 Map of the Seikan Tunnel | |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Location | Beneath the Tsugaru Strait |
| Coordinates | 41°18′57″N 140°20′06″E / 41.3157°N 140.3351°E |
| Status | Active |
| Start | Honshu |
| End | Hokkaido |
| Operation | |
| Opened | March 13, 1988 |
| Owner | Japan Railway Construction, Transport and Technology Agency |
| Operator |  JR Hokkaido |
| Character | Passenger and freight |
| Technical | |
| Track length | 53.85 kilometres (33.46 mi)
|
| No. of tracks | Double track rail tunnel |
| Track gauge | Dual gauge
|
| Electrified | 25 kV AC, 50 Hz |
| Operating speed | 160 km/h (100 mph)
|
The Seikan Tunnel (Japanese: 青函トンネル, Seikan Tonneru or 青函隧道, Seikan Zuidō) is a 53.85 km (33.46 mi) dual-gauge railway tunnel in Japan, with a 23.3 km (14.5 mi) portion under the seabed of the Tsugaru Strait, which separates Aomori Prefecture on the main Japanese island of Honshu from the northern island of Hokkaido. The track level is about 100 m (330 ft) below the seabed and 240 m (790 ft) below sea level.[2] The tunnel is part of the standard-gauge Hokkaido Shinkansen and the narrow-gauge Kaikyō Line of the Hokkaido Railway Company (JR Hokkaido)'s Tsugaru-Kaikyō Line. The name Seikan comes from combining the on'yomi readings of the first characters of Aomori (青森), the nearest major city on the Honshu side of the strait, and Hakodate (函館), the nearest major city on the Hokkaido side.
The Seikan Tunnel is the world's longest undersea tunnel by overall length (the Channel Tunnel, while shorter, has a longer undersea segment).[3] It is also the second-deepest transport tunnel below sea level after the Ryfylke Tunnel, a road tunnel in Norway that opened in 2019, and the second longest main-line railway tunnel after the Gotthard Base Tunnel in Switzerland, opened in 2016.[4][5][6]
- ^ "北海道新幹線、青函トンネル内初の260キロ走行 大型連休の5日間". 19 January 2024.
- ^ "Seikan Tunnel Trivia". JR Hokkaido. Archived from the original on 18 October 2016. Retrieved 17 March 2012.
- ^ "Turkey Building the World's Deepest Immersed Tube Tunnel". Popular Mechanics. Archived from the original on 8 August 2009. Retrieved 19 July 2009.
- ^ "Project data – raw construction Gotthard Base Tunnel" (PDF). Lucerne, Switzerland: AlpTransit Gotthard AG. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
- ^ "Wer hat die grösste Röhre?" [Who has the longest tube?]. Tages-Anzeiger (graphical animation) (in German). Zurich, Switzerland. 14 April 2016. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
- ^ "Switzerland Is Opening the World's Longest-Ever Rail Tunnel". Bloomberg.com. 13 May 2016. Retrieved 13 May 2016.