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Locomotive·3 min read

JNR Class EF65

国鉄EF65形電気機関車

The Class EF65 is a 6-axle (Bo-Bo-Bo wheel arrangement) 1,500 V DC electric locomotive type operated on passenger and freight services in Japan since 1965. A total of 308 locomotives were built between 1965 and 1979 — the largest number of any single electric-locomotive class in Japanese National Railways history — with 52 still in service as of 1 April 2016. It was designed by Japanese National Railways (JNR) as a standard locomotive type developed from the earlier Class EF60 design for use primarily on the Tokaido Main Line and Sanyo Main Line. The immediately preceding mainline type, the Class EF60 (from its second batch onward), had ample tractive effort but a rated speed of only about 39.0 km/h — little better than older locomotives — which made it ill-suited to the faster passenger and freight schedules then being sought. The EF65 was therefore based on the third-batch EF60 but shifted its gear ratio toward higher speed and added a newly designed vernier electric-camshaft controller, so as to combine high-speed running with strong tractive effort. Each locomotive carries six MT52 nose-suspended traction motors for a total rated output of 2,550 kW. During the JNR era the locomotives were used for freight trains and also for passenger work, primarily hauling night trains such as the Izumo sleeping-car limited express and the Ginga sleeping-car express.

JNR EF65 56 hauling a cement freight train near Sakoshi on the Ako Line in 1986.
JNR EF65 56 hauling a cement freight train near Sakoshi on the Ako Line in 1986. — Olegushka · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

History

The class was initially divided into the EF65-0 subclass for general freight (numbers EF65 1–135) and the EF65-500 subclass for express freight and passenger use. The EF65-0 subclass was designed for general freight on the Tokaido and Sanyo Main Lines, with 135 locomotives built between 1965 and 1970; as of 2016 all EF65-0 locomotives had been withdrawn. The EF65-500 subclass consisted of 42 locomotives, including newly built units and units (EF65 535–542) modified from the earlier EF65-0 subclass (EF65 77–84) for overnight sleeping-car services and express freight operating at a maximum speed of 110 km/h. Within the 500 subclass, locomotives hauling passenger services were designated "P" type and those for freight "F" type; the "P" designation derives from the initial of "passenger" and the "F" from that of "freight." The EF65-1000 (numbers EF65 1001–1139), intended for both passenger and freight service and referred to as the "PF" type because it combined the functions of the P and F types, comprised 139 locomotives built between 1969 and 1979.

Five 6th-batch Class EF65-0 locomotives, numbers EF65 131 to EF65 135, were converted in 1990 and 1991 to become Class EF67-100 banking locomotives for use on the "Senohachi" section of the Sanyo Main Line; in this conversion the control system was changed to armature-chopper control and the gear ratio was altered to 16:71 to increase tractive effort at the low speeds required for banking. From May 2012 JR Freight renumbered a group of former EF65-1000 locomotives into the EF65-2000 subclass to differentiate them from units fitted with driving recording units mandated for operation above 100 km/h. A number of individual locomotives also carried special liveries: JR East's "Super Express Rainbow" machine, introduced in 1987, was painted overall in cherry red with a large white "EF65" logo on the bodysides and a white band along the lower body, while JR Central applied a "Euroliner" scheme, JR West a "Yuyu Salon Okayama" and a "Twilight Express" scheme, to assigned units. Across the fleet, allocations fell from 269 locomotives in 1987 (199 JR Freight, 42 JR East, 5 JR Central, 23 JR West) to 95 in 2009 and 52 in 2016. As of 1 April 2016, only one EF65-500 (EF65 501, owned by JR East) remained in service; 15 EF65-1000 units remained, operated by JR East and JR West; and 36 EF65-2000 units remained, operated by JR Freight. Seven units have been preserved, including EF65 1 at the Kyoto Railway Museum.

Timeline
  • 1965Class EF65 enters service; designed by JNR as a standard flat-route DC locomotive developed from the Class EF60. The EF65-0 (general freight) and EF65-500 (P-type passenger / F-type freight) subclasses are built from 1965, the latter for hauling 20-series "Blue Train" sleeping-car services.
  • 1969Production of the EF65-1000 "PF" subclass (general-purpose, with a front gangway door and cold-weather equipment) begins; 139 units (1001–1139) are built through 1979, bringing total production of the class to 308.
  • 1990Five 6th-batch EF65-0 locomotives (EF65 131–135) are converted in 1990–1991 into Class EF67-100 banking locomotives for the "Senohachi" section of the Sanyo Main Line.
  • 2008Withdrawal of the "Izumo" sleeping-car limited express (March 2006) ends EF65 sleeper-express work, and withdrawal of the "Ginga" sleeping-car express (March 2008) ends all regular passenger haulage by the class; the fleet thereafter works mainly freight.
  • 2016As of 1 April 2016, 52 locomotives remain in service: one EF65-500 (EF65 501, JR East), 15 EF65-1000 (JR East and JR West), and 36 EF65-2000 (JR Freight); all EF65-0 units have been withdrawn. JR Freight's regular EF65 operation later ends with the March 2025 timetable revision.

Sources

Facts last verified 6 June 2026.

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