The luxury sightseeing train, the Royal Express, will expand its operating area to include Kanagawa, Shizuoka, Aichi, and Gifu prefectures this fall in a four-day, three-night “Tokaido-Fuji Cruise” trip.
The Royal Express Cruise Train
The Royal Express is an 8-car tourist train that can carry up to 50 people. The train began running in 2017 and was designed by the award-winning industrial designer Eiji Mitooka, who has also designed many other beautiful trains, including the Fujisan View Express and JR Kyushu’s Sweet Train.
The library car on the Royal Express
The Royal Express has a distinctive royal blue exterior with gold trimming, and the interior features elegant dining and library cars and space for live music.
Royal Express – The dining car
The Royal Express also runs several tours in Hokkaido, and in the Tokaido region the “Shizuoka Fuji Cruise Train,” which runs from Yokohama to the Izu Peninsula. The new tour will cover a wider area of the Tokaido region and is being jointly run by Tokyu Corporation and JR Central.
Viewing Mount Fuji from the Royal Express train
The train will begin and end its journey in Yokohama, making stops in Shizuoka, Gifu and the coastal city of Hamamatsu. Along the way passengers will dine in fine restaurants, stay in luxury hotels, and be treated to scenery that includes the townscapes of old post stations, tea fields, rows of pine trees, and Mount Fuji!
A promotional image for the tour
Royal Express buses will also be used to shuttle passengers to more sight-seeing areas along the route allowing them to experience the charms of the Tokaido region in greater detail.
The Royal Express Tokaido Fuji Cruise Train will run six trips between November 7th and December 22nd this year. Tickets cost between 820,000 to 890,000 yen per person including tax. For full details please see the official Royal Express website.
Article and by Michael Lambe. Photos courtesy of Tokyu Corporation. All rights reserved.
