10 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. JRhokkaido ED79 106+ED79 10: spaceaero2· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 2. JRhokkaido ED79 19 kaikyo: spaceaero2· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 3. ED79-8 Hokutosei Hakodate 20040719: 永尾信幸 (Nobuyuki Nagao)· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 4. ED79 55 51 20130621: Sappoatu· CC BY 2.5
- 5. JNR DD51 & ED79 002: Tennen-Gas· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 6. JR ED79 Kaikyo at Aomori Station: SElefant· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 7. ED79 12 Nihonkai 1 Aomori 20050210: tsuda· CC BY-SA 2.0
- 8. Hamanasu-aomori: Takasunrise0921· CC BY 2.5
- 9. Rapidtrain Kaikyo ED79 Aomori: Atsasebo· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 10. Cassiopeia ED79 4: 221.20 ( talk )· Public domain
what is it?
The Class ED79 (ED79形) was a Bo-Bo wheel arrangement AC electric locomotive type operated on passenger and freight services in the north of Japan from 1986, originally by Japanese National Railways (JNR), and later by Hokkaido Railway Company (JR Hokkaido) and Japan Freight Railway Company (JR Freight) until 2016.
who runs it
base stats
Bars compare against all trains: 600 km/h (maglev), 1,700 seats; power, weight and number built on a log scale up to 20 MW, 1,000 t and 20,000 built.
fun facts
- First built 40 years ago, in 1986.
- 1.9 MW is about 22 family cars (~85 kW each) flat out.
- Weighs about as much as 11 African elephants (~6 t each).
- 14.3 m long: about 3 cars parked nose to tail.
electric locomotive: Draws power from overhead wires or a third rail and pulls separate carriages.
spec sheet
- built
- 1986–1990
- in service from
- 1986
- status
- retired
- number built
- 44
- kind
- Electric
- traction
- electric
- origin
- 🇯🇵 Japan
- builders
- Hitachi, Mitsubishi, Toshiba
- operators
- Japan Freight Railway Company
- top speed
- 110 km/h
- power
- 1.9 MW
- gauge
- 1,067 mm Cape gauge
- electric system
- 20 kV AC at 50 Hz , overhead wire
- wheel arrangement
- Bo-Bo
- length
- 14.3 m
- weight
- 68 t
- Dutch name
- JNR ED79
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q11421820, Wikipedia: JNR Class ED79 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.