The trains look like a modern version of the Dutch Koploper trains. They have the same design with the driver above a passenger walkway so that mulitple trains can be combined and people can walk from one carriage to the next.
Whoa, never realized Hakodate - Sapporo was such a long journey by train! I flew it some years ago and was wondering back then why there were so many flights on such a short distance but guess this explains it. The Shinkansen will surely be a huge improvement!
For sure, the combination of the terrain and slow train makes flying competetive still, however Shinkansen should cut the journey down to like 1h-1h30 so they probably wont last after it opens in like 2030
@@Simon-Andersen JR Hokkaido has been making noises that unless some help is forthcoming, they will reduce the section between Otaru and Mori to freight-only status once the Shinkansen is open. Most towns along the line have already agreed to a switch to bus service (!), including Niseko (!!!). How a world-class ski resort actually agrees to relinquish its rail passenger connection to the outside world beats any reasoning. Unfortunately JR Hokkaido has been unravelling at an alarming pace. They have had some serious management issues, a couple of rather nasty collisions, trains loosing bits on the move and one CEO which took his life. And with Hokkaido heading to a situation where eventually there will be more Ussuri bears than people on the island, the future doesn't hold well for the company. In fact, thy made noises that there might not be any train service north of Asahikawa in the near future, which means the closure of the lines to Nemuro and Wakkanai.
@@NickBurman So true and I am quite sad about it. Still I am happy that I already got the opportunity to travel all along the Soya, Sekihoku, Senmo and Nemuro lines. As the whole thing probably cannot be avoided I'd like to think for myself that in the overall history of Hokkaido it has just been a wild century. The mining industry flourished, number of people and towns exploded rapidly, railways were built even to the most secluded valleys - until the point where everything turned around into the exact opposite direction. Maybe Hokkaido (ofc beside the bigger urban areas as Sapporo, Hakodate or Asahikawa) will turn back a little bit to what it was before - a mostly sparsely populated wild island with untamed nature :). And who knows, maybe even the Ainu people will "take over" again to be the majority on Hokkaido?
DSB collaborates with JR Hokkaido and produces a champion train... then contracts AnsaldoBreda to make the rotten IC2s and IC4s.... Go figure... BTW, some time ago one could go right up to the train nose and watch the track from there. However, JR Hokkaido thought prudent to fence off the nose area after a very nasty accident where a similar train set ploughed onto a truck which had got stuck at a level crossing, killing the driver.
You can still enjoy the front view as a passenger in almost all local trains all around Japan :). In many local trains with a door at the front end (in order to be able to pass through when coupled with another unit) the driver has only a small cabine on the left while passengers could stand at the right side and have a great view ahead.
The Kiha 261 series 1000 shown in this video was manufactured by Kawasaki Heavy Industries of Japan. The 0 series, developed in collaboration with the Danish State Railways, was manufactured by Fuji Heavy Industries (now Subaru). For more information, see Wikipedia! ja.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/JR%E5%8C%97%E6%B5%B7%E9%81%93%E3%82%AD%E3%83%8F261%E7%B3%BB%E6%B0%97%E5%8B%95%E8%BB%8A
As perfectly explained by the other comment, none of them were made in Denmark, only a few designers from dsb helped develop this mostly japanese train.
I actually disagree with the conclusion of looking forward to the Shinkansen! I have done quite a bit of traveling in Japan on rail (from Hokkaido all the way to Kagoshima and to Shikoku). This particular Journey on the Hokuto Is one of the most beautiful and underrated train journey, especially if you snatch seats on the ocean side!
Unfortunately with the opening of the Hokkaido Shinkansen extension towards Sapporo the operation on the old Hakodate Main line will change dramatically. - The section between Oshamambe and Otaru (currently on this section are only local trains running while the Ltd Express Hokuto and the freight trains run on the Muroran line east of Oshamambe) will be closed completely. There will be also no third sector railway company that would take over the operation of the line from JR Hokkaido (like between Kikonai and Hakodate). - The section between Oshamambe and Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto with the scenic ocean views will remain in servie but only for freight trains that will keep running mainly towards Sapporo, Asahikawa or Obihiro. All passenger trains (yes including local trains as well!) south of Oshamambe will disappear. Towns like Mori or Onuma (with its scenic national park at the foot of Mt Komagatake) will lose their stations and passenger trains most probably forever. Only the short runs of the "shuttle-trains" between Hakodate and the Shinkansen interchange at Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto will remain as today. Even for the remaining freight trains it is not clear if the "branch"-line between Mori and Onuma via Shikabe will remain as it is slightly longer and probably no longer necessary as the capacity on the "main"-line between Mori and Onuma via Komagatake will then be fully sufficient. Regarding the future of the Ltd Express Hokuto, there is hope that it might "survive" with a reduced route from Sapporo via Noboribetsu to Oshamambe. You could still see the ocean in the area around Toya. If no miracle happens, it will be just another chapter of the slowly dying railway in Hokkaido. Sure people can then travel on the fast Hayabusa services to Tokyo directly (still taking more than 6 hours and probably more expensive than taking the plane) - from my perspective the price for that is just too high unfortunately.
