The 883 series Limited Express and 885 series Limited Express are currently the fastest JR Kyushu (JR九州) trains running on conventional tracks (在来線). The JR Kyushu is one of the few JR companies in Japan that continues to operate Limited Express even after owning the Shinkansen. Because the Kyushu Shinkansen (九州新幹線) only connects cities in western Kyushu, so the Limited Express is still needed to connect between western and eastern Kyushu, including connections within eastern Kyushu.
The 883 series Limited Express, it usually serves as the Sonic train (ソニック, 音速號列車). The Sonic trains mostly run between Hakata Station (博多駅) and Ōita Station (大分駅). And the seats will be reversed at Kokura Station (小倉駅), because after Kokura Station, the train will run in the opposite direction. However, there are not many 883 series Limited Express trains, so the Sonic trains are often operates by 885 series Limited Express.
The 885 series Limited Express, it usually serves as the Kamome train (かもめ, 鷗號列車). The Kamome trains mostly run between Hakata Station (博多駅) and Nagasaki Station (長崎駅). With the opening of the Nishi Kyushu Shinkansen (西九州新幹線) section between Takeo-Onsen Station (武雄温泉駅) and Nagasaki Station (長崎駅), the Kamome train in this section has now been switched to N700S series Shinkansen trains.
The 885 series Limited Express sometimes replaces the 883 series Limited Express and runs between Hakata Station and Ōita Station under the name Sonic train. And the seats will be reversed at Kokura Station, too.
The 883 series Limited Express and 885 series Limited Express are both tilting trains (振り子式車両).
Among them, the 885 series Limited Express was modified and exported to Taiwan. The model based on and extended from the 885 series Limited Express is TEMU1000.
The TEMU1000 is named Taroko Express (太魯閣號) in Taiwan and operates under the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA, 臺灣鐵路管理局) as Tze-Chiang Limited Express (自強號列車).
0:00 Start
0:28 885 series Limited Express arriving at Hakata Station. (Kamome train)
1:08 883 series Limited Express operating between Hakata Station and Kokura Station. (Sonic train)
4:29 885 series Limited Express operating at Hakata Station. (Kamome train)
5:53 885 series Limited Express operating between Hakata Station and Kokura Station. (Replaced the 883 series and operating under the name Sonic train)
9:22 885 series Limited Express and N700-7000 series Shinkansen run parallel to each other. (Near the Kokura Station)
9:55 885 series Limited Express operating between Kokura Station and Beppu Station. (Replaced the 883 series and operating under the name Sonic train)
12:10 885 series Limited Express ready to arrives at Beppu Station. (Replaced the 883 series and operating under the name Sonic train)