Japan: From 23 March a refurbished 7-car E3 series electric set began daily operation on the Tohoku line. It is operated by JR East coupled to a 10-car E5 series passenger train.
The 575.7 km distance between Morioka and Tokyo is covered in 3 h 15 min at a maximum speed of 320 km/h. The first trip reportedly carried 800 boxes of seafood, pharmaceuticals and precision equipment.
Loading freight into the fully-freight high-speed train in Japan. Source: Diamond Online
The operator began refurbishing the withdrawn E3 series set from Kawasaki and Tokyu in spring last year. All seats were removed from the interior and non-slip flooring, guide rails and restraint straps were installed. All seven cars were thus adapted to carry up to 1,000 boxes and bulky items. Now, each car can accommodate 10 to 25 trolleys capable of carrying up to 120 kg of cargo.
Inside the fully-freight high-speed train in Japan. Source: Diamond Online
JR East has been testing high-speed train freight since 2023. Last year the company launched the first train with two such cars into commercial service. No conversion was carried out: up to 200 boxes were accommodated between passenger seats. Freight is thus carried only once a week.
In 2020 Chinese company CRRC presented a similar dedicated train project, but there have been no further updates. In Europe, an Italian high-speed freight train operated until 2022, while a French mail train ran until 2015. However, both projects proved unprofitable. The Russian high-speed train project also provides for a freight variant at later stages of HSR network development.
