The Royal Express: A Luxury Train Journey Through Hokkaido

This year, JR Hokkaido has once again begun operation of the Royal Express Hokkaido Cruise Train. A luxury tourist train. The train will run on lines around Hokkaido during the summer months. With passengers stopping at hotels for three nights to enjoy the beautiful nature and food of Hokkaido. This year, the third since its launch in 2020, the train will run a total of eight tours throughout August and September. However, the Royal Express is not actually owned by JR Hokkaido, but rather by Tokyo Corporation, a major private railway company in Tokyo. In today's program, we look at how a train operated by a private railway company in Tokyo started running a luxury tourist train in Hokkaido. In recent years, a series of luxury tourist trains have made their debut in Japan. These trains have a set route with scheduled stops along the way for excursions. The first was JR Kyushu's Seven Stars in Kyushu, which began service in 2013. This seven-car train is hauled by a diesel locomotive, which consists of five guest cars, a dining car and a lounge car. Boasting a rich woodgrain interior, all 14 private rooms are suites, providing luxury and comfort, comparable to that of a luxury hotel, as the train travels around Kyushu. This elegant tourist train is JR East's Toa Suite Shikishima, which started service in 2017. This 10-car electric train, which travels around eastern Japan, has a dining car, a lounge car, six guest cars and an observation car. From the outside, the train draws attention with its champagne gold livery and unique window designs, while the interior evokes a sense of Japanese culture. JR West's Twilight Express Mizukaze also made its debut in 2017. This hybrid diesel train tours around western Japan, starting from Kyoto and Osaka. This classic-looking train features an observation deck, giving it a unique appearance. The 10-car train consists of six guest cars, a dining car, a lounge car and an observation car. In the dining car, which has an open kitchen, passengers can enjoy meals prepared by a top chef. The boom in excursion-type luxury tourist train has now spread beyond JR to other major railway companies. In 2017, Tokyo Corporation unveiled its tourist train. The Royal Express It features an impressive royal blue exterior and a classic interior full of warmth and luxury, with timber throughout. This eight-car electric train includes four passenger cars, a kitchen car and a dining car. The Royal Express normally runs between Yokohama Station in Kanagawa Prefecture and Izu-kyu Shimoda Station in Shizuoka Prefecture, on lines operated by JR East and the Izu-Kyuko Line. The train is famous for its scenic coastal views and the exquisite meals served on board. While the train doesn't have sleeper cars, it offers excursions that are exclusive to the train, with stays at high-class Japanese inns and hotels. JR Hokkaido has been operating a variety of tourist trains to attract tourists, such as a trolley train and a steam locomotive. However, with many lines running at a loss, JR Hokkaido is having financial difficulties. It is difficult to create tourist trains considering the costs. Unfortunately, the Hokkaido-Eastern Ibori earthquake in September 2018 also caused a significant drop in the number of tourists visiting Hokkaido. So JR Hokkaido teamed up with Tokyo Corporation to run their luxury tourist train in Hokkaido. During the summer, Tokyo suspends the Royal Express because of the many additional trains that run on the Izu-Kyuko Line. However, the company was looking for an effective way to use the suspended train. So four companies, with the addition of JR Freight and JR East, started the project to run the Royal Express in Hokkaido to promote tourism and support recovery efforts after the earthquake. Wow, what a project! Dio, has anything on that scale ever been done in Japan before? Well, there may be some similar examples, but for this case, the vehicles are owned by a private railway company. This I think is rare, if not unprecedented. Also, the vehicles are the electric multiple unit designed for use in the Izu-Kyuko Line. Whereas in Hokkaido, the railways are either non-electrified or, if at all, AC-electrified. And this will give the project added difficulty to overcome. I know that sounds like added difficulty. Well, I find it interesting that JR Hokkaido, who's been struggling a little bit because of natural disasters and similar, is working together with Tokyo Corporation, whose train was not in service or is not in service during the summer. I find it great that both of them thought it would be beneficial for them to work together. And let's be honest, everyone loves a good collaboration. I think so. And also JR East and JR Freight played a very important role in making this project happen. Yes, adding JR East and JR Freight, let's find out how those four companies worked together to make it happen. To run the Royal Express in Hokkaido, it was decided JR Hokkaido would operate the train and Tokyo would provide the onboard service. However, several problems needed to be solved. To begin with, the Royal Express is an electric train. However, Hokkaido has many non-electrified lines. So, JR Hokkaido decided to use two diesel locomotives to pull the train. They then had to find a way to power the lighting and air conditioning on board. In cases like this, a power supply car is usually connected to supply electricity to the vehicles. Tokyo didn't have one, so JR East sold them a power supply car at a discount. The car's exterior was designed to match the Royal Express. It's going to start. This vehicle is equipped with a diesel generator which supplies electricity to each car. Another challenge was the length of the station platforms. Some stations in Hokkaido have platforms shorter than the 8-car Royal Express. So, the train was reduced to five cars consisting of four passenger