09 November, 2024

Isumi Railway: the safety crisis

Last month, an Isumi Railway train derailed in Chiba Prefecture due to poor track maintenance. The railway has been closed for more than a month, raising concerns about the safety and the future of the railway, but local governments would not allow it just to be abandoned.

NHK reported that a westbound train formed of two coaches derailed between Kuniyoshi and Kazusa-Nakagawa stations at around 8:10 am on 4th October. There were 104 passengers (mostly high school students) and a driver onboard, but nobody injured. The line has been closed since then and replaced by bus. The Japan Transport Safety Board has carried out an investigation and its report is expected to be published within weeks.

According to Asahi Shimbun, decayed sleepers made of wood could not fix the rail. The train company acknowledged the situation and thus planned repair work that would take place in late November, but the accident happened before that. The company initially envisaged reopening the line within four weeks, but according to Nikkei, too many decayed sleepers were found on the entire line so that it would not reopen until March 2025.


Isumi Railway is a 26.8 km (16.6 miles) long railway in Chiba Prefecture, roughly 60 km (38 miles) southeast of Tokyo. It opened in 1930 as Kihara Line, and renamed Isumi Line when the entire line was transferred from JR East to Isumi Railway in 1988. The line and the company have been funded almost fully by local governments since then.


It was anticipated that there would be very low ridership even before the line was constructed, as the area has always been sparsely populated. The Transport Ministry and local governments discussed about "alternative transport" (i.e. road transport) several times since the 1980s. The latest proposal for the permanent closure was made in 2007, but increasing service frequency, building a new station and selling naming rights have succeeded so that the proposal was subsequently withdrawn. In the 2010s, then-president of the company and a railway enthusiast Akira Torizuka introduced old diesel trains, attracting many other railfans that contributed to not only the train operator itself but also the local economy. Isumi Railway looked somewhat a successful rural railway even amid the decline in demand triggered by the depopulation.


However, the company has spent little on track maintenance. The above photograph clearly shows how deteriorated the rail is (click the photo for a larger image). Despite the low speed of just 30-50 km/h (20-30 mph), trains have always been bumpy. The company concentrated on replacing old bus-like rolling stock 200 series, but it has not invested enough in other part of the railway. When there was an almost identical derailment in 2013, the company has decided to replace wooden sleepers with concrete ones, but it has been advancing at a glacial pace due to financial difficulties. There are many rural railways across the country which train operators have been struggling to maintain, but Isumi Railway seems to have been particularly unsuccessful in securing track safety.


Even so, there is also a sign of hope. The Nikkei article refers to local governments willing to support the company, suggesting that they consider keeping the railway open as essential for local communities. The cost of the work could be substantial even if not all wooden sleepers are replaced with concrete ones at once, but they have been positively discussing about subsidies. It implies taxpayers in the area would agree with not just the expenditure this time but also funding other costs that may be necessary in the near future.

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26 October, 2024

De-electrification after a disaster

On 18 October, JR East announced that Ou Main Line between Shinjo and Innai (Yamagata and Akita Prefectures) would reopen by May 2025 but as an unelectrified railway. This is another example of downsizing but could be environmentally friendly, as this blog argued in 2022.


The area in question was devastated on 25 July 2024 by a massive torrential rain and landslides. The railway has been closed and replaced by bus since then. According to JR East, the ongoing construction will complete before so-called Golden Week holidays in May 2025. However, to make the railway "sustainable, resilient against disasters and easy to be reopened", overhead wires, poles and other facilities necessary for electric trains will be removed. When the line reopens, GV-E400 series and KiHa 100 series diesel trains will be used instead of 701 series electric trains.


Some people might argue that this is part of JR East's long-term plan to axe unprofitable railways in rural areas. This area has been sparsely populated for decades so that there were just eight trains a day before the torrential rain. According to the statistics, the ridership thereof in 2023 has dropped by nearly 93% compared to that in 1987. However, the decline in population is not the only one to blame, as Ou Main Line had been used by long-distance travellers between Tokyo and other cities in the northeastern region in the past but they have shifted to Akita Shinkansen when it opened in 1997.

The facilities in the area including a substation were built when there were many intercity trains before the privatization of Japanese National Railways in 1987. There were not only regional services but also Limited Express Komakusa (Yamagata – Akita, downgraded to Rapid in 1999). There were up to five Komakusa services a day on each direction. However, it could not justify having large and inefficient facilities after those intercity services were completely discontinued in 2002.

De-electrification does not sound good, but at least it indicates that JR East does not plan to close the line permanently in the near future. As train operators and local governments across the country have been discussing about the fate of rural railways, Ou Main Line's de-electrification might suggest another choice to maintain the rail transport.

