Extra bullet trains at peak times and new early-morning/late-night departures will make it easier to zoom from one region of Japan to another.

The Shinkansen isn’t the only way to get around Japan, but it’s the fastest, the most comfortable, and the most convenient. That combination, though, also means that it’s the most popular mode of long-distance transportation among travelers, and that means that seats can fill up quickly, especially along the “golden route” combination of the Tokaido Shinkansen (connecting Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka) and Sanyo Shinkansen (connecting Osaka, Hiroshima, and Fukuoka) sections of the bullet train network.

Getting tickets is going to become easier this coming spring, though, as rail operator JR Central (also known as JR Tokai and Central Japan Railway Company) has announced that it’s going to be adding additional Shinkansen trains between Tokyo and Osaka during the most popular travel times of the day.

For westbound Shinkansen trains leaving Tokyo Station, peak Shinkansen ridership occurs in the morning, so under the new schedule a total of 13 Nozomi-class Shinkansen trains will leave Tokyo Station every hour between 7 and 11 a.m. That’s one more train the current timetable, and means that there’s less an average of less than five minutes’ wait between Nozomi trains. The new departure times for the roughly two-and-a-half-hour ride to Shin Osaka Station (which also stops in Kyoto along the way) leaving Tokyo at 7:33, 8:42, 9:33, and 10:42 a.m.

Eastbound Shinkansen ridership, on the other hand, peaks in the late afternoon and early evening, so to address that JR Central will be adding a 13th Nozomi per hour to trains departing Shin Osaka Station and headed to Tokyo Station between 2 and 6 p.m., with the new departures at 2.42, 3:36, 4:42, and 5:36 p.m. Note that on certain days the 5:36 train will only go as far Shinagawa Station, but that’s still in downtown Tokyo and a very short ride by non-bullet train to Tokyo Station, if that’s specifically where you need to be.

▼ And if you’re on the Shinkansen because it’s the last day of your Japan trip and you’ve got a flight out to catch, you’ll need to get off in Shinagawa anyway to make the transfer to Haneda Airport.

For especially early risers, there are also new early-morning Tokyo-bound Nozomi trains being added to the timetables at Kyoto and Nagoya Stations. Kyoto is getting a new 6:03 a.m. departure that will run on weekends, Mondays, and some holidays. Meanwhile, Nagoya’s every-day first-departure Tokyo-bound Nozomi is having its departure time moved up from 6:37 to 6:28 a.m., with the current 6:37 a.m. slot to be filled by a train running on select travel days. All of these will have riders in Tokyo before 8:30 a.m.

Zooming out on the map to include the Sanyo Shinkansen Line, which connects to the Tokaido at Shin Osaka Station and continues on west through Kobe and Hiroshima to Fukuoka, JR will be adding additional Nozomi trains past the currently scheduled last departures on especially busy travel days. For trains headed west from Tokyo to Hiroshima, an additional 8:09 p.m. departure (9 minutes later than the current last Nozomi) will be added, and for trains headed east from Hakata Station (Fukuoka), there’ll be new a 7:18 Nozomi (18 minutes later than the ordinary last departure).

The new schedules go into effect on March 26, meaning they should be in place by the time Japan gets into the peak cherry blossom travel season.

Source: JR Central via Narinari.com
Top image ©SoraNews24
Insert image: Pakutaso
● Want to hear about SoraNews24’s latest articles as soon as they’re published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!