East Japan Railway Company, which operates trains in Tokyo and eastern
Honshu, will change its timetables and fare rules on December 10th, 2005
(Sat).

1.  Cheaper fares for Narita Express Green seats
2.  Trains added to the Tohoku Shinkansen and branches
3.  Trains added and extended on other lines
4.  Less liberty for smokers
5.  More information, disclaimer

---------

1. Cheaper fares for Narita Express Green seats

The Green (or 1st class) surcharge for Narita Express will go down.
Rules for the Green compartment surcharge will change, too.

Green seat, current rate:
   2550 yen (to 100 km)       (Tokyo, Shinjuku)
   2850 yen (100km to 200 km) (Yokohama)

Green seat, new rate:
   Flat rate, 2000 yen per passenger, regardless of distance

Green compartment, new rate:
   Flat rate, 6000 yen per room, regardless of number of occupants

Currently, JR charges child fare and limited express surcharge for the
number of unoccupied seats when a room is taken up by a group of less
than four.  No need to pay for "ghosts" from December 10th onward.

Total fare
(sum of regular fare, limited express surcharge, and Green surcharge):

Narita Airport to Tokyo, single Green seat, open coach:
   4980 yen current / 4430 yen new

Narita Airport to Tokyo, 4 passengers in a Green compartment:
   21520 yen current / 15720 yen new

For more info on new Narita Express fares visit JR East's site:
http://www.jreast.co.jp/e/nex/index.html (English)


Green compartment surcharges for the Super View Odoriko will likewise go
down to 6000 yen.  Green fares for other JR trains remain unchanged.


2. Trains added to the Tohoku Shinkansen and branches

New trains, each direction:

2 Hayate  (Tokyo-Morioka)
1 Komachi (Tokyo-Akita)
1 Tsubasa (Tokyo-Shinjo)

Currently, Tokyo Terminal tracks 20, 21 are for Nagano and Joetsu
Shinkansen departures; 22, 23 are for Tohoku, Akita and Yamagata
Shinkansen departures.  From December 10th, this distinction will
disappear.  Color displays are being installed for better guidance.

Seasonal Shinkansen runs that start and terminate at Ueno will come to
Tokyo.

Connections at Sendai will be improved between the express-type Hayate
and the slower Yamabiko, reducing total travel time to/from Tokyo by
20-25 minutes.  All seats are reserved on the Hayate: let the JR ticket
office or your travel bureau arrange for the trip.


3.  Trains added and extended on other lines

Limited express and local runs will increase in the Chiba area, Takasaki
Line and branches, and the Chuo Line.  Older cars will retire from Chiba
area limited express trains: Wakashio, Sazanami, Shiosai, Ayame.

All Azusa Ltd. runs will serve Tachikawa (but not Super-Azusa).
Shinjuku - Tachikawa is 450 yen regular fare + 500 yen surcharge
(non-reserved 2nd class), about 23 minutes.  (Not much faster than the
special rapid or "tokkai".)


4.  Less liberty for smokers

Smoking will be banned altogether on the Nagano Shinkansen Asama,
the Narita Express, Chiba area limiteds Wakashio, Sazanami, Shiosai and
Ayame.


5.  More information, disclaimer

JR East official site:
http://www.jreast.co.jp/
Has English, Chinese and Korean pages.  Probably not much on the
timetable changes outside Japanese.

JR East information centers and foreign language phone line:
http://www.jreast.co.jp/e/info/index.html

Official announcement from JR East:
http://www.jreast.co.jp/press/2005_1/20050915.pdf (Japanese)

Hitachi Hyperdia, automated online timetable:
http://hyperdia.com
Does not correctly handle new timetable/fares as of this writing.


This is a private translation of railroad announcements.  In spite of my
efforts, there may be errors.  Please confirm with official timetables
and fare charts from JR.  If you notice anything wrong, kindly reply to
the newsgroup or send me email: mailto:afu@wta.att.ne.jp .

Douso, The Prophet of the Way