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12 October, 2024

The Red List of Trains in Japan (Oct-2024 update)

The latest update of The Red List of Trains in Japan includes four new articles (mostly those in Kyushu) as well as nearly 100 articles being up to date. Check HERE for articles with major changes, either newly added or status being changed.

I have a plan to update some articles in late-2024, when details of the next nationwide timetable revision are officially available.

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01 October, 2024

About my X account

As I have posted earlier today, I have decided to terminate my X (former Twitter) account on 31 December 2024 unless the widespread disinformation and discrimination that exacerbate division and hatred significantly diminishes, which is extremely unlikely to happen.

I therefore encourage X followers once again using other social media platforms, namely Mastodon (or any other ones connected to Fediverse) and Bluesky. My accounts thereof are as follows:

"x years ago today", a series of posts with a train photo I upload at 8:30 pm every Thursday (Japan Time), is also available on those platforms.

My X account will remain even after 1 January 2025 to prevent malicious users using this ID a month after deactivating my account, but I will not log in to it. Therefore, any reply or message will not reach me after that. I may make it a private account when deemed necessary. Your understanding is appreciated.

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28 September, 2024

Bullet Trains: the Shinkansen Heroes in the Past

On 1 October, Tokaido Shinkansen marks the 60th anniversary. The first high-speed rail in history opened in 1964, and it is still the most heavily used railway in the world. The bullet train network has expanded in the last 60 years in Japan as well, and there are ten lines in total including so-called mini Shinkansen. This article looks back upon present and past "named" services.

Currently, each line has one or more types of services, depending on destination and speed. There are 19 services in total as follows:

In addition to them, there were a few services that were discontinued in the past, all of which were in eastern Japan.


Aoba

Aoba was introduced when Tohoku Shinkansen opened in 1982. This name derived from Aoba Hills in Sendai city, where Sendai Castle located and later became part of Tohoku University. At that time, there were only Yamabiko fast services and Aoba calling at all stations. 200 series trains were mostly used for them, but a few double-decker trains ran as MAX Aoba.

Aoba dramatically declined when JR East started Nasuno services in 1995, which aimed to attract commuters going to Tokyo. Nasuno calls at all stations as well, but JR East chose not to use the name Aoba as Nasuno does not run as far as Sendai. In 1997, Aoba was discontinued.


Asahi

Asahi was introduced to Joetsu Shinkansen when it opened in 1982. Asahi literally meant "the morning sun", and it was initially used for fast services towards Niigata. In 1997, JR East dramatically rearranged the service patterns, and all services between Tokyo and Niigata were called Asahi regardless of the number of stations they stop. 200 series was used for ordinary Asahi, while double-decker trains were used for MAX Asahi.

However, many passengers filed complaints as they frequently confused Asahi with Asama (Tokyo - Nagano). In fact, Asahi and Asama ran the same tracks between Tokyo and Takasaki, and their pronunciations were similar to each other. Not only passengers but also ticket office staff struggled with these names so that the company changed Asahi to Toki in 2002.


MAX services

MAX stood for Multi Amenity eXpress. JR East introduced two types of double-decker bullet trains in the 1990s and 2000s, namely E1 series and E4 series. These trains could run merely at a speed of 240 km/h (150 mph) but could carry far more passengers than other bullet trains. A 16-car E4 series service could carry 1,634 people, the largest among all high-speed trains in the world.

There were seven MAX services as follows.

 MAX Aoba  Tokyo ⇔ Sendai  1994-2007 
 MAX Asahi  Tokyo ⇔ Niigata  1994-2002 
 MAX Asama  Karuizawa ⇒ Tokyo  2001-2003 
 MAX Nasuno  Tokyo ⇒ Nasushiobara  1995-2012 
 MAX Tanigawa  Tokyo ⇔ Echigo-Yuzawa  1994-2021 
 MAX Toki  Tokyo ⇔ Niigata  2002-2021 
 MAX Yamabiko  Tokyo ⇔ Morioka  1994-2012 

MAX Asama is the least known one among all MAX services. It ran during high seasons (mostly summer holidays) between July 2001 and September 2003, only from Karuizawa to Tokyo. The double-decker trains were heavier than other bullet trains so that they generally could not run steep gradient between Takasaki and Karuizawa on Nagano Shinkansen (now Hokuriku Shinkansen), but four out of 26 E4-series units were compatible with the line. Nevertheless, MAX Asama did not last long as JR East later feared that the train would be too heavy to climb the mountain when it was full of passengers so that there had only been few services from Karuizawa.

MAX allowed far more people than before to take the bullet trains. Passengers used to dress up until the 1980s, but the double-decker trains made the journey relatively cheaper so that commuters and students started using the bullet trains. In other words, the E1 and E4 series contributed to make Shinkansen, once recognised by citizens as luxurious or for elite, a casual mode of transport.

