CENTRAL JAPAN RAILWAY COMPANY Annual Report 2007

As a result, passengers will be able to transfer “seamlessly” between the Tokaido
Shinkansen (between Tokyo and Shin-Osaka) and conventional lines by combining use
of their “Express IC Card” and metropolitan area IC cards, such as “TOICA.”
Designing Products that Are Easier to Use
In order to make the Tokaido Shinkansen even more convenient for passengers, JR
Central offers for members of the “Express Reservation” service “Express Hayatoku”
tickets which can be purchased up to three days prior to departure and provide further
discounts to major destinations on “Hikari” services and “Nozomi” services leaving
between 6:00 a.m. and 7:00 a.m.. Passengers can also purchase various products besides
the “Express Reservation” service. Repeat users can purchase “Shinkansen multi-trip
tickets” that can be used for either reserved or non-reserved seats on all the “Nozomi”,
“Hikari” and “Kodama” trains. Furthermore, we sell “Hayatoku” discount tickets that
must be purchased at least seven days in advance, for non-business passengers traveling
for sightseeing or other occasions. To take maximum advantage of the available
transport capacity, we are expanding our product lineup in cooperation with travel
agencies and offering reasonably-priced tour packages to encourage the use of “Hikari”
and early morning “Nozomi” services, which have relatively excess capacity at present.
Measures to Stimulate Tourism Demand
JR Central has continued the “Kyoto Campaign” and “Nara Campaign”, introducing
Japan’s top tourism destinations dotted along the Tokaido Shinkansen to raise tourismrelated
railway demands. The number of people visiting Kyoto by railway is increasing
year after year.
“JR Central 50+ (Fifty-Plus)” is a membership-based travelers’ service that offers
attractive and reasonably-priced tour packages to customers 50 years of age and older.
There are no registration or membership fees. Another merit of “JR Central 50+” is
offering the member-exclusive original tours to not only members themselves, but also
their travel companions regardless of age under the same conditions. These merits have
supported the steady increase in the membership of “JR Central 50+”.
We provide a diverse range of attractive tour packages in cooperation with travel
agencies. In addition to transporting passengers to tourist sites along JR Central’s lines,
such as Kyoto, Nara, Ise and Tokyo, we are also working, together with JR West, to
leverage the increased transportation capacity of “Nozomi” services directly linking the
Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen, through the implementation of tourist campaigns for
various areas from the Tokyo metropolitan area to the Sanyo area, or from the Nagoya to
the Kyushu area.
“JR Central 50 + (Fifty-Plus)”
Membership
(Thousands)
Membership
Accumulated
tour participants
Accumulated
tour participants
(Thousands)
JR Central 50 + (Fifty-Plus) Membership Magazine
Kyoto campaign, Summer 2007 version (Myoshin-ji Temple)
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