JR Central and JR West have mutually agreed to a new ticketless service for the Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen lines beginning in the summer of 2017.

The Tokaido Line, and its continuation the Sanyo Line, provide a high speed link between the major metropolitan cities of Tokyo in eastern Japan, and Osaka and Hakata in the west.

For some years now JR Central and JR West have successfully employed a members-only ticketless service on these lines that required the use of the EX-IC smart card. Members of this express service have been able to reserve their seats online, using either a mobile phone or computer, and then have the booking registered to their EX-IC card. This card can then be used instead of a ticket on arrival at the ticket gates. However, up till now seat reservations could only be made with credit cards issued by either JR Central or JR West. [Read more…]

Seibu Railways have released details of a new holiday sightseeing train which will debut on April 17th this year and run between stations in Tokyo and Saitama prefecture. The train will run three courses, between Ikebukuro Station and Seibu-Chichibu Station, Seibu-Shinjuku Station and Seibu-Chichibu Station, and Seibu-Shinjuku and Honkawagoe Station.

This train is a redesign of the #4000 series four carriage train which currently runs along these routes, and has been renamed “52 Seki-no-Shifuku” or “52 Seats of Happiness”. As this is a specially designed restaurant train, set course meals will be included in the cost of the ticket. With beautifully designed interiors and a creative menu from some of Tokyo’s top chefs, this restaurant train offers passengers a truly romantic travelling experience. [Read more…]

Tokyo Metro’s current 1-Day Open Ticket will be replaced by an even more convenient 24 Hour Ticket from Saturday March 26th.

Tokyo Metro’s current “1-Day Open Ticket” offers unlimited travel on all Tokyo Metro lines for just 600 yen for adults and 300 yen for children. This ticket’s period of validity is fixed by the first and last trains of the day it is purchased. So no matter what time you buy the ticket, whether it is 9:00 in the morning, or 5:00 in the afternoon, the ticket can only be used up until the last train of that day.

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Railway fans and sightseers both will be delighted to know that a beautiful new sightseeing train is being introduced on the Fujikyu Line that runs to Mount Fuji. The new model “Fujisan View Express” will be introduced this spring to mark the 90th anniversary of the Fuji Kyuko Railway. It will replace the already popular Fujisan Express #2000 series which is due to be retired in February.

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Starting from April 8th, 2016 a new smart card will be made available to tourists in Kansai region of Japan. The Kansai One Pass card will function as a smart card, similar to Icoca IC card, and allow holders to ride the trains of nine different railways in the region, including JR West and Hankyu Corp. The card holders will also enjoy discounts at about 90 tourist spots and shops, including Kansai International Airport in Osaka.

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On Tuesday, November 17, 2015 Tokyo Metro will start selling a new PASMO card specially designed to appeal to visitors to Japan. The new PASMO card can be reused again and again by simply topping up the balance in the same way as you would with a regular PASMO card. The card can be used throughout Japan on any railway, subway or bus route that accepts IC cards, eliminating the need to purchase a ticket every time you travel, making travel a smoother and more enjoyable experience.

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