However, these double-decker trains were so slow and uncomfortable that JR East decided not to make a successor train to them. When the E4 series retired in 2021, the MAX brand was discontinued as well.


Finally, this article focuses on a service that is likely to disappear in the near future, Hayate. It means a (sudden) high wind, but it also implied a turbulent weather that potentially causes famine or infectious diseases in the region so that it was highly controversial. Hayate was introduced in 2002 when Tohoku Shinkansen was extended to Hachinohe, and it was once the fastest service running between Tokyo and Hachinohe by E2 series, running at 275 km/h (170 mph) and mostly non-stop between Omiya and Sendai.

However, when the line was extended again to Shin-Aomori and E5 series entered into service in 2011, JR East introduced much faster and more expensive Hayabusa service that runs at 320 km/h (200 mph). As more E5 series trains were delivered, Hayate significantly declined. It was a type of semi-fast service in the first half of the 2010s, but all regular Hayate to and from Tokyo were upgraded to Hayabusa by 2019.


Today, there are only two Hayate on each direction between Morioka or Shin-Aomori and Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto, all of which run either in the morning or at night. Most people must have forgotten that Hayate was once running at the highest speed between Tokyo and the Northeast region. It is hard to find reasons to have Hayate in such an inefficient way today so that it is likely to be discontinued within a few years.

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14 September, 2024

Green Cars for Chuo Line

JR East announced that the Green Car service for Chuo Line (Rapid) and Ome Line would start in spring 2025 ("the first-half of March 2025", to be exact). Chuo Line services between Tokyo and Otsuki as well as some Ome Line services between Tachikawa and Ome will have first class coaches. The company also announced that the Green Cars would be available free of charge from 13 October 2024 as a provisional measure, envisaging that the trial period would result in many commuters using the Green Car on a daily basis next year.


JR East has been focusing on the Green Car project on Chuo Line, which consists not only introducing new carriages but also platform extension work and rearrangement of signalling system and other facilities. Each orange commuter train is now formed of ten coaches (or 6+4), but two Green Cars will be inserted to each unit. The E233 series units will be rearranged to 12-car (or 8+4) trains in due course.

As this blog explained nearly two years ago, JR East has provided the first class coaches free of charge for a few weeks before launching the new service. Chuo Line is no exception, though the trial period will be longer than before.


Green Car fares
- Suica  Paper ticket 
 1-50 km  750 yen  1,010 yen 
 51-100 km  1,000 yen  1,260 yen 

The Green Car fares are based on distance, and they are the same as those for other lines. Note that the actual distance of 50.1 km or more is classified as "51-100 km". In case of Chuo and Ome Lines, typical examples for these two classifications are as follows:

  • 1-50 km
    • Tokyo - Nishi-Hachioji
    • Yotsuya - Takao
    • Tokyo - Hamura (Ome Line)
    • Yotsuya - Ome
  • 51-100 km
    • Shinjuku or further east - Takao or further west
    • Tachikawa or further east - Otsuki
    • Tokyo - Ozaku or further west (Ome Line)

However, the Green Car service for Chuo and Ome Lines is slightly different to that for other lines in the Greater Tokyo Area. According to JR East's rules, a Green Car ticket for other lines (namely Tokaido, Takasaki, Utsunomiya and Joban Lines including Shonan-Shinjuku and Ueno-Tokyo Lines, as well as Yokosuka, Sobu Lines and their relevant lines in Chiba Prefecture) allows using two different lines if two trains go towards the same direction. For example, a passenger can travel from Atami (Tokaido Line) to Chiba (Sobu Line) via Totsuka with just one ticket. However, the ticket for Chuo and Ome Lines is only valid for these two lines. Thus, if a passenger wishes to travel from Mitaka (Chuo Line) to Chiba via Tokyo, he/she will have to purchase two tickets.

JR East envisages that the Green Cars will be another source of revenue and ease congestion of Chuo Line services. However, it is not certain if many passengers will use the first class after the "trial period". Given the high price, short journey time and limited scope of the ticket, there might be fewer daily users than the company anticipates.

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07 September, 2024

Nicchu Line and its ruins

On 1 April 1984, Nicchu Line in Northeastern Japan was closed. It was just 11.6 km (7.2 miles) long, a small rural railway operated by Japanese National Railways. 40 years have passed since then, but its ruins remain as a museum and a promenade. They are not well-known tourist spots but worth a visit.


