Kanmon Railway Tunnel

Undersea tunnel in Kanmon Straits, Japan
You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Japanese. (October 2018) Click [show] for important translation instructions.
  • View a machine-translated version of the Japanese article.
  • Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia.
  • Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article.
  • You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing Japanese Wikipedia article at [[:ja:関門トンネル (山陽本線)]]; see its history for attribution.
  • You should also add the template {{Translated|ja|関門トンネル (山陽本線)}} to the talk page.
  • For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.
33°55′18.4″N 130°55′58.2″E / 33.921778°N 130.932833°E / 33.921778; 130.932833OperationOpened1942OperatorJR KyushuCharacterPassenger and freightTechnicalLine length3,604 m (11,824 ft)/ 3,614 m (11,857 ft)

The Kanmon Railway Tunnel (関門鉄道トンネル, kanmon tetsudō tonneru) was the first undersea tunnel in Japan. It goes underneath the Kanmon Straits, connecting the islands of Honshu and Kyushu.[1] It is an important link in the Japanese rail network. Its construction began in 1936, and it was completed in November 1942, during the Pacific War. The Honshu-bound tunnel is 3,604 m (11,824 ft) long, the Kyushu-bound tunnel is 3,614 m (11,857 ft). Track gauge is 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) (Cape gauge), and its electric power supply is at 1,500 volts DC.

Near the end of the Pacific War the Allies planned to blow up the two tunnels with 50,000 pounds of explosives as part of the invasion of Japan. The Office of Strategic Services trained 250 of its agents for the task, but the surrender of Japan occurred before they were needed.[2]

The Kyushu Railway Company (JR Kyushu) assumed ownership of this tunnel following the breakup of the Japanese National Railways system in 1987.[citation needed]

Undersea Kanmon Tunnel between Honshu and Kyushu islands in Japan

Coordinates

  • Shimonoseki entrance: 33°56′03″N 130°55′00″E / 33.934303°N 130.916556°E / 33.934303; 130.916556
  • Moji entrance: 33°54′37″N 130°56′11″E / 33.910365°N 130.936472°E / 33.910365; 130.936472

See also

  • Shin-Kanmon Tunnel for the high-speed railway
  • Kanmon Road Tunnel

References

  1. ^ 第２版,世界大百科事典内言及, 日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ),ブリタニカ国際大百科事典 小項目事典,百科事典マイペディア,精選版 日本国語大辞典,旺文社日本史事典 三訂版,デジタル大辞泉,世界大百科事典. "関門トンネルとは". コトバンク (in Japanese). Retrieved 2021-08-12.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  2. ^ Breuer, William B. (2003). The Spy Who Spent the War in Bed: And Other Bizarre Tales from World War II. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. p. 200. ISBN 0-471-26739-2.
  • v
  • t
  • e