JR Freight Class EF200

The design incorporated a number of new technologies. Its traction control used GTO-thyristor VVVF inverters in a 1C1M configuration, in which a single inverter drove a single three-phase induction traction motor. It was equipped with six 1,000 kW FMT2 squirrel-cage traction motors, giving a total power output of 6,000 kW (one-hour rating) — the highest output of any JNR or JR locomotive — and ran on 1,500 V DC overhead supply at a maximum speed of 110 km/h, against a design maximum speed of 120 km/h. For current collection it carried FPS2 single-arm pantographs, the first single-arm pantographs fitted to any JNR or JR locomotive (and only the second such application in Japan, after the Osaka Municipal Transportation Bureau 70 series). It was also the first JNR or JR locomotive to adopt electro-pneumatic (electric-command) braking.

The class was developed and prototyped at the same time as the AC/DC dual-system Class EF500, the two designs adopting deliberately different mechanisms and control arrangements so they could be compared in testing. Although it was designed to haul 1,600 t freight trains, insufficient power supply capacity to the overhead lines initially limited the class to hauling 1,200 t trains. Its output was also derated to match that of the older Class EF66. Ultimately the class was deemed to be over-specified and unnecessarily expensive, and the order was terminated after the delivery of 20 full-production locomotives; the subsequent Class EF210, designed to optimise operating costs, was instead chosen as the standard design for hauling freight on the Tokaido and Sanyo Main Lines.

The prototype locomotive, EF200-901, was delivered in 1990 and allocated to Shin-Tsurumi Depot in Tokyo for extensive testing. The first full-production locomotives were delivered to Shin-Tsurumi in 1992, the year the class entered revenue service on the Tokaido and Sanyo Main Lines, where extra capacity was most urgently needed. The locomotives carried an "INVERTER HI-TECH LOCO" logo on the bodyside, and their original colour scheme was said to have been modelled on European locomotives. For its extensive use of new technology, the Class EF200 was awarded the Laurel Prize, presented annually by the Japan Railfan Club. It also received a Good Design Award in 1992.

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From 1 April 1999 the entire class was transferred from Shin-Tsurumi in Tokyo to Suita Depot in Osaka. Starting in January 2001, EF200-1 ran for about a year as a "wrapped" locomotive as part of the Kobe reconstruction commemorative events following the Great Hanshin earthquake, its body carrying artwork by the Romanian-born painter Alexandra Nechita — a sunflower motif depicting the Port Tower and a girl who had died in the earthquake, together with the message "Thank you from Kobe". Between 2006 and 2009 the entire fleet was repainted, at each locomotive's second general overhaul, into a new grey-based livery similar to that used for the later Class EF210; the last to be repainted was EF200-2, which left the works on 22 April 2009. EF200-901 was similarly repainted in 2007.

EF200-1, the lowest-numbered production locomotive, was set aside as a source of spare parts in 2008, withdrawn in 2011 and scrapped in January 2013. As major parts became difficult to obtain, the other locomotives were taken out of service in turn as their inspection periods ran out. During fiscal 2015 eight members were removed from regular duties, leaving 12 in service. Regular workings into the Kanto region ended with the March 2016 timetable revision, and all regular duties ended with the March 2018 revision. The final service of the Class EF200 took place on 28 March 2019, as EF200-18 hauled its last freight train from the Hatabu yard in Shimonoseki to the Suita freight terminal in Osaka. The prototype, EF200-901, had been withdrawn in March 2016 and moved to the Hitachi Mito factory in Hitachinaka, Ibaraki, in October 2016 for preservation; in 2017 it was restored to its original livery and form and put on display. EF200-10, by then the only surviving production locomotive, was due to be scrapped after a photo session in November 2025 because keeping it preserved had proved too difficult.

• 1990Prototype locomotive EF200-901 is built by Hitachi in 1990 and allocated to Shin-Tsurumi Depot in Tokyo for extensive testing.
• 1992The first full-production locomotives are delivered to Shin-Tsurumi Depot in Tokyo, and the class enters revenue service on the Tokaido and Sanyo Main Lines.
• 1999From 1 April the entire class of 21 locomotives is transferred from Shin-Tsurumi Depot in Tokyo to Suita Depot in Osaka.
• 2011EF200-1, the lowest-numbered production locomotive, is withdrawn after serving as a source of spare parts since 2008; it is scrapped in January 2013.
• 2019The final service of the Class EF200 runs on 28 March, with EF200-18 hauling its last freight train from the Hatabu yard in Shimonoseki to the Suita freight terminal in Osaka, ending the type's operation; the prototype, EF200-901, is preserved at the Hitachi Mito factory.