On 22 September, JR Hokkaido, JR East, JR Central and JR West announced that Transit Discount (乗継割引, noritsugi waribiki), a 50% discount for limited express tickets, would be discontinued in spring 2024.
Transit Discount is a fare scheme which makes a limited express ticket 50% cheaper than usual when purchased together with a bullet train ticket (conditions apply). It was introduced by Japanese National Railways in 1965, a year after Tokaido Shinkansen opened. Bullet train services have been expensive, so if there had been no such a scheme, passengers going to or from stations which had direct services to and from Tokyo until 1964 would have had to pay disproportionately higher prices than they did before. The rule has been, as always, very complicated.
The Discount is applied when two tickets (a bullet train ticket and a limited express ticket) are purchased at the same time. If one uses a bullet train and then a limited express train, both journeys have to be on the same day (valid for two days in an opposite case). Not all interchange stations were covered: for example, it was not applicable to changing trains at Tokyo, Shinagawa or Ueno stations due to the historical reason described above.
The scheme had also covered express tickets until 2016 when all express trains were withdrawn.
Generally speaking, a passenger has to make a transfer at a station where both trains stop, but there are a few exceptions. A pair of tickets above shows that I could take Express Hamanasu from Aomori with the Discount though a bullet train terminated at Shin-Aomori. In that sense, Aomori and Shin-Aomori were effectively one single station.
The Discount was also applied to a few sleeper trains though a bed fare remained unchanged. This express bed ticket (Hamanasu) was supposed to be 7,560 yen at that time (1,260 yen as the express fare while 6,300 yen for bed). The 50% discount was valid only for the express fare so that the total amount was 6,960 yen (630 + 6,300).
Similarly, a Green Car fare is not subject to the Discount either. In this case, the limited express fare was 50% off (from 2,580 to 1,290 yen) but the first class fare was the same as usual. There was no discount at all for special accommodations such as Green Compartment.
Another exception was that some sleeper limited express trains such as Sunrise Seto were treated like a bullet train until April 2023. I travelled to Tokushima from Tokyo using the sleeper train and changed trains at Takamatsu. Since the Discount was valid on the whole day, I could spend five hours for sightseeing in Takamatsu before getting on the discounted Limited Express Uzushio.
Finally, there is another interesting rule. This is an ordinary fare ticket, but there is a stamp on the top right, which means "transit requested" (乗継請求, noritsugi seikyu). According to regulations, when a passenger asks for the Discount in accordance with the rule but a railway operator cannot issue a second ticket due to certain circumstances, the passenger can purchase it later at another station. Strictly speaking, it is applicable only when the second train is full or there is no device to issue any more ticket (such as onboard ticket machine carried by a conductor), but some JR staffs misunderstand the rule and sometimes stamp a fare ticket like this even when it does not meet criteria.
JR companies had been eager for years to abolish the scheme simply because of financial reasons. According to JRs, it no longer fits for purpose as many passengers (mainly businesspeople) have shifted to e-tickets, but it is evident that they are interested more in potential increase in revenue. JR Kyushu was the first company to terminate the scheme (11 March 2011), while JR Shikoku followed earlier this year (31 March 2023), then JR Central abolishes it on 15 March 2024. Other three companies have not referred to a specific date, but it is likely to be on the same day.
The termination of the Transit Discount is effectively a fare rise. Even though railway companies are struggling with making profit after the COVID-19 pandemic, it surely discourages people to use their services. It may lead to further decline in demand as not a few people would shift to cheaper options such as buses and budget airlines.