cars and a kitchen car. While passenger numbers dropped from 100 to 30, that gave Tokyo the chance to focus on giving high-quality service to each passenger. The remaining challenge was transporting the Royal Express approximately 1,300 kilometers from Izukogen Station in Shizuoka Prefecture to Sapporo in Hokkaido. Thankfully, that was made possible with the help of JR Freight. The Royal Express was hauled by a locomotive and transported as freight to Hokkaido. This year, transportation of the Royal Express began at midnight on July 18th. We went to see how they moved the train. The pantograph isn't needed in Hokkaido, so it's been removed from the Royal Express. Since there are no locomotives on the Izu-Kyuko Line, the Royal Express is hauled by regular train from Izukogen to JR Ito Station. The Royal Express cars and power supply car, six cars in total, are divided into two groups and pulled by conventional trains. At 11.27pm, the first three cars depart Izukogen Station, thus begins their journey from Izu to Hokkaido. The remaining three cars depart as well. Meanwhile, at Ito Station, JR Freight's locomotive is awaiting the arrival of the Royal Express. The first three cars arrive at Ito Station. The conventional train is detached. Here, the two groups join back together to form a single train. The Royal Express, now with six cars including the power supply, is coupled to an electric locomotive from JR Freight. At 4.39am, the train departs for Hokkaido, the worker's Seattle. Departing from Ito Station, the Royal Express will travel via three JR East lines to the Tohoku Main Line. After changing locomotives at a signal station along the way, the Royal Express enters the Tohoku Main Line via a dedicated freight line to avoid the busy conventional lines. At exactly 12.00pm, the Royal Express arrives at Utsunomiya Freight Terminal Station in Tochigi Prefecture. The train will stay here until the next morning. At 6.25am on July 20th, the Royal Express departs Utsunomiya Freight Terminal Station. The train runs towards Hokkaido, passing through Tohoku's four prefectures, Fukushima, Miyagi, Iwate, and Aomori. It then enters Hokkaido through an undersea tunnel. After four days, approximately 73 hours, the Royal Express arrives at JR Hokkaido's Sapporo Operations Center. The Royal Express in Hokkaido offers four-day package tours. So the crew and staff on board have a lot of work to do, including helping with excursions away from the train and bus transfers to guest accommodations. Although the crew have experience with the Yokohama and Izu routes, the Hokkaido package is by far the longest, making it more tiresome than usual. It's just two days until the Royal Express starts operation in Hokkaido. The crew have gathered in Sapporo City to finalize the details of the tour. Thirteen crew members will service the Royal Express in Hokkaido. Many of them are experienced workers who've been with the Royal Express since its inception in 2017. The day before departure, the crew gets the train ready for operation, cleaning and disinfecting everything, so passengers can ride with peace of mind. On this tour, the lunches served on board are from the best restaurants along the route. On the first day, lunch is provided by this sushi restaurant in Chitose City. Chitose is the Royal Express's first stop after departing from Sapporo Station. This is Fukuda Ryuta, the restaurant owner who has been making sushi on board the Royal Express since 2021. On August 5th, at 11.50am, the Royal Express arrives at Ninami-dori. Mr. Fukuda boards the train along with a rice cooker full of rice and the ingredients he prepared earlier. Local residents gather on the platform with banners and flags to send off the train and its passengers. Last year, JR Hokkaido began offering new tours around Hokkaido in cooperation with an airline, following the experience they gained operating the Royal Express. This year, we are also planning to offer a similar course to the one in Akiguchi. It's impossible to offer a single train. We need to work together with the local residents to keep the railways alive and running. Yes, Hokkaido is known in Japan for its beautiful nature and rich culinary culture. And I would love to see more tourist trains in Hokkaido and bringing in new visitors, returning visitors, and hopefully eventually also tourists from overseas. Yes, indeed. And I think this project will be giving people a very interesting food for thought because this is a very innovative project in which four different railway companies collaborate. And there may be other possible frameworks to send in more tourist trains from various parts of Japan to Hokkaido. And by doing so, Hokkaido will be giving a much-needed boost for people living in Hokkaido and the railways in Hokkaido as well. Yeah, I hope to see more of these collaborative projects in Hokkaido, but also all over Japan. Indeed. Railway Topics On July 20th, test runs began on the JR Tadami line, which has been partially closed, anticipating a full resumption of service in October. The Tadami line, which connects Fukushima and Niigata prefectures, is known for its scenic route along the Tadami River. However, a heavy rainstorm in July 2011 caused extensive damage to the bridges and tracks, and a 27-kilometer section of the line was closed. On this day, a two-car train departs from Aizu-Kabaguchi station at a leisurely pace. Many people gather along the line to watch and take pictures of the first train to run on the line in 11 years. On July 25th, three popular trams known as flower trams began operating in Hakodate in Hokkaido. The Hakodate Port Festival, which was cancelled due to the pandemic, will be held for the first time in three years. It's hoped the flower trams will boost the festivities. The three trams are decorated with approximately 250 lights each. The flower trams run through the city three times a day, playing festival music.