Faster Train to Fukuoka: At Kumamoto station it was time to get back on to the Tsubame (which you can see in the photo above) which would take us back to Fukuoka-Hakata, where we would change to the Shinkansen.
The Tsubame (Limited Express) at the time of my first two trips to Japan ran from Fukuoka-Hakata to Kagoshima (via Kurume, Omuta, Kumamoto, Yatsushiro, Minamata, Akune, and Sendai)1. The section from Fukuoka-Hakata to Yatsuhiro had at least two tracks so the train travelled at around 135kmh on this section. Most of the line from Yatsuhiro to Kagoshima was only single tracked and the train travelled a lot slower along this section of the line. In 2004 the Tsubame Shinkansen was opened between Shin-Yatsushiro ("Shin" means new) and Kagoshima, it is doubled tracked and travels at 265kmh. The old Tsubame is now called the "Relay Tsubame" (Limited Express) and operates between Fukuoka-Hakata and Shin-Yatsushiro. The extension of the Shinkansen line to Fukuoka-Hakata is scheduled to be complete by 20122.
Using the Japan Rail map you should be able to see the routes of the "Relay Tsubame" and "Tsubame Shinkansen".