@@ramairturbine this particular service might not serve Niseko, but the sets are regularly used on the Niseko run (now I noticed that there are trains which go the long way round via Noboribetsu...)
@@NickBurmanCurrently, the Niseko Express, which runs around autumn, is operated by the Kiha 261 Series 5000 Hamanasu formation. However, until about two years ago, it was operated by the Kiha 183 Series 5200 North Rainbow Express. It was made up of five cars, with the middle car No. 3 being a two-story car that was very comfortable. Unfortunately, it was retired due to aging, but even earlier it was operated by the Kiha 183 Series 200. Currently, that car has been transferred to Thailand and is still in use. For an explanation of the North Rainbow Express, see Wikipedia! ja.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%8E%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B9%E3%83%AC%E3%82%A4%E3%83%B3%E3%83%9C%E3%83%BC%E3%82%A8%E3%82%AF%E3%82%B9%E3%83%97%E3%83%AC%E3%82%B9
Its getting more common, i think lots of people use this to get to the various ski resorts in the winter and in general travel longer distances onto the Shinkansen, so its more needed.
@@Simon-Andersen Unfortunately until you are stuck in a wheelchair (or travel with someone in a wheelchair chair) it's really hard to see the things that make accessibility difficult. Even if you are in a wheelchair different things cause different problems for different wheelchairs which is why it's so complex and why wheelchair travel is so tiring.
I took this exact same journey back in June. There was a earthquake, but we were just 15 minutes delayed. I was really impressed.
JUST 15 minutes? How delayed are trains over in your country?
@@089parasolJust 15 minutes, even though there was an earthquake - most likely while they were travelling.
That's quick.
The trains look like a modern version of the Dutch Koploper trains. They have the same design with the driver above a passenger walkway so that mulitple trains can be combined and people can walk from one carriage to the next.
Yes its basically a japanese diesel koploper haha!
Most limited express trains have front doors
Exactly, the Dutch Koploper, but worse
Fabulous as always!! Thank You!! Have a great week.
Thank you! Cheers!
I've been to Hokkaido quite a few times in both winter and summer, that's actually quite a descent weather for winter standards
We got hit by a snowstorm that closed a lot of railway lines the day after :P
so beautiful wintery scenery
Fun fact there is a weird rule in Hokkaido that all trains need a front door so if you come to Hokkaido the trains will always have a front door
Ah I did not know that! Interesting
Getting massive NS Koploper (ICM) vibes here 🤔
So true
Yep! The Koploper was inspired by the many high-cab express trains Japan has been running from the 1960s.
Dat ding zit ook zo comfortabel als een koploper, is alleen wel een stuk luider
Whoa, never realized Hakodate - Sapporo was such a long journey by train! I flew it some years ago and was wondering back then why there were so many flights on such a short distance but guess this explains it. The Shinkansen will surely be a huge improvement!
For sure, the combination of the terrain and slow train makes flying competetive still, however Shinkansen should cut the journey down to like 1h-1h30 so they probably wont last after it opens in like 2030
@@Simon-Andersen JR Hokkaido has been making noises that unless some help is forthcoming, they will reduce the section between Otaru and Mori to freight-only status once the Shinkansen is open. Most towns along the line have already agreed to a switch to bus service (!), including Niseko (!!!). How a world-class ski resort actually agrees to relinquish its rail passenger connection to the outside world beats any reasoning.
Unfortunately JR Hokkaido has been unravelling at an alarming pace. They have had some serious management issues, a couple of rather nasty collisions, trains loosing bits on the move and one CEO which took his life. And with Hokkaido heading to a situation where eventually there will be more Ussuri bears than people on the island, the future doesn't hold well for the company. In fact, thy made noises that there might not be any train service north of Asahikawa in the near future, which means the closure of the lines to Nemuro and Wakkanai.
