JR Freight Class EH800

The JR Freight Class EH800 is a multi-voltage AC two-unit electric locomotive with a Bo'Bo'+Bo'Bo' wheel arrangement, built by Toshiba for Japan Freight Railway Company to haul freight through the Seikan Tunnel between Honshu and Hokkaido on the Kaikyo Line. It was needed because the overhead line voltage in the tunnel was raised from 20 kV to the 25 kV AC of the Shinkansen so that Hokkaido Shinkansen services could share the dual-gauge tunnel from 2016, so the locomotives work under either voltage and replaced the Class ED79 and Class EH500 locomotives used there before. The design is modelled on the EH500, also made by Toshiba. The prototype EH800-901 was unveiled at the Toshiba factory in Fuchu on 27 November 2012 and delivered in January 2013, and full-production locomotives were delivered from June 2014 and entered service in July 2014. Twenty were in service by March 2017.