MegatopLover

On my upcoming trip to Tokyo, I will be arriving from Incheon on Korean Air at around 8:45 pm. I am planning to take the Keisei SkyLiner to Ueno, then the Yamanote Line to my hotel. I checked the timetable and saw that the last SkyLiner leaves Narita at 10:18 pm, and the last N'Ex leaves even earlier, at 9:44.

Barring a significant delay on KE, I would not expect any difficulty in catching the last SkyLiner.

But what if all goes awry? What are the late-night options for reaching central Tokyo from Narita?

Busses? Where do they discharge passengers? I'm staying in the Ginza/Maronouchi/Hibya area, so Tokyo Station would be fine.

I'm not keen to shell out for a $200 cab ride (or is it more these days?) but will if I have to.

mapleg

You could leave by rail up until 22:39--Keisei Main Line Ltd. Exp to Nippori or Keiseiueno...it's a local train, so lots of stops.

Realistically you should not have a problem getting on that last Skyliner, and probably even the N'ex. Not a lot of delays at immigration/customs at that time of night.

jib71

After the last express trains there are a few slower trains - The old Skyliner at 10:29pm is a 60 minute ride to Nippori. From there, you can take the Yamanote line. I would recommend the bus rather than the slow train at 10:39pm -- since your priority is probably time and convenience rather than finding the cheapest route -- Last bus for Tokyo Station leaves at 11:00pm. At that time, the bus journey will be quick.

I think there's very little chance that you'll miss that last bus ... but let's just suppose you do ...

If you miss the last bus, your choices are a cab or a rental car or staying overnight at Narita. Car rental can be cheaper than cab - but some hassle to return. [Not sure where the closest 24 hour rental station is to Tokyo station - I've used one near Iidabashi for this kind of trip]. I would only suggest it if you're already familiar with Japanese sat-nav and feel confident about using it to drive into town. Cabs have published fixed rates for trips into the city, but I think those rates are probably bumped up for midnight trips.

mnbp

Nippori is a much easier Keisei->JR Yamanote Line transfer station than Ueno.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nippori_Station

MegatopLover

Thanks, folks. The Keisei Main Line option giving me another 20-minutes' cushion looks good. The bus to Tokyo Station leaving at 11:00 pm is my next backup after that. Hopefully we arrive on time and don't encounter any snags at Immigration, baggage, or Customs, then we can safely catch one of the last SkyLiners.

Do others agree that Nippori station is a much easier connection from the Keisei services to the Yamanote Line? Is that because of the configuration of the platforms and such?

mjm

Nothing to agree or disagree with, it is a fact.

O Sora

At Keisei ticketing machines and booths in NRT, you can purchase through tickets onto JR via Nippori but not via Ueno. This supports the fact.

mapleg

Very much so. In fact the Keisei Ueno station is a fair walk from the JR Ueno station. Nippori is the way to go.

msb0b

Inside the Nippori stations, the two companies operate different platforms under the same roof. To change from Keisei to JR and vice versa, you only need to go up from your arrival platform to the concourse level, go through a ticket gate, and go down to your departure platform. Other than the ticket gate, it is no different from changing platforms in any other train stations.

The Keisei Ueno and JR Ueno stations are two separate buildings that are about 150 to 200 m apart door to door.

MegatopLover

For the benefit of future readers, here's how it went.

Our KE A380 arrived from Incheon a minute or two early. We were disembarking at 8:45 on the nose, Gate 26 at NRT Terminal 1, IIRC. Prestige Class was basically empty, so it was a quick disembarkation, though we were in the midst of Economy pax from the Lower Deck by the time we hit the terminal.

We walked quickly to arrivals. Immigration was totally empty, so we walked right up to the desks. Baggage claim was similarly empty, just one or two flights, though my companion dillydallied a bit, costing us a few minutes. Our priority-tagged bags came up pretty quickly. We walked straight to a Customs inspector, who questioned us about the wine we declared and opened one of our bags for a paw-through (in typically polite Japanese style). Using one of Narita's escalator-friendly baggage carts, we circled down into the train station, bought tickets for the SkyLiner, and dashed to catch the train. Two minutes later, the train eased out of the station.

We caught the 9:08 pm departure!

We transferred at Nippori, thanks to tips in this thread. It was fairly easy. At that hour, the Yamanote Line was fine. We alighted at Yurakucho, walked a few blocks to our hotel. We were in the room by 10:20 pm.

Thank you, FlyerTalk.

myp

These info. are so helpful.
Further question: We will be arriving Narita at Terminal 3 at 8:55pm. We plan to get the NEX to Shinagawa. From what I read, the last trip is at 9:46pm from Terminal 2 and that the JR Service Centers close much earlier. Is there a machine from which we could buy our NEX (or even KEISEI) ticket after office hours? And can we possibly make it in time considering we have to take the shuttle bus from T3 to T2?

Much appreciated!

jib71

I think you would need to hustle to catch the N'EX. If you arrive on time (8:55pm), make it through immigration and customs within 30 minutes (9:25pm), wait 10 minutes for a bus which takes 5 minutes (9:40pm), you'll be at T2 with 6 minutes to spare. I wasn't aware that the ticket office closed before the last departure (seems unlikely) but you can buy a ticket from a machine. It's doable, but there must be a less stressful way to do things ...

My recommendation would be to catch a bus from Narita Airport Terminal 3 to Tokyo Station, then take the Yamanote line to reach Shinagawa. There are three bus companies that operate from T3 to Tokyo Station - with departures every 5-10 minutes.
THE ACCESS NARITA - 1,000 YEN - THE ACCESS NARITA
Keisei Bus Tokyo Shuttle - 1,000 YEN - Expressway Bus: Tokyo Sta. - Narita Airport of 1000 yen | Tokyo Shuttle | Keisei Bus
Limousinebus - 3,100 YEN - https://www.limousinebus.co.jp

Unfortunately, it looks like the last direct bus from T3 to Shinagawa leaves at 9:00pm, which is too early for you.

Pickles

If a flight delay makes you miss the last transport out of NRT, the airline will sometimes charter buses for their passengers out of NRT going to TCAT or Tokyo Station. I know CX does this, maybe other airlines also.

myp

JIB71
You are right, it would be quite stressful considering we will be travelling with a 77 yr. old and a 6 yr. old. The only reason I wanted to take the NEX is to avail of the Round-Trip discount rate. Which bus would you recommend minus the Limousine?

myp

PICKLES
Now that's customer service! I doubt if Vanilla Air would have that though, it is a budget airline afterall.