@@NickBurman So true and I am quite sad about it. Still I am happy that I already got the opportunity to travel all along the Soya, Sekihoku, Senmo and Nemuro lines. As the whole thing probably cannot be avoided I'd like to think for myself that in the overall history of Hokkaido it has just been a wild century. The mining industry flourished, number of people and towns exploded rapidly, railways were built even to the most secluded valleys - until the point where everything turned around into the exact opposite direction. Maybe Hokkaido (ofc beside the bigger urban areas as Sapporo, Hakodate or Asahikawa) will turn back a little bit to what it was before - a mostly sparsely populated wild island with untamed nature :).
And who knows, maybe even the Ainu people will "take over" again to be the majority on Hokkaido?
@@NickBurman Niseko will get a _shinkansen_ station when the Hokkaido _shinkansen_ is extended to Sapporo in 2035
北海道の代表的な気動車のキハ261系を取り扱っていただきありがとうございます!
Thank you 😊
I did that entire trip last year. Very nice. A storm blew some trees down and we had a two hour delay. It made the papers.
Interior really resembles Copenhagen S-tog train a lot(Except for not filled with graffiti and not outfit with dusty benches)
Interesting connection between DSB & JR Hokkaido. Did you keep the bento box as a souvenir?
No bento box for me to bring back home, i travel ussualy with a small backpack only, so no space for bulky items :p
Coastal train, Denmark: 😒
Coastal train, Japan: 😍
A train like this is (IIRC) the train used to connect Tokyo with Narita Airport.
The Narita Express looks similar but is not the same train, they are electric and from a different design.
@@Simon-Andersen Most JR limited express (non-HSR intercity) trains have this similar design too e.g. E353, 271 & 283 series
DSB collaborates with JR Hokkaido and produces a champion train... then contracts AnsaldoBreda to make the rotten IC2s and IC4s....
Go figure...
BTW, some time ago one could go right up to the train nose and watch the track from there. However, JR Hokkaido thought prudent to fence off the nose area after a very nasty accident where a similar train set ploughed onto a truck which had got stuck at a level crossing, killing the driver.
Aww what a shame about the nose, but i guess that is a OK decision. Would have made for some great video clips tho!
You can still enjoy the front view as a passenger in almost all local trains all around Japan :).
In many local trains with a door at the front end (in order to be able to pass through when coupled with another unit) the driver has only a small cabine on the left while passengers could stand at the right side and have a great view ahead.
Im a huge fan of Japanese trains, so this video was really interesting!
looks far more comfortable than tightly packed shinkansen trains.
but you expect them to at least serve some danishes on a danish train 🙂
Hej Simon. Fede videoer du laver! Vil du lave en top 10 togrejser du har været på? :)
Det er måske noget jeg kan komme ind på i min "året der gik" video til jul :-)
Why are the front and back so wierd? So you can go trough if several train sets are connected or what?
Yes excatly! And gives driver a better view
@@Simon-Andersen thanks! The window in the grin looks so small.
also gives extra safety for drivers when it smashes a truck or something
is the KiHa 261 made in Scandia, Randers in Denmark?
The Kiha 261 series 1000 shown in this video was manufactured by Kawasaki Heavy Industries of Japan. The 0 series, developed in collaboration with the Danish State Railways, was manufactured by Fuji Heavy Industries (now Subaru). For more information, see Wikipedia! ja.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/JR%E5%8C%97%E6%B5%B7%E9%81%93%E3%82%AD%E3%83%8F261%E7%B3%BB%E6%B0%97%E5%8B%95%E8%BB%8A
As perfectly explained by the other comment, none of them were made in Denmark, only a few designers from dsb helped develop this mostly japanese train.
@@Simon-Andersen alright
I actually disagree with the conclusion of looking forward to the Shinkansen! I have done quite a bit of traveling in Japan on rail (from Hokkaido all the way to Kagoshima and to Shikoku). This particular Journey on the Hokuto Is one of the most beautiful and underrated train journey, especially if you snatch seats on the ocean side!
I hope this train will continue to run post Shinkansen, probably at reduced frequency id imagine.
Unfortunately with the opening of the Hokkaido Shinkansen extension towards Sapporo the operation on the old Hakodate Main line will change dramatically.
- The section between Oshamambe and Otaru (currently on this section are only local trains running while the Ltd Express Hokuto and the freight trains run on the Muroran line east of Oshamambe) will be closed completely. There will be also no third sector railway company that would take over the operation of the line from JR Hokkaido (like between Kikonai and Hakodate).
