TOKYO – Four shinkansen bullet train operators in Japan said Friday they will integrate their respective online booking systems to streamline services.
Users will no longer need to create separate accounts and login details for online reservation systems of the four Japan Railway firms — Central Japan Railway Co., East Japan Railway Co., West Japan Railway Co. and Kyushu Railway Co. — and services will be accessible from one interface.
The integrated booking systems for JR Central and JR West will be launched within fiscal 2026, starting next April, while JR East and JR Kyushu’s services will be incorporated sequentially from fiscal 2027 onward.
Currently, for example, arranging a journey from Sendai in northeastern Japan to Nagoya in the country’s central region requires booking two separate trips — one from Sendai to Tokyo, and another from Tokyo to Nagoya — on two separate platforms.
After the change, users will be able to book both trips from the same login screen, provided they have created an account with at least one service beforehand.
The integration of the four services will enable coverage of the country’s entire JR network.
The operators hope the move will increase online service usage, as currently such reservations comprise about 50 to 60 percent of bookings.
“JR firms are joining hands to improve services from the customer’s perspective,” a JR West official told a press conference in Tokyo.
AloJapan.com