Nicchu Line opened in 1938 between Kitakata and Atsushio stations in Fukushima Prefecture. It was supposed to be part of so-called Yagan-u Line connecting Imaichi in Tochigi Prefecture and Yonezawa in Yamagata Prefecture. The proposed Yagan-u Line was parallel to an old road called Shimotsuke Kaido that dates back to the mid-17th century. Shimotsuke Kaido was part of the shortest route between Edo (now Tokyo) and Aizu Province and thus heavily used for distribution of goods (e.g. salt, hemp) as well as transporting rice. Hence, the Japanese Government decided to construct a new railway in 1922.

The Yagan-u Line project was unsuccessful. A year after Nicchu Line opened, the Second Sino-Japanese War began. In addition, the Second World War devastated everything in the country so that the project was effectively abandoned by JNR.

The word Nicchu usually means daytime in Japanese, and it sometimes mean Japan-China relation. However, Nicchu Line was derived from a nearby hot spring called Nicchu Onsen. Due to the small number of services, it was often called "Nicchu Line that never runs in the daytime". In fact, there had only been three trains a day since 1958. The below timetables show how many trains ran in 1968, and there had only been a minimal change after that.

(Northbound)
 Kitakata  6:12  16:01  18:35 
 Aizu-Muramatsu  6:20  16:09  18:43 
 Kamisanmiya  6:26  16:16  18:50 
 Aizu-Kano  6:40  16:31  18:59 
 Atsushio  6:49  16:39  19:08 

(Southbound)
 Atsushio  7:02  16:50  19:18 
 Aizu-Kano  7:15  17:04  19:30 
 Kamisanmiya  7:23  17:11  19:37 
 Aizu-Muramatsu  7:29  17:19  19:43 
 Kitakata  7:35  17:25  19:49 

Atsushio station building had been well known as an adorable western-style one. It was about to fall into ruin, but fortunately JNR decided not to tear it down when the line was permanently closed. It was repaired and became Nicchu Line Museum in 1987, owned and managed by Kitakata City Board of Education.


The museum is free of charge, though donation is appreciated. There were quite a few photos, tickets and signboards of Nicchu Line as well as uniforms of staff. Tracks were removed by 1985, but the space is now used as a playground for children as well.


There are two static displays. This is 60 series coach (OHaFu 61-2752), converted in 1955 from an even older wooden carriage. Nicchu Line services were always loco-hauled and no diesel multiple unit was used until the very end. There is also Ki 100 series snow blower by the coach.


Outside the station building, there are disused level crossings and a turntable. The turntable, which is 200 yards south of the station itself, was abandoned by the early-1940s as Nicchu Line was so short and trains were so slow that there was no need to reverse a steam locomotive. The maximum speed of the line was set to 75 km/h (46 mph), but it is hard to believe that trains ran at such speed.


There is another ruin of Nicchu Line: a promenade often used by local residents. It now looks like an ordinary road for pedestrians and bicycles, but there was a train track until 40 years ago. Rails were mostly removed, but remain for a few metres with a steam locomotive Class C11 and an old shunter. The promenade is also known for having more than 1,000 cherry trees (weeping cherry trees), and it is one of the best cherry blossoms spot in Fukushima Prefecture.

Both the museum and the promenade are not close to the city centre of Kitakata. In fact, it is difficult to access to the museum without car. Even so, they are disused railway facilities that have successfully been managed by local governments, and thus anyone visiting the area are recommended adding them to their itinerary.

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24 August, 2024

Adverse effect of Suica network expansion

JR East has been expanding Suica network, which a contactless smart card for train fare payment, can be used. In spring 2025, "Tokyo Suburbs" (東京近郊区間) will be extended from Matsumoto to Nagano (Shinonoi and Shin-etsu Main Line) and Hodaka (Oito Line), allowing passengers to use their Suica or other similar cards (e.g. PASMO and ICOCA). This decision has mostly been welcomed by tourists and businesspeople across the region, but there is an adverse effect: a ticket will be valid only for a day regardless of distance, and nobody will be allowed to break one's journey even when using a paper ticket.

Breaking a journey or a stopover is called 途中下車 (tochu gesha) in Japanese. According to Article 156 of the Rules of Passenger Services, a passenger having a certain standard fare ticket can make unlimited stopovers, specifically:

  • If the journey is longer than 100 km; AND
  • No backtrack or passing a station/section more than twice; OR
  • Unless specifically written on the ticket.
  • If the journey starts from or ends at certain zones (namely Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka, Niigata, Sendai and nearby areas thereof), it is NOT allowed to make a stopover inside those zones.
  • Different rules may be applied to a journey via Shinkansen high-speed rail.

The problem is the fourth condition. Generally speaking, Tokyo suburbs means the Greater Tokyo Area, which consists of Greater Tokyo, Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa Prefectures. In some cases, Gunma, Tochigi and Ibaraki Prefectures are also included, and these six prefectures and Tokyo are commonly known as Kanto region. However, JR East adopts its own definition that is far wider than them. The following map shows how disproportionately large it is. Hodaka station is not included as it is just 16 km (10 miles) from Matsumoto.


