Photo/Illutration A Tokaido Shinkansen Line train (Provided by Central Japan Railway Co.)

All seats on the fastest Nozomi bullet trains along the Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen lines will be reservation-only during periods of peak demand, Central Japan Railway Co. (JR Tokai) and West Japan Railway Co. (JR West) announced.

The operators of the two lines, which link Tokyo Station with Fukuoka’s Hakata Station, said on Sept. 13 that nonreserved seats will no longer be available on the Nozomi trains during the year-end and New Year’s holidays, the Golden Week holiday period from late April to early May and the Bon holiday period in mid-August.

The measure will begin this year, with the first period being from Dec. 28 through Jan. 4.

JR Tokai officials said doing away with nonreserved seats will increase the number of reserved seats by about 20 percent.

At station ticket counters, seats can be reserved up to a month before the date of travel. Starting on Oct. 1, however, reservations have become available up to a year before the travel date via the “EX” online reservation service, which will make it easier to get seats.

Nonreserved seats will remain available on the slower Hikari and Kodama trains along the Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen lines.

The Nozomi trains started out with all seats reserved. Three of the 16 cars of the Nozomi trains, however, were set aside for nonreserved seats for the convenience of walk-in passengers when the number of Nozomi services was significantly increased in 2003.

Long lines would form at the station platform spot for nonreserved seats at peak periods, however, which would often cause train delays, the officials explained.

All seats are already reservation-only on the Hayabusa, Komachi, Tsubasa and Kagayaki trains, which run along other Shinkansen lines.

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