Train to Shonan, Odawara and Atami with no surcharge from Tokyo. Rapid train on Ueno-Tokyo line

Most of Rapid trains have double decker Green car. (C) Sonic Rail GardenAtami, Ito, Shimoda, Mishima, Shuzenji
Most of Rapid trains have double decker Green car in Greater Tokyo area. (C) Sonic Rail Garden
Rapid trains on Shonan-Shinjuku line have green and orange colors.

Rapid trains on Tokaido line have Shonan (green and orange) colors.

***This rapid line will be connected with Takasaki and Utsunomiya rapid lines in March 14, 2015. Now Tokyo is departure station and it makes us be easy to get a seat. But after March 14, 2015, all trains will come from Takasaki, Utsunomiya via Omiya and Ueno. Tokyo station is in the middle of this train network. That means it may be harder to get a seat. You may have to stand up on board.***

Tokaido line is the name of major line that connects Tokyo (=東京) with Kobe (=神戸) via Nagoya (=名古屋), Kyoto (=京都) and Osaka (=大阪). But this name is used as Rapid train route for operating between Tokyo and Atami (=熱海) via Yokohama (=横浜), Odawara (=小田原). This train is traditionally called Shonan Densha (=湘南電車=Shonan train). Because this train goes throuth Shonan area where Kamakura and Enoshima are located in. If you go to Yokohama from Tokyo station, this train is fastest and even faster than Shinkansen, because Shinkansen does not have any station in downtown Yokohama. This train is a sort of commute train. But all trains have two double decker Green cars in the formation. This train is fully covered by Japan Rail Pass. Especially you use Japan Rail Pass Green, you may take Green car of this train. Let’s see the details.

Accommodation

Please refer the post of Rapid service network in Greater Tokyo. You can see some images of Green car and intrerior.

Route, schedule and required time


View Tokaido line in a larger map

This train is operated every 10 minutes between Tokyo and Atami in daytime and weekend, and every 5 minutes in the peak hours. And some trains are extended to operate to Ito (=伊東). Some of the trains are called “Rapid Acty”. This train skips several stations and is a bit faster than Rapid train.

Stations

The trains stop at these following stations on basic route:

Tokyo-Shinbashi-Shinagawa-Kawasaki-Yokohama-Totsuka-Ofuna-Fujisawa-Tujido (Rapid Acty skip this station)-Chigasaki-Hiratsuka-Oiso (Rapid Acty skip this station)-Ninomiya (Rapid Acty skip this station)-Kozu-Kamonomiya (Rapid Acty skip this station)-Odawara-Hayakawa-Nebugawa-Manazuru-Yugawara-Atami

Travel time

Travel time among the major stations are as follows:

Tokyo-(3min)-Shinbashi-(6min)-Shinagawa-(16min)-Yokohama-(15min)-Ofuna-(20min)-Hiratsuka-(13min)-Kozu-(6min)-Odawara-(24min)-Atami

If you go to Yokohama, please don’t think about using Shikansen. It takes 19 minutes to Shin-Yokohama from Tokyo. This is the fastest among all trains. But Shin-Yokohama is a few stations away from Yokohama. You need to transfer to local train to get Yokohama. This Rapid train is faster than Shinkansen and is the fastest to get Yokohama among all trains.

If you go to Kamakura, Yokosuka-Sobu Rapid train is more convenient. Tokaido Rapid line do not take you to Kamakura. You need to change the train somewhere, such as Yokohama or Ofuna.

Comments

  1. Sophia says:

    Thank you Takeshi for your prompt reply
    Will this work for us; in term of saving cost, and still be able to travel to destination in a short time ?

    1) On arrival at Narita Airport on Day 1, purchase NEX Roundtrip ticket 4070JPY – this can be used on Day 1 to get to Shinjuku where the Hakone 3 Day Pass 6100 JPY can be purchased to get to Hakone — please confirm this is correct ?
    2) The 3 Day Hakone pass can be used to get to Odawara station on Day 3 from Gora Station (we are staying nearby to Gora Station) Start Using the 7 day JR Pass, from Hakone to Osaka – on Day 3 — commencing from Odawara . The 7 day JR pass which is activated on Day 3 will expires at Midnight on Day 9.
    3) On Day 10, we will make use of the NEX Roundtrip ticket purchased on Day 1, to travel on the Narita Express from Tokyo – on this day, do we need to get another train ticket to get to Tokyo Station ? We are staying at Ikebukuro.

    thanking you in advance for your assistance on our queries
    Regards
    Sophia & Amy

    • Hi Sophia,

      1. Correct
      2. Correct
      3. You can take Narita Express from Ikebukuro.

      But if you buy Hakone Free Pass (from Odawara) 5,000 yen and a regular fare ticket for Shinjuku to Odawara 900 yen, it’s slightly cheaper than Hakone Free Pass from Shinjuku at 6,100 yen. You can buy both pass and ticket at Shinjuku.

      If you really want to save your cost, you may take this option below:
      JR Pass for day 1 to 7
      Hakone Free Pass Odawara 5,000 yen
      Tokyo Subway Ticket 48 hours 1,200 yen
      Airport Bus Narita 1,000 yen

      But if you take this option, you have to take either Yamanote line or subway to get Tokyo and then take a bus. It is cheaper but your choice is easier.
      I thought this option but your option is easier.

      Cheers,

      Takeshi / JPRail.com

  2. Sophia says:

    Hi Takeshi
    Our Itinerary, we have not yet purchase a JR Pass.
    This is our itinerary ; we are two adults

    Tokyo Narita Airport direct to Hakone; staying in Hakone for 2 nights
    Leave Hakone to Osaka; staying in Osaka for 3 nights
    Leave Osaka for Tokyo, staying in Tokyo for 4 nights
    Depart from Narita Airport on Day 10

    Will it be cheaper to travel using regular fares instead of JR Pass?
    As JR pass, for 7 days is not sufficient to cover our trip , we will be in Japan for 10 days
    Would the train fares be cheaper or the route easier, if we travel to Osaka directly on arrival at Narita airport, and only visit Hakone after spending time in Osaka and then from Hakone to Tokyo before leaving Tokyo on Day 10.
    I read there are IC cards for different Region, will this be good for us, as we will be in Osaka for 4 days, Tokyo for 5 days (including departure day on Day 10) ?

    Thank you and looking forward to hearing from you.
    Sophia & Amy

  3. LOW SING EI says:

    Hi Takeshi,

    We are a small family with 2 kids are planning to travel from ueno to odawara, any suggestion route which is cheaper and faster? We do not have JR pass.

    Option1: I used google search for ueno station to odawara station (direct train, no need transfer)
    Ueno Station (Platform 7)
    Utsunomiya Line Rapid towards Atami
    Odawara Station

    Option 2: I used hyperdia search from ueno to odawara:
    ueno (JR Utsunomiya Line For Atami)->Tokyo (JR Tokaido Line for Atami)->Odawara

    Why need travel to Tokyo first for second option? Is the first option workable? Can’t get the related info in hyperdia for first option.

    Thank you.
    Sing Ei

    • Hi Sing Ei,

      Actually both are same. Hyperdia shows you that you have to go to Tokyo station. But all trains go to Tokyo station but you don’t need to change the trains. It is just a database thing. Once you get on the train to Atami at Ueno, you can stay in the train until Odawara.

      Cheers,

      Takeshi / JPRail.com

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