Thunderbird

A refurbished JR-West 683-4000 series train on aThunderbird service in April 2022
Overview
Service type	Limited express
Status	Operational
Locale	Japan
First service	1995
Current operator(s)	JR West
Route
Line(s) used	Tokaido Line (JR Kyoto Line),Kosei Line
On-board services
Other facilities	Universal Toilets
Technical
Rolling stock	681 series,683 series
Track gauge	1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)

TheThunderbird (サンダーバード,Sandābādo) is alimited express train service operated by theWest Japan Railway Company (JR West) betweenOsaka andTsuruga in Japan, using portions of theTokaido Main Line andKosei Line.

Stations in parentheses are not served by all services.

Osaka – Tsuruga:Osaka -Shin-Osaka - (Takatsuki) -Kyoto - (Katata) - (Omi-Imazu) -Tsuruga

(an extra train which runs from Osaka to Tsuruga in the morning on weekdays after holidays)

Osaka → Shin-Osaka → Kyoto → Tsuruga^{[needs update]}

• 681 series EMUs (since April 1995)
• 683 series EMUs (since March 2001)

Services are formed as follows:

From the start of the 20 April 1995 timetable revision, new681 series EMUs were introduced on Osaka to Toyama services, namedSuper Raichō (Thunderbird).^[1] These became simplyThunderbird from March 1997.

The last remainingRaichō service was discontinued from the start of the 12 March 2011 timetable revision, with all trains subsequently using theThunderbird name.^[2]

From the start of the revised timetable on 14 March 2015, with the opening of theHokuriku Shinkansen, allThunderbird services were shortened for the first time to run between Osaka, Kanazawa and Wakura-Onsen.^[3]

From the start of the revised timetable on 16 March 2024, allThunderbird services were shortened for the second time to run between Osaka and Tsuruga with the opening of the extension of theHokuriku Shinkansen between Kanazawa and Tsuruga.^[4] With effect from the same date, all non-reserved seating was discontinued on allThunderbird services.^[5]

On 3 August 2006, a woman was raped by a 36-year-old man in a train toilet while travelling on theThunderbird 50 service (just after Fukui Station), despite the car being occupied by approximately 40 other passengers.^[6] As a result, JR West introduced a "women-only" section in the reserved-seating cars ofRaichō andThunderbird trains from October 2007, and JR East added prominent "SOS" stickers inside all of its trains in June 2007.^[7] On 17 January 2008, the district court inOtsu sentenced the man to 18 years in prison.^[8]

All of the 681 and 683 series trainsets used onThunderbird limited express services are scheduled to undergo a programme of refurbishment from autumn 2015 until the end of fiscal 2018.^[9]

• Shirasagi: Limited-express service betweenNagoya and the Hokuriku region, using identical rolling stock with slightly different livery

Wikimedia Commons has media related toThunderbird (train).

• West Japan Railway Company

• Named passenger trains of Japan
• Railway services introduced in 1995
• West Japan Railway Company

• CS1 uses Japanese-language script (ja)
• CS1 Japanese-language sources (ja)
• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from April 2020
• Articles containing Japanese-language text
• Wikipedia articles in need of updating from March 2024
• All Wikipedia articles in need of updating
• Commons category link from Wikidata