(*The map is based on the one provided by Illust Stock, and used in accordance with its terms & policies.)

The map above shows stations outside the Kanto region but still being included in the "Tokyo Suburbs" that JR East defines. Namie, Matsumoto and Ito stations are the end of the Suburbs though they are in Fukushima, Nagano and Shizuoka Prefectures respectively. Stations as far as Nagano will also be covered in spring as mentioned further above. The table below shows how distant those stations are from Tokyo or the closest station in the genuine Greater Tokyo Area.

 Namie  274 km from Tokyo  90 km from Ōtsukō 
 Matsumoto  235 km from Tokyo  169 km from Fujino 
 Ito  121 km from Tokyo  22 km from Yugawara 
 (Nagano*)  298 km from Tokyo  232 km from Fujino 
(*Via Chuo Main Line. Hokuriku Shinkansen is excluded as different rules are applied.)

The least controversial one might be Ito station, which is less than 14 miles from Yugawara station in Kanagawa Prefecture. However, it is hard to find any justification with regard to the other three.

Suica and relevant cards are available in the area, but it might not be beneficial for long-distance travellers. In accordance with the aforementioned Rules, any journey in the "Tokyo Suburbs" regardless of distance does not allow a stopover even with a paper ticket. Therefore, for example, a person from Mito to Matsumoto can never break his or her journey at Tokyo or Shinjuku despite the distance of the entire journey being more than 370 km (230 miles). This figure is longer than the journey between Tokyo and Nagoya or Sendai, or the one between Osaka and Hiroshima.


Buying two or more separate tickets will be costly. There is a solution to avoid the rules being applied even though they are not always feasible. If a journey starts or ends near any "border" stations of the Suburbs, buy a ticket from or to an adjacent station. For example, Kofu station is a border of JR East and JR Central. When going from Tokyo to Kofu, buy a ticket from Tokyo to Kanente station, less than a mile from Kofu station. Kanente is on Minobu Line operated by JR Central so that the ticket will not be subject to the Rules, and thus it will be allowed to break one's journey (and the ticket will be valid for two days). However, anyone who tries this method should be careful as the entire cost could be higher in some cases as the distance will be longer.

Suica extension is generally welcomed by local residents and tourists as it is simply convenient, but it is not always beneficial for long-distance travellers. Fare calculation is always extremely confusing in any country, but it is essential to study it to avoid unnecessary expenditures.

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10 August, 2024

Stopgap trains for Chuo Line

Chuo Line (Rapid) is arguably the most important and heavily used commuter rail in Tokyo. It has always been known since the late-1950s for having rolling stock with the latest technologies as they are developed. Today, the short-distance services are mostly provided by 10-car E233 series, and two Green Cars (first class coaches) will be inserted to each unit next year...but there are exceptions.


Those who frequently use Chuo Line may have seen old-fashioned trains. They are 209 series, which have been well-maintained, but they do not appear as clean as the E233 series due to their age. The 209 series have slightly better acceleration than that of the E233 series, but their air-conditioning is not as good as the newer trains and there is no TV-like monitors above each door. Hence, not a few commuters are dissatisfied with them.


The two 10-car 209 series units were initially introduced to Joban Line (Local) and through-service to Tokyo Metro Chiyoda Line in 1999. They were replaced with the E233 series in 2018 as the 209 series was not compatible with through-service to Odakyu lines. Most railway enthusiasts believed that they would soon be sent for scrap as they were nearly 20 years old then.


However, both units made a dramatic comeback in the following year. As Chuo Line trains were to be equipped with Green Cars and an accessible toilet, JR East decided to use them as spare units and avoid train shortages while the E233 series on Chuo Line was being converted. A trade union anticipated that the stopgap trains would be operational for five more years.

As the 209 series units are old and very different to the E233 series, they generally run between Tokyo and Takao stations in accordance with fixed schedules. Their work always start from and end at Toyoda station, which is adjacent to a depot they belong. Even when there is a sudden change due to disruptions (which are quite common), robust adjustments are always made to ensure that they terminate at Toyoda station at night, no matter how confusing it may be for both passengers and staff.


Everybody knows that the stopgap trains will be withdrawn by 2025 when all commuter trains on Chuo Line are rearranged from 10 to 12 coaches including Green Cars. However, the trade union revealed that Train Automatic Stop-position Controller, a train protection system and automated stopping aid which 209 series is not compatible with, will be in use "no earlier than September this year". Hence, both 209 series units might retire as early as late-September.

