Shinagawa station guide. Transfer among Shinkansen, Keihin Kyuko to Haneda, Narita Express

Station information
Pedestrian walkway connects both side of Takanawa and Kona exits. (C) JP Rail
Shinagawa station Takanawa Exit side (C) JP Rail
Shinagawa station Takanawa Exit side (C) JP Rail

Shinagawa is one of the terminal station in Tokyo. It is the transfer point of Tokaido Shinkansen (Nagoya, Kyoto, Shin-Osaka), Keihin Kyuko (Haneda airport), Narita Express (Narita airport), Yamanote line (Shinjuku, Shibuya, Tokyo) and many more lines.

There are many railway lines and it seems to make you be overwhelmed. But this is not very complicated, actually. In this post, I will show you how to transfer among these trains in this station, Shinagawa.

Station structure, tracks and platforms

Taken at track #3 and #4 platform. All JR's platforms are on ground level. (C) JP Rail
Taken at track #3 and #4 platform. All JR’s platforms are on ground level. (C) JP Rail

Please see the map at JR East official website.

At Shinagawa station, there are three railway companies, JR Central (Tokaido Shinkansen to Nagoya, Kyoto, Shin-Osaka), JR East (Yamanote line, Tokaido line, Yokosuka line, Narita Express) and Keihin Kyuko Railway (a.k.a Keikyu to Haneda airport, Yokohama).

On the ground floor, all JR companies’s platforms are located. Only Keihin Kyuko Railway’s platforms are located at overhead. All platforms are connected with overpass. All ticket gates and exits are located at overpass too. All ticket gates and exits are located on pedestrian walkway. You can access both west (Takanawa exit) and east (Konan exit). You can go through this walkway without ticket.

Pedestrian walkway connects both side of Takanawa and Kona exits.  (C) JP Rail
Pedestrian walkway connects both side of Takanawa and Kona exits. (C) JP Rail

All platforms and tracks of Shinagawa station are the following:

Keihin Kyuko Railway

Track#Lines/TrainsDestination
1Keihin Kyuko RailwayKeikyu-Kamata, Haneda Airport, Yokohama, Misakiguchi
2Keihin Kyuko RailwaySengakuji, Asakusa, Osiage, Aoto, Narita Airport
3Keihin Kyuko RailwayPeak hours trains only

All JR lines

Track#Lines/TrainsDestination
1Yamanote lineInner loop to Tokyo, Akihabara, Ueno
2Yamanote lineOuter loop to Shibuya, Shinjuku, Ikebukuro
4Keihin Tohoku lineTokyo, Ueno, Omiya
5Keihin Tohoku lineKamata, Yokohama, Ofuna
6,7Ueno Tokyo lineTokyo, Ueno, Omiya, Utsunomiya, Takasaki
6,7The limited express Odoriko, Super View OdorikoTokyo
8Seasonal operation or special train only
9Ueno Tokyo line (limited express to Joban line)
Limited Express Hitachi, Tokiwa
Tokyo, Ueno, Kashiwa, Tuchiura, Mito, Iwaki
10,11Ueno Tokyo line (to Joban line)Tokyo, Ueno, Matsudo, Kashiwa, Toride, Tuchiura, Mito, Takahagi
11,12Ueno Tokyo line Tokaido line
The limited express Odoriko, Super View Odoriko
Yokohama, Odawara, Atami, Ito Izukyu-Shimoda, Shuzenji
13,14Sobu-Yokosuka line
Narita Express
Tokyo, Chiba, Narita Airport
14,15Sobu-Yokosuka lineYokohama, Kamakura, Zushi, Kurihama
21,22The Tokaido ShinkansenTokyo
23,24The Tokaido ShinkansenNagoya, Kyoto, Shin-Osaka, Okayama, Hiroshima, Hakata
Overpass inside of ticket gates. There are many signage. It is very easy to find the platforms. (C) JP Rail
Overpass inside of ticket gates. There are many signage. It is very easy to find the platforms. (C) JP Rail

So basically you can transfer any trains at same level. This is the biggest reason why I recommend you to transfer from Narita Express to Shinkansen. If you transfer at Tokyo station, Narita Express arrive at deep underground platform. And also it is located at the west side of Tokyo station. On the other hand, Shinkansen’s platform is located at the east end. So you have to take escalator to go up and go through Tokyo station from west end to east end. I think minimum transfer time is 15 minutes.

