By YUJI YAMASHITA/ Staff Writer
March 13, 2020 at 08:00 JST
The "Aru Ressha" luxury sightseeing train operated by Kyushu Railway Co. (Provided by JR Kyushu)
FUKUOKA--Kyushu Railway Co. (JR Kyushu) is scheduled to debut its first sweets-themed luxury sightseeing train departing and returning to Hakata Station here this month.
The "Aru Ressha" ("a certain train") has been in regular service in Nagasaki and Oita prefectures, but not in Fukuoka until now.
During the three-hour one-way trip, passengers can dine on sweets and other foods. The fee, including the train fare and the course menu, starts at a tax-inclusive 26,000 yen ($240) per adult for a seat at a table for two or in a private room for two.
The menu, supervised by renowned chef Yoshihiro Narisawa, who runs a restaurant in Tokyo's Minami-Aoyama district, is packed with local ingredients from the Kyushu region.
The Aru Ressha will make 60 trips between Hakata, JR Kyushu's busiest station, and Huis Ten Bosch Station in Sasebo, Nagasaki Prefecture, from March 14 to May 6, mainly on weekends.
The train departs Huis Ten Bosch Station at around 11 a.m., and Hakata Station at around 3 p.m.
Its design is based on a deluxe American excursion train that a railway company ordered but failed to use in the Meiji Era (1868-1912).
The Aru Ressha first went into service in 2015 and carried 38,000 passengers by the end of 2019.
The sweets-themed version of the train will also operate on routes between Saga and Nagasaki stations and between Nagasaki and Sasebo stations from May.
Other railway operators also spy a business opportunity in catering to passengers with a sweet tooth.
Nishi-Nippon Railroad Co., based in Fukuoka Prefecture, will operate a sightseeing train on April 9 as a sweets train.
A sweet pizza topped with strawberries from the Chikugo region is one of the course menu items on The Rail Kitchen Chikugo train.
A trip on the train that will run between Nishitetsu Fukuoka (Tenjin) and Omuta stations costs 7,700 yen, including tax.
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