Those who wish to see the 209 series should do so before it is too late. The current fixed schedules for the 209 series are as follows ("M-K" means Musashi-Koganei, bold letters means Chuo Special Rapid services). Note that an ordinary E233 series could run instead when the 209 series is not available due to minor maintenance work.

97T
(Weekdays)
 Toyoda (5:44) → Tokyo (6:40) 
 Tokyo (6:46) → Takao (7:57) 
 Takao (8:03) → Tokyo (9:19) 
 Tokyo (9:22) → Toyoda (10:22) 
 Toyoda (15:39) → Tokyo (16:42) 
 Tokyo (16:48) → Takao (18:02) 
 Takao (18:13) → Tokyo (19:24) 
 Tokyo (19:26) → Toyoda (20:28) 
 Toyoda (20:35) → Tokyo (21:35) 
 Tokyo (21:38) → Toyoda (22:40) 

99T
(Weekdays only)
 Toyoda (06:07) → Takao (6:18) 
 Takao (6:26) → Tokyo (7:45) 
 Tokyo (7:47) → Takao (8:59) 
 Takao (9:05) → Tokyo (10:23) 
 Tokyo (10:27) → Takao (11:44) 
 Takao (11:51) → Tokyo (12:52) 
 Tokyo (12:58) → Takao (14:14) 
 Takao (14:23) → Tokyo (15:45) 
 Tokyo (15:51) → Takao (16:51) 
 Takao (17:02) → Tokyo (18:06) 
 Tokyo (18:10) → M-K (18:50) 
 M-K (19:08) → Tokyo (19:50) 
 Tokyo (19:55) → Tachikawa (20:50) 
 Tachikawa (20:57) → Tokyo (21:51) 
 Tokyo (7:47) → Takao (8:59) 
 Tokyo (21:55) → Toyoda (22:59) 

97T
(Weekends & Holidays)
 Toyoda (12:00) → Tokyo (13:00) 
 Tokyo (13:03) → Toyoda (14:02) 
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27 July, 2024

HITACHI, from Tokyo to Sendai

Introduction

Sendai, a city in Miyagi Prefecture with a population of 1.1 million people, is approximately 305 km (190 miles) northeast of Tokyo. Most people use Shinkansen high-speed rail, but there is another railway that connects the two cities: Limited Express Hitachi. This article is about its timetables, fares and comparison with Shinkansen and other alternatives. There are also old timetables of Hitachi.


What is Hitachi?

Hitachi often refers to a company specialising in high technology, developing and producing various things including nuclear power plants, trains, lifts and escalators as well as healthcare products. However, Hitachi in this article means a series of limited express service operated by JR East.

The name of limited express Hitachi stems from Hitachi Province, which was first established in the late 7th century. Today, it mostly corresponds to the same area as Ibaraki Prefecture, which is why the limited express has been named as such.


Limited express Hitachi mostly runs between Shinagawa in Tokyo and Iwaki in Fukushima Prefecture via Joban line, and all services have been heavily used by businesspeople. In addition, there is a similar limited express called Tokiwa, which is shorter and call at more stations than Hitachi.

Just three out of fifteen services in each direction per day are extended to Sendai. Hitachi between Shinagawa and Sendai is the second longest train service in Japan (in terms of distance, excluding bullet trains and night trains) after limited express Nichirin Seagaia that runs between Hakata and Miyazaki Airport via Oita.

All services have been provided by E657 series since 2015. As it happens, 60 out of 190 carriages in total were built by rolling stock manufacturing division of Hitachi, Ltd.


These services call at small stations on the Pacific coast of Fukushima Prefecture including Futaba, the closest station to Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. The area has been decontaminated so that the station and a nearby community centre are no longer off-limits, but a large part of the town has had a high level of radiation, and thus it has still been designated as "difficult-to-return zone". That is why, the station itself looks abandoned even thirteen years after the triple disasters.


Timetables

A trip between Tokyo and Sendai stations by the fastest high-speed train, Hayabusa on Tohoku Shinkansen, takes just 90 minutes. Meanwhile, even the fastest Hitachi between those stations takes nearly 4.5 hours. Timetables as of 2024 are as follows.


They are clearly not for passengers going from Tokyo to Sendai and vice versa. Given that all of these trains call at small stations in Fukushima and northern Ibaraki Prefectures, it seems that JR East targets businesspeople to and local residents in the area. In fact, when I took Hitachi 3 from Tokyo to Sendai, nobody on a carriage I had been went through the entire journey.


The journey was more comfortable than I thought, probably because the train has been equipped with active suspension (though the train got a little bumpy in the disaster zone due to poor maintenance work). This is how a standard-class seat looks like. It is spacious and has a reclining function and a table. Free Wi-Fi is also available. A trolley service with foods and drinks is available on some trains.


