Shin-Yatsushiro Station


Shin-Yatsushiro Station is a railway station in Yatsushiro, Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan, operated by Kyushu Railway Company.

Layout

A special elevated spur runs from north of the station to the Shinkansen platform. From 2004 to 2011, Relay Tsubame limited express trains from Hakata on the Kagoshima Line provided the link to the Shinkansen line, and Shin-Yatsushiro was designed to facilitate an easy and fast connection between the Relay Tsubame train and the Tsubame shinkansen train on the same platform.
The spur line is not used by regular services, but commencing in 2014 the Gauge Change Train was used on reliability trials between Kumamoto and Kagoshima-Chuo Station, including gauge changing on the spur line.

History

The station opened on March 13, 2004, to coincide with the opening of a section of the Kyushu Shinkansen high speed railway line. The Kyushu Shinkansen Tsubame was operational from Shin-Yatushiro to Kagoshima-Chuo station in Kagoshima until 2011, when the Shinkansen was extended north to Hakata station in Fukuoka and joined with the Sanyo Shinkansen line.