JR Tokai, Others to Introduce Busiest Season Reservation Fee

Nagoya, Oct. 27 (Jiji Press)--Central Japan Railway Co. <9022>, or JR Tokai, and other Japan Railways Group firms have announced plans to add in fiscal 2023 a busiest-season fee to their current three-tier pricing system for seat reservation for express services including Shinkansen bullet trains.

The seat reservation fee for the highest-demand periods, set at 930 yen, will be introduced to help ease congestion, resulting in the gap between the highest- and lowest-season fees widening to 600 yen from 400 yen at present, according to the firms’ announcement Wednesday.

Starting with rides from April 1, 2023, the first day of the upcoming fiscal year, the revamped pricing system will be applied to JR Tokai’s Tokaido Shinkansen Line, the Sanyo Shinkansen Line of West Japan Railway Co. <9021>, or JR West, and the Kyushu Shinkansen and Nishi Kyushu Shinkansen lines of Kyushu Railway Co. <9142>, or JR Kyushu, as well as limited express trains operated by the three firms and Shikoku Railway Co., or JR Shikoku.

Currently, a trip on a reserved seat of a Shinkansen or other express train requires a seat reservation fee under the three-tier system--530 yen for the regular periods, 730 yen for high-demand periods and 330 yen for low-demand periods--in addition to the base express train fees and fares set according to the travel distance.

The new 930-yen reservation fee will be charged during the Golden Week holiday period from late April to early May, the “Bon” summer holiday period in mid-August, and the year-end and New Year period.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]