Photo/Illutration Seats on the Wakashio, which mainly connects Tokyo and Awa-Kamogawa station in Chiba Prefecture, will become by reservation only in March. (Ayateru Hosozawa)

East Japan Railway Co. is set to abolish non-reserved seats on three train services for Chiba Prefecture next month, meaning reservations will be required on all limited express trains from the Tokyo metropolitan area.

Non-reserved seats currently account for 40 to 50 percent of all seats on the Shiosai, Wakashio and Sazanami limited express trains that connect the Tokyo metropolitan area with the scenic Boso Peninsula in Chiba Prefecture.

All seats will be by reservation only when JR East revises its timetables on March 16.

The move to abolish non-reserved seats on limited express trains to and from the Tokyo metropolitan area started in 2014 with the Akagi on the Takasaki Line.

The three trains to Chiba Prefecture are the last remaining ones with non-reserved seats.

JR East is not alone. West Japan Railway Co. and Hokkaido Railway Co. will also abolish non-reserved seats on five and four limited express train services, respectively, as part of timetable revisions in March.

Train operators emphasized that passengers increasingly want to be seated on long-distance journeys.

But they also expect to cut costs by doing away with non-reserved seats.

While the occupancy of reserved seats can be monitored via computer terminals, conductors must walk around and check tickets of passengers in non-reserved seats.

The reservation-only ride has applied to Shinkansen bullet trains as well.

Cars No. 1 through No. 3 are for passengers without a seat reservation on the 16-car Nozomi, which runs on the Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen lines.

From December, however, all seats became available by reservation only during the year-end and New Year holidays, meaning reservations are must for all seats during the three peak periods.

The other two are the Golden Week holidays from late April to early May and the Bon mid-summer holidays in August.

JR companies recommend the use of online reservation systems if it is difficult to make plans because passengers can change trains using a smartphone until right before boarding.

Takeshi Hara, who authored several books on trains, said he is opposed to abolishing non-reserved seats.

“Without flexible free seating, travel would become stifling,” said Hara, a professor at the Open University of Japan who specializes in the history of Japanese political thought.

“Railway companies may say it is easy to change trains with a smartphone, but not everyone has a smartphone and elderly people have difficulties using one,” he said.

“The number of Midori-no-Madoguchi ticket offices is falling off, and it is becoming more time-consuming to buy or change a ticket for a reserved seat.”

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