JR Central and West said EX Odekake Hayatoku (EXお出かけ早特) will be sold again in this spring and summer. This deal is for up to six travelers with at least one Express Reservation Service (エクスプレス予約) member booking booking up to three days before departure.

The prices for second class travelers have no change from the existing ones, but the prices for Green Car travelers have been reduced by JPY 650-1,100. The new prices of these are same as that of in summer season of 2010. But the prices for between Shin-Osaka, Shin-Kobe stations and Kokura, Hakata stations are higher by JPY 200 than that of 2010 summer and same as autumn and winter in 2010.

Overviews of EX Odekake Hayatoku

• Name of the deal: EX Odekake Hayatoku (EXお出かけ早特 meaning EX Outing Early Booking Discount)
• Travel dates: Saturday and Sunday between April 9, 2011 and May 29 and Golden Week holidays from April 29 through May 8
• Period of selling: April 1, 2011 through May 26
  Tickets are availabe from 10:00 on the day of a month to 23:30 of three days before departure.
• Effects of the ticket: This deals allows one-way travel by one of Nozomi, Hikari and Kodama trains with no transferring. Two types of tickets are available, one is for second class and the other for first class (Green car).
• Available sectors:
  • from/to Tokyo, Shinagawa and Shin-Yokohama to/from Nagoya, Kyoto, Shin-Osaka and Shin-Kobe
  • from/to Shizuoka and Hamamatsu to/from Kyoto and Shin-Osaka
  • from/to Shin-Osaka and Shin-Kobe to/from Kokura and Hakata
• Prices (e.g.):
  [for second class]
  • from/to Tokyo and Shinagawa to/from Shin-Osaka (one way) JPY 13,100, saving about 7%
  • from/to Shin-Osaka and Shin-Kobe to/from Kokura and Hakata (one way) JPY 11,650, saving about 15-21%
  [for Green Car]
  • from/to Tokyo and Shinagawa to/from Shin-Osaka (one way) JPY 14,500, saving about 22%
  • from/to Shin-Osaka and Shin-Kobe to/from Kokura and Hakata (one way) JPY 15,350, saving about 16-26%
  Shown one-way price including fare. The one-way ticket will also be issued at the time of purchas
• Terms of use: Only members of Express Reservation Service (エクスプレス予約) can buy and get tickets of this deal.
• Purchasable at: Available only online. Access the site of Express Reservation Service through a mobile or PC.
• Remarks:
  • Reservations for up to six persons traveling along will be acceptable at once. All of the accompanying passengers are not required to be a member of Express Reservation Service.
  • This discount's availability is limited on a train-to-train basis.
  • Reservations are conditioned changeable.
  • EX-IC Cards are not accepted for boarding.

JR Central and JR West announced that EX-IC Hayatoku (EX-IC早特), the discount offer for early purchasing EX-IC members, will be good until June 30, 2011. Its available sectors and prices are the same as going.

Overview of EX-IC Hayatoku

• Name of the deal: EX-IC Hayatoku (EX-IC早特 meaning EX-IC Early Booking Discount, shortly called "IC Hayatoku")
• Travel dates: until June 30, 2011
• Period of selling: from 10:00 of a month before up to 23:30 of three days prior to the travel date
• Tickets are availabe from 10:00 on the day of a month to 23:30 of three days before departure.
• Effects of the ticket: This deals allows one-way travel on Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen.
• Available sectors:
  1. for long-distance travel striding over Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen; from/to Tokyo and Shinagawa to/from Okayama, Hiroshima, Kokura and Hakata, from/to Shizuoka to/from Hiroshima, Kokura and Hakata, from/to Kyoto, Shin-Osaka and Shin-Kobe to/from Kokura and Hakata, etc.
  2. for travel by Nozomi trains on Tokaido Shinkansen (including Shin-Kobe) departing by 6:59 or all Hikari trains; from/to Tokyo, Shinagawa and Shin-Yokohama to/from Nagoya, Kyoto, Shin-Osaka and Shin-Kobe, etc.
  3. for travel by Kodama train's Green Car between stations on Tokaido Shinkansen separated at least 100 km and excluding from/to Tokyo to/from Atami; from/to Tokyo and Shinagawa to/from Shizuoka, Nagoya, Kyoto and Shin-Osaka, etc.
• Prices (e.g.):
  [for second class]
  • Tokyo, Shinagawa - Shin-Osaka [one way] JPY 12,000, saving about 14%
  • Tokyo, Shinagawa - Hakata [one way] JPY 19,300, saving about 13%
  • Shin-Osaka, Shin-Kobe - Kokura, Hakata [one way] JPY 11,450, saving about 16-23%
  [for Green Car]
  • Tokyo, Shinagawa - Shin-Osaka [one way] JPY 14,000, saving about 25%
  • Tokyo, Shinagawa - Hakata [one way] JPY 29,250, saving about 14%
  • Shin-Osaka, Shin-Kobe - Kokura and Hakata [one way] JPY 14,950, saving about 18-27%
  • Terms of use: Only members of EX-IC Service can buy and use tickets with this deal.
  • Purchasable at: Available only online. Access the site of Express Reservation through a mobile or PC.
• Remarks:
  • EX-IC Hayatoku will not be good for Mizuho and Sakura for through service to Kyushu Shinkansen.
  • Travels by up to three connecting trains are allowed within the sectors (1) shown above, except from/to Kyoto, Shin-Osaka and Shin-Kobe to/from Kokura and Hakata.
  • Travels within the sectors of (1)'s from/to Kyoto, Shin-Osaka and Shin-Kobe to/from Kokura and Hakata, (2) and (3) are for direct service only. No connections are permitted.
  • Changes are permitted before the departure time of the train, if the passenger don't enter the gate with EX-IC card and not receive a boarding bill.
  • This discount's availability is limited on a train-to-train basis.

Today, March 12, was the day of JR trains's schedule revision. Kyushu Shinkansen started its full service between Hakata and Shin-Yatsushiro, and the Shinkansen's rail was connected from Tokyo and Shin-Osaka through to Kagoshima-Chuo. The fastest Mizuho train travels from Shin-Osaka to Kumamoto for two hours 59 minutes and to Kagoshima-Chuo for three hours 47 minutes. The IC transfering service at Kokura and Hakata was also started.

JR Central said that they will release smoking rooms on platforms of Tokyo and Nagoya Station on March 10, 2011. The rooms can be used by 20 smokers at a time and are located near car 11 of Tokyo Station's platform No. 14 and 15, and car 9 of Nagoya Station's platform No. 14 and 15. These smoking rooms will provide comfortable time for boarding for both of smokers and nonsmokers.

JR Central and JR West announced that they will turn a smoking car into non-smoking one on March 12, 2011. The target is car 3 in 16-car train of series 700 and 300, and car 2 in 8-car for Hikari Railstar. This brings an end to the free seating non-smoking cars in Nozomi and Hikari trains.