If you transfer at Shinagawa station, 5 minutes is enough as long as you have a ticket for Shinkansen. You can book Shinkansen ticket at Narita Airport station too.

Ticket gate/Exit

Central ticket gate/exitv (C) JP Rail
Central ticket gate/exitv (C) JP Rail

Now I explain you how to transfer among Shinkansen, other JR lines (Yamanote line, Narita Express, etc) and Keihin Kyuko Railway.

How to transfer between the Shinkansen and JR lines (Yamanote line, Narita Express, other than Shinkansen)

Tokaido Shinkansen south transfer gate (C) JP Rail
Tokaido Shinkansen south transfer gate (C) JP Rail

Please see the movie below to find how to transfer from Narita Express to the Shinkansen which is bound for Nagoya, Kyoto and Shin-Osaka.

Please see the movie below to find how to transfer from Yamanote line to the Shinkansen which is bound for Nagoya, Kyoto and Shin-Osaka.

There is the Shinkansen transfer gate between Tokaido Shinkansen and other JR lines. If you transfer between JR trains and the Shinkansen, you do not have to exit the ticket gate. Just go through Shinkansen transfer gate. The Tokaido Shinkansen (JR Central) and other JR trains (JR East) are strictly the different companies. But both companies are under JR group and you can use one same base fare ticket for both JR trains and the Shinkansen. If you use JR Pass, both trains are covered except Nozomi that is the fastest train of the Tokaido Shinkansen.

You can find Shinkansen transfer gate at the bottom of JR East Shinagawa station map. You will find two gates, “Tokaido-Sanyo Shinkansen South Transfer” and “Tokaido-Sanyo Shinkansen North Transfer”

How to transfer between JR trains and Keihin Kyuko Railway

There is a huge sign at Keihin Kyuko transfer gate. You cannot miss it.  (C) JP Rail
There is a huge sign at Keihin Kyuko transfer gate. You cannot miss it. (C) JP Rail

These are completely different companies. But you don’t need to exit. For example, if you take Keihin Kyuko train at Haneda airport station, you can purchase one ticket for both JR and Keihin Kyuko Railway.

There is a transfer gate. If you have a ticket for both JR and Keihin Kyuko Railway, you just go through the machine gate. You can find it at the top of JR East Shinagawa station map. It says “Keikyu transfer only” in the map.

The movie below shows you from Keihin Kyuko to the Shinkansen platform.

If you want to take the Shinkansen from Keihin Kyuko Railway, you can go through transfer gates twice, Keihin Kyuko gate and Shinkansen transfer gate.

JR Pass, JR East Pass and Tokyo Wide Pass sales and exchange place

JR Central's ticket office can handle JR Pass exchange. (C) JP Rail
JR Central’s ticket office can handle JR Pass exchange. (C) JP Rail

Please see JR East Shinagawa station map again. Both JR Pass and JR East Pass exchange place are shown by red star beside Central gate. There is one more place to exchange JR Pass. That is JR Central ticket office beside Tokaido-Sanyo Shinkansen north gate. It’s shown by green solid color at the bottom of the map. Both place are open from 9:00 to 19:00.

If you purchase JR East Pass or Tokyo Wide Pass on the spot, you have to go to JR East Travel Center that is called “びゅうプラザ” (View Plaza). It is located in front of Central gate and it is shown by blue star.

Minimum connection time

These times are minimum. That means you just need to transfer. If you need to purchase a ticket, you have to add some more time.

