¥5,500 each way for travelling on a section of railroad not owned by Japan Railways between Morioka and . History The Cassiopeia service first ran on 16 July 1999. From the start of the revised timetable on 17 March 2012, smoking was banned in the restaurant car of Cassiopeia services. End of scheduled services The last scheduled Cassiopeia services were discontinued in March 2016 ahead of the opening of the Hokkaido Shinkansen high-speed line. The last down service departed from Ueno Station in Tokyo on 19 March 2016, and the last up service departed from Sapporo on 20 March, arriving at Ueno on 21 March. Cruise services Neither JR East nor JR Hokkaido owns electric locomotives capable of operating through the Seikan Tunnel to and from Hokkaido after the overhead line voltage was raised from 20 kV to 25 kV AC with the opening of the Hokkaido Shinkansen on 26 March 2016, but JR East leases JR Freight electric locomotives to haul the Cassiopeia trainset on seasonal services through the Seikan Tunnel after the Hokkaido Shinkansen opened. The coaches are also used on cruise train services to other destinations within the JR East region. See also List of named passenger trains of Japan Hokutosei, another night train that ran between Tokyo and Sapporo until August 2015 Seven Stars in Kyushu, a luxury sleeping car train operated by JR Kyushu Twilight Express Mizukaze, a luxury sleeping car excursion train planned by JR West in Japan References JR Timetable, March 2008 issue External links Named passenger trains of Japan Hokkaido Railway Company East Japan Railway Company Night trains of Japan Railway services introduced in 1999 Railway services discontinued in 2016 1999 establishments in Japan 2016 disestablishments in Japan