Limited express service (1961–1992) The
Tsubasa service commenced from the start of the revised timetable on 1 October 1961 as a
limited express operating between in Tokyo and , using new
KiHa 80 series diesel multiple unit (DMU) trains in 6-car formations. Initially, there was one return service daily, with a journey time of exactly 8 hours 30 minutes in either direction, cutting two hours off the journey time for the previous direct express service between Ueno and Akita. The last 400 series set (L3) in service was withdrawn on 18 April 2010. From the start of the revised timetable on 17 March 2012, nine out of sixteen daily
Tsubasa services run coupled with
Yamabiko services formed of
E2 series trains, instead of E4 series sets, allowing the maximum speed to be raised from 240 km/h to 275 km/h on the Tōhoku Shinkansen tracks, and shaving up to 6 minutes off journey times between Tokyo and Shinjō. Since the start of the revised timetable on 29 September 2012, all sixteen daily
Tsubasa services run coupled with E2 series
Yamabiko trains, allowing the maximum speed of all services to be raised from 240 km/h to 275 km/h. From spring 2014, the entire fleet of fifteen E3-1000 and E3-2000 series sets used on
Tsubasa services are scheduled to be reliveried in a new colour scheme designed by industrial designer
Ken Okuyama. Three sets are scheduled to be repainted by June 2014, with the entire fleet of fifteen sets repainted by mid 2016. ==See also==