Fares

JR bullet trains and limited express trains require a special ticket in addition to a standard fare ticket, and Hitachi is no exception. A pair of single tickets from Tokyo to Sendai (and vice versa) costs as follows. Note that all fares are normal period prices (not peak, busy or off-peak periods) as of 2024.

   Tohoku Shinkansen   
 Hayabusa  Yamabiko  Hitachi 
 Standard fare  6,050 yen  6,050 yen  6,380 yen 
 Additional fare  5,360 yen  5,040 yen  2,900 yen 
 Total amount  11,410 yen  11,090 yen  9,280 yen 
 Journey time  90 mins  120 mins  4.5 hrs 

Hitachi is cheaper than bullet trains, but given the duration of the journey, it might not offer good value for money. Eki-net, an online reservation service that is highly unpopular even among Japanese users due to an unfriendly user interface and lack of coverage, offers discount tickets for smartphone app users.

   Tohoku Shinkansen   
 Hayabusa  Yamabiko  Hitachi 
 Paper 
tickets		 11,410 yen  11,090 yen  9,280 yen 
 e-ticket  11,210 yen  10,890 yen  9,180 yen 
 Ticketless 
35% off		 -  -  8,260 yen 

The 35% discount for Hitachi is applied only to a limited express ticket while the standard fare remains unchanged. Hence, even with the Eki-net, it is not as cheap as everybody expected.

Another option is that purchasing a single ticket from "Tokyo to Ueno via Joban line, Sendai and Tohoku Shinkansen (or via Tohoku Shinkansen, Sendai and Joban line)", in which case a de facto return standard ticket costs 9,870 yen while a genuine return standard ticket is 12,100 yen. A long one-way ticket is generally cheaper than a return ticket of the same distance, and with the Eki-net discount, it could be much cheaper. However, this option is not available for those going from Sendai to Tokyo.

Even so, none of them is cheaper than coaches. A coach between Shinjuku Bus Terminal and Sendai usually costs 3,000 – 5,000 yen. It takes around five hours (or more when there is a traffic jam), but it is always more attractive than trains when it comes to cost. Hence, Hitachi is recommended only to travellers who are particularly interested in train journeys.


From old timetables

Finally, it might be interesting to see some old timetables and see how Joban line intercity trains between Tokyo and Sendai have changed in the last 50 years. Note that Iwaki station was called Taira until 1994.




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13 July, 2024

Limited Express that could be discontinued

Introduction

My website, The Red List of Trains in Japan has focused on rolling stock and especially "endangered" train types in the country. However, it should be noted that rolling stock and train services are different. Even if a company does not have a plan to replace certain train units with others, some services might be downgraded or discontinued in the near future as the demand drops. This article focuses on limited express services that could disappear within a few years.


Taisetsu

 Service commenced: 2017 
 Termini: Asahikawa, Abashiri 
 Lines (principal): Sekihoku Main Line 
 Distance: 237.7 km (147.7 miles) 
 Journey time (fastest): 3 h 37 min 
 Operator: JR Hokkaido 

Limited Express Taisetsu is a long-distance intercity service connecting Asahikawa and Abashiri in Hokkaido. There are two trains per day but do not run on certain Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays (off-season). There has been another limited express service called Okhotsk that runs between Sapporo and Asahikawa, but JR Hokkaido shortened some Okhotsk trains and renamed Taisetsu. Sekihoku Main Line has suffered from low ridership for more than 20 years as motorways opened that are shorter and allow faster speed than the railway.

On 7 June 2024, the local newspaper Hokkaido Shimbun reported that Taisetsu could be downgraded to a rapid train in March 2025, which does not require a limited express ticket. It would be beneficial for both passengers and JR Hokkaido as the fares will be cheaper and less staff than limited express will be necessary. No official announcement has been made by the company, but it is likely to take place soon.


Suzuran

 Service commenced: 1992 
 Termini (principal): Sapporo, Muroran 
 Lines (principal): Muroran Main Line 
 Distance: 136.2 km (84.6 miles) 
 Journey time (fastest): 1 h 42 min 
 Operator: JR Hokkaido 

Limited Express Suzuran runs between Sapporo and Higashi-Muroran or Muroran. Muroran has the largest port in the island of Hokkaido so that the transport between these two cities have been in high demand. Nevertheless, the ridership of Suzuran has plummeted since March 2024 as seat reservation is now mandatory. This is effectively a massive fare rise so that most passengers have shifted to coach services. A single fare between Sapporo and Muroran is 5,220 yen for Suzuran while 2,500 yen for bus (though it takes an hour longer than the train).