  • Keihin Kyuko Railway to/from Yamanote line or Keihin Tohoku line (to Tokyo, Shinjuku, Shibuya, Ueno, Akihabara) – 5 minutes
  • Narita Express to/from Shinkansen – 5 minutes
  • Keihin Kyuko Railway to/from Shinkansen – 10 minutes

Comments

  1. Laura B says:

    hello!

    we are planning to land on Narita airport but want to go dirrectly to KYOTO from there. from what i could tell we can find a direct line, is this correct? thank you so much in advance!

  2. James To says:

    Hi Takeshi,
    We plan to travel to Nikko and Kinugawa for a day trip from Tokyo.
    1. Can we go from Shinagawa as we are staying in that area?
    2. Which train should we take?
    3. What pass or ticket would you recommend? I have read about the Tobu railway and its “2 Days Nikko Pass” but it says that we also need to pay for the limited express ticket ( not sure how much). Does Tobu train run from Shinagawa?
    Many thanks in advance!

  3. Richard says:

    Can I transfer to the haneda airport limo bus towards Mount Fuji? Can I buy the limo bus tickets at shinagawa station?

  4. Bryan Wilson says:

    I would like to take a Shinkansen from Shinagawa to Kyoto using the JR all-Japan Rail Pass, for a train at 17:40. If I want a reserved seat, do I go to JR Central midori no maguchi or JR East midori no maguchi, or is it not possible from this station? Also, how much time would it take at the station to be able to get the reservation?

  5. Karen says:

    Hi Takeshi,

    Got a question to clarify,
    I have bought the JR Pass and while checking out the route from Shin-Osaka to Shinjuku, i found a route where it includes taking shinkansen from shin-osaka and arriving at Shinagawa. Than taking the Narita Express to Shinjuku.
    So, with the JR Pass, can we hop on this Narita Express train to Shinjuku?

    Regards
    Karen

    • Hi Karen,

      You have to book it before taking Narita Express. It’s covered by JR pass but this train has reserved seat only. Even it’s short ride, you have to book before on board.

      Cheers,

      Takeshi / JPRail.com

  6. Jen says:

    We bought the Green Pass for my trip of Osaka and Tokyo, we would like to reserve the seats, is all JR train got green cart ? Or only NEX got green cart and need to reserve seats?

  7. Crescendolls says:

    Thank you very much Takeshi-san.
    I will arrive in Narita around 3.45 PM on chrismas eve. will I have enough time to catch the 20.10 PM shinkansen leaving from Shinagawa? Considering maybe the long immigration? And I have to stop to several counters. E.g. Yamato to send luggage, take wifi rent at the post office, activate the JR Pass, book Shinkansen seats, etc.
    Thanks Takeshi-san

  8. Jen says:

    Hi, if i am heading to Osaka from Narita airport, is it better i change at Shinagawa or Tokyo station?

  9. Crescendolls says:

    Hi Takeshi-san,

    I will be arriving in Shinagawa station by NEX. As I am heading to Nagoya at night and I will only have limited time to transfer, not to mention I am bringing a toddler, do you mind explaining what is the difference between south and north transfer of the tokkaido shinkansen? Which gate is for Nagoya? And will the transfer involves stair/elevator? As I will bring luggage and stroller.

    Thanks in advance

    • Hi Crescendolls san,

      South and north are the same. It has two gate for the passengers convenience. Both gate go to same platform.
      There are escalators, elevators and stairs. You can choose whichever you want.

      Cheers,

      Takeshi / JPRail.com

  10. Brent says:

    Hello

    I am arriving at Tokyo Haneda, and am staying at a hotel near Shinagawa Station. Is it easy to get from Haneda to Shinagawa station, and is it possible to buy the ticket when I arrive at Haneda?

    The following morning I am then wanting to travel to Kyoto by Hikari/Nozomi Shinkansen. How do I go about buying a ticket? Is it possible to buy online before I arrive in Japan, or do I have to to buy it on the morning at the station? Can I get the train from Shinagawa Station? What ticket do you recommend buying?

    Thanks in advance. Sorry, I just find it all so confusing!

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