The longest train journey in Japan

Disclaimer

This article is about regular services. Timetables show major stations only so that those who seek for detailed information should check official websites.

---

British Rail Class 220

"The longest train journey" always sounds attractive for railway enthusiasts, even if there is no daily user that enjoy (or rather, endure) the whole journey. In Britain, the famous Crosscountry's service from Aberdeen to Penzance is the longest one among all trains.

Crosscountry service

Aberdeen	8:20
Edinburgh	11:08
Newcastle	12:42
York	13:44
Leeds	14:11
Birmingham New Street	16:03
Bristol Temple Meads	17:45
Exeter St Davids	18:47
Plymouth	19:44
Penzance	21:39

According to The Guardian, the train runs on Saturdays, though not always because of service alterations caused by planned engineering work and COVID-19. It travels 774 miles (1245.6 km) and takes 13 hours and 19 minutes. Surprisingly, this service is neither a night train nor a high-speed train, but an ordinary intercity train that runs through the main island.

Then, how about Japan? There were so many long-distance services until the 2010s, but they were mostly discontinued and split into several parts, as a lengthy route is always prone to delays and troubles. Furthermore, it is not easy for all parties concerned to adjust tracks, signalling systems and other facilities to be compatible with a specific train. Even so, there are a few such services today.

Nozomi bullet train

N700A series bullet train

The longest train service in Japan in terms of distance is a bullet train Nozomi. It runs on Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen high-speed rails between Tokyo and Hakata in Fukuoka Prefecture. There are 32 round trips a day (2-4 services per hour), and more on holidays.

Nozomi 64

Hakata	18:59
Hiroshima	20:00
Shin-Osaka	21:20
Nagoya	22:12
Tokyo	23:45

Nozomi 64 is pretty unique. It is the last eastbound service of day to Tokyo, and it is also the fastest service between Hakata and Tokyo, as it runs 1,069 km (664.3 miles) taking 4 hours and 46 minutes. It is usually very crowded as people always rush into this service, otherwise they will have to wait for the first train on the next day.

Sunrise Izumo

JR West 285 series

What about non-high-speed trains? Among them, Limited Express Sunrise Izumo is the longest service in Japan. It is a night train with a round trip everyday (plus one during the peak season).

Sunrise Izumo (Eastbound)

Izumoshi	18:53
Okayama	22:30
Osaka	0:31
Shizuoka	4:38
Tokyo	7:08

Since it runs on "conventional lines", it is way slower than Nozomi. Sunrise Izumo travels 954 km (593 miles) and takes 12 hours and 15 minutes, the longest journey time among all trains. There is a cheap option on this service called "Nobinobi Zaseki" (lit. "unconstrained seat"), but it would be a very hard journey to spend more than 12 hours on a sleeping space without a mattress or a pillow. Those who plan to use this train should consider booking a bedroom.

Nichirin Sea Gaia

JR Kyushu 787 series

The longest non-night train journey in Japan is Limited Express Nichirin Sea Gaia in Kyushu, western Japan. This service is not well known outside the area. However, it is not so long compared to trains in other countries, including in the Continent.

Nichirin Sea Gaia 5

Hakata	7:30
Kokura	8:31
Oita	10:03
Miyazaki	13:07
Miyazaki Airport	13:19

There are many Nichirin services, but only one round trip of them a day runs the entire section. There is no direct road or railway between cities of Fukuoka and Miyazaki so that this train runs longer than the actual distance. It takes 5 hours and 49 minutes to complete a journey of 413 km (256.7 miles).

There are three "longest train journeys" in Japan, but surprisingly, none of them can beat the one in the UK both in terms of distance and journey time. Thus, these services might not always sound attractive for travellers living outside Japan, but probably still worth checking them.

Finally, Crosscountry issues "longest journey certificate" to passengers, but none of the three services in Japan provide such a collectable. Pretty disappointing!

Platform edge doors and fare rise

On 6th April, JR East announced a fare rise in the Greater Tokyo Area. On the next day, Tokyo Metro announced a fare rise as well. They charge 10 more yen for each single ticket. With the additional source of revenue, both companies will install more platform edge doors (also known as platform screen doors) across the entire network.

The very first platform edge doors are said to be the ones at Park Pobedy station in Saint Petersburg, Russia, which were installed in 1961. The first ones in Japan were installed on Tokaido Shinkansen high-speed rail in 1974 (excluding a demonstration at Expo '70). Unsurprisingly, platform edge doors were mainly for small stations with trains passing at dangerously high speed. In terms of ordinary railway (i.e. non high-speed rail nor monorail), Namboku line in Tokyo was the first one among them.

The platform edge door had been very rare until the 1990s, but it has become mandatory for new stations after 2000, as "Act on Promotion of Smooth Transportation, etc. of Elderly Persons, Disabled Persons, etc." (also known as the Barrier-Free Transport Act) was promulgated. Railway companies are not obligated to install the doors on existing stations, but several tragedies (some of which were blind people being hit by a train) gave impetus to do more. In 2020, The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (hereinafter referred to as the Transport Ministry) adopted a report that railway companies should make stations with more than 3,000 daily users 100% accessible.

However, the platform edge doors are so expensive that even major railway companies have been struggling to deal with implementing the policy. Hence, the Transport Ministry established Railway Station Barrier Free Fares Scheme in 2021, which allows railway companies to raise fares in so far as the extra income is duly spent for making stations accessible. Not only installing platform edge doors, but also lifts and accessible toilets are included. Even so, the most important issue is the platform edge doors, since more than 94% of JR East stations in the area already have lifts and accessible toilets.

JR East raises fares in March 2023. Tokyo Metro is also expected to do so at the same time. JR East and Tokyo Metro plan to complete installing the platform edge doors on stations required by the Barrier-Free Transport Act by 2032 and 2026, respectively. Since the fare rise is reasonable and justifiable, most passengers surely accept it. More railway companies are highly likely to follow JR East and Tokyo Metro.

*Sources including a press release of JR East, a document from the Transport Ministry and a newspaper article of Yomiuri Shimbun.