- The section between Oshamambe and Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto with the scenic ocean views will remain in servie but only for freight trains that will keep running mainly towards Sapporo, Asahikawa or Obihiro. All passenger trains (yes including local trains as well!) south of Oshamambe will disappear. Towns like Mori or Onuma (with its scenic national park at the foot of Mt Komagatake) will lose their stations and passenger trains most probably forever. Only the short runs of the "shuttle-trains" between Hakodate and the Shinkansen interchange at Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto will remain as today.
Even for the remaining freight trains it is not clear if the "branch"-line between Mori and Onuma via Shikabe will remain as it is slightly longer and probably no longer necessary as the capacity on the "main"-line between Mori and Onuma via Komagatake will then be fully sufficient.
Regarding the future of the Ltd Express Hokuto, there is hope that it might "survive" with a reduced route from Sapporo via Noboribetsu to Oshamambe. You could still see the ocean in the area around Toya.
If no miracle happens, it will be just another chapter of the slowly dying railway in Hokkaido. Sure people can then travel on the fast Hayabusa services to Tokyo directly (still taking more than 6 hours and probably more expensive than taking the plane) - from my perspective the price for that is just too high unfortunately.
全ての在来線を新幹線で置き換えれば良いとは限りません。
Why was the train delayed? Thats very uncommon on japanese trains.
No it's not. Trains get delayed all the time.
Snowy weather, perhaps.
Weather and single track.
Oh, ok
Weather i think, the annoucments were only in japanese.
sorry to DSB's IC4.
I will say Japanese train designs sometimes have the top cockpit
They do, and a few other places around the world
@@Simon-Andersen Netherlands?
@@Pricegaming-m3l Netherlands, Denmark, Canada and probably a few more all had or has trains built with the same idea with the cab above.
Danish Koploper, basically.
Another way to put it!
„Track number 🌳“
Danish accent moment
sappowo :3
(good video)
thank you!
Looks like a Koploper
It does!
@@Simon-Andersenyeah 😂
Looks like a mid ICM “koploper”
It look a bit like a Dutch kloploper train
こんにちは。面白い動画ありがとうございます。チャンネル登録しときました☺️
Thank you!
That's a huge delay in Japan...
I think they are quite common up in Sapporo on snowy days, wasn't the only one i encountered.
To be fair, JR Hokkaido operates in absolutely horrible conditions, there’re heavy snows and often wild animals, delays are rather common
All that luggage space isn't typical for Japan, is it?
The train serves Niseko which is a very popular ski station, so luggage space is absolutely essential.
The train does not serve Niseko, but it is becoming more and more common to have large luggage spaces.
@@ramairturbine this particular service might not serve Niseko, but the sets are regularly used on the Niseko run (now I noticed that there are trains which go the long way round via Noboribetsu...)
@@NickBurmanCurrently, the Niseko Express, which runs around autumn, is operated by the Kiha 261 Series 5000 Hamanasu formation. However, until about two years ago, it was operated by the Kiha 183 Series 5200 North Rainbow Express. It was made up of five cars, with the middle car No. 3 being a two-story car that was very comfortable. Unfortunately, it was retired due to aging, but even earlier it was operated by the Kiha 183 Series 200. Currently, that car has been transferred to Thailand and is still in use. For an explanation of the North Rainbow Express, see Wikipedia!
ja.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%8E%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B9%E3%83%AC%E3%82%A4%E3%83%B3%E3%83%9C%E3%83%BC%E3%82%A8%E3%82%AF%E3%82%B9%E3%83%97%E3%83%AC%E3%82%B9
Its getting more common, i think lots of people use this to get to the various ski resorts in the winter and in general travel longer distances onto the Shinkansen, so its more needed.
The kiha261- 1000 series doesn't tilt~
261-0 series have already shut down air suspension tilting system actually :)
Oh yeah, i did not even touch on that in the video, thanks for sharing!
@@Simon-Andersen Try 261-0 series next time, very loud and badass acceleration
Too espensive for non high speed train.
Trains in Japan generally are quite expensive tbh
No way is that toilet accessible. No possibility to transfer from wheelchair to toilet whatever they say on the door!
I actually am not too sure how it actually fuctions, thanks for pointing it out!
@@Simon-Andersen Unfortunately until you are stuck in a wheelchair (or travel with someone in a wheelchair chair) it's really hard to see the things that make accessibility difficult. Even if you are in a wheelchair different things cause different problems for different wheelchairs which is why it's so complex and why wheelchair travel is so tiring.