fans take photos of a 500-series Nozomi bullet train at Tokyo Station on Sunday, as it leaves for its last run. (Mainichi)
Railway fans take photos of a 500-series Nozomi bullet train at Tokyo Station on Sunday, as it leaves for its last run. (Mainichi)
Some 1,500 railway fans bid farewell to a 500-series Nozomi bullet train at Tokyo Station on Sunday, as the last service departed for Shin-Osaka.
The 500-series trains, popular for their futuristic pointed nose cones, entered service in March 1997 between Shin-Osaka and Hakata. It became the first train to attain a top speed of 300 kilometers per hour in service in the world.
The 500 series also began to travel between Tokyo and Hakata in November 1997, but the trains were retired from Nozomi service on Sunday to be replaced with the new N700 series. The 500 series was put in use for Kodama services between Shin-Osaka and Hakata on Monday.
"I liked it the most among all the shinkansen trains," said a 9-year-old boy from Tokyo's Hachioji, who sent the 500-series Nozomi off with a drawing of the train in his hand at Tokyo Station on Sunday. "I want to say 'thank you' to the train."
A 26-year-old company employee from the Saitama Prefecture city of Shiki was also sorry to say goodbye to the train: "Since I learned about the last run, I only used the 500 series."
(Mainichi Japan) March 1, 2010
No comments:
Post a Comment