There is an argument that JR Hokkaido has not learned anything from the history of Japanese National Railways, which fell into a vicious spiral of fare rises and a drop in demand. This is not necessarily true as JR Hokkaido has introduced discounts for reservation in advance. However, it seems that Japanese people dislike dynamic pricing as it is hard to understand and they feel being treated unfairly when it comes to railway fares. Other intercity trains of JR Hokkaido including Kamui and Lilac have the same problem, but Suzuran has hit the hardest so far. Therefore, the president of the company conceded during a regular press conference held on 11 June that he did not persist with having limited express services, and indicated that Suzuran could be downgraded to rapid.


Kinugawa

 Service commenced: 2006 
 Termini (principal): Shinjuku (JR), Kinugawa-onsen 
 Lines (principal): Utsunomiya line and Tobu lines 
 Distance: 140.2 km (87.1 miles) 
 Journey time (fastest): 2 h 5 min 
 Operators: JR East, Tobu Railway 

As the name suggests, Limited Express Kinugawa connects Shinjuku and Kinugawa-onsen, the famous tourist spot with hot springs. There are also a few trains called Nikko that connect Shinjuku and Nikko. Both JR East and Tobu Railway provide the services (Tobu's trains are called SPACIA Kinugawa or SPACIA Nikko). The Tokyo-Nikko route had been highly competitive since 1929, but Tobu won by the early-1980s. Twenty years later, Tobu asked for JR East to establish a through-service because both Kinugawa and Nikko were suffering from a decline, as most Japanese people preferred going abroad.

The through-service has not been successful. There are many reasons for the low ridership. First, most tourists prefer road transport as most tourist spots in the area are not in the vicinity of railway stations. Second, there are only two regular services a day. There were four daily services until 2023, but both companies have decided to axe them. Instead, there are three more services that run at weekends and during high seasons. Third, JR Rail Pass does not cover Kinugawa or Nikko as the trains simply run non-JR lines, resulting in a small number of foreign tourists.

As JR East 253 series and Tobu 100 series SPACIA are expected to be withdrawn within a few years, the through-services are likely to end by then.


Fujikawa

 Service commenced: 1964 (as Express Fujikawa) 
 Termini: Shizuoka, Kofu 
 Lines (principal): Minobu line 
 Distance: 122.4 km (76.1 miles) 
 Journey time (fastest): 2 h 14 min 
 Operator: JR Central 

Limited Express Fujikawa connects two prefectural capitals, Kofu in Yamanashi Prefecture and Shizuoka. Minobu line is a rural railway and known for great scenery as trains run by Fuji River and Mt Fuji. The train named after the river runs roughly every two hours. It is not just for tourists but also for local residents and businesspeople. JR Central has introduced discount tickets for short-distance journey, allowing commuters and students to use it easily.

Even so, its future is bleak. A motorway called Chubu-Odan Expressway opened in 2021, and now the road transport can connect the two cities in just two hours. Though there are only two coach services on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, the cheaper bus will surely take train users over. It does not necessarily mean that Minobu line will close as there are quite a few people living near the railway, but it is not certain whether Fujikawa can survive. JR Central 373 series trains are quite old, but will the company introduce brand new trains to the area?


Muroto

 Service commenced: 1999 
 Termini (principal): Tokushima, Mugi 
 Line: Mugi line 
 Distance: 67.7 km (42.1 miles) 
 Journey time (fastest): 1 h 21 min 
 Operator: JR Shikoku 

Many people firmly believe that Limited Express Muroto is on the verge of its demise. It connects Tokushima and Mugi on a rural railway called Mugi line. There were three services on each direction until 2019 but declined to just one as most local residents prefer cars. Today, a train towards Tokushima leaves Mugi in the early morning and returns in the evening, suggesting that the service is used by commuters and possibly a few students.

Muruto is still faster than stopping services as its journey time is 40 minutes shorter than the slow trains. However, given that the area has been sparsely populated for more than 200 years and no sign of population growth, the future of Muroto or even Mugi line itself is uncertain. Nobody would be surprised if JR Shikoku announced the withdrawal of Muroto at any time.


Personal views

Many people blame depopulation, but the low ridership is not necessarily triggered only by that. It is noted that those running railways and the authorities in Japan are not stupid, and they have endeavoured to keep those trains. Nevertheless, not everything succeeds.

Railways in Hokkaido have always said to be extremely difficult to maintain due to the harsh climate and geographical reasons, the government should fund them. However, residents in Hokkaido generally reject the idea because of antipathy against railways (or rather, trade unions) that has lasted for decades and highly sceptical about the necessity of having them.

As I argued before, railways are not necessarily greener or better than cars. In some cases, where new roads can connect cities and towns shorter while railway routes are winding due to historical reasons, road transport is more sustainable and safer than trains. Those five limited express trains might have already fulfilled their roles and about to disappear. Anybody interested in the journey are highly recommended to plan a trip before it is too late.

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