Which train should I take?
Jan 21, 2019, 4:12 pm
#16
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2008
Posts: 270
Train fare rules regarding child are:
Child 5 years old or younger ride free if accompanied by a person 12 years old or older, if a child does not occupy a seat by themselves. If 5 years old or younger will occupy the seat by themselves then the child need to pay the fare.
One person can accompany up to two 5 years old or younger for free. For example, one 30 years old accompanying three kids 5 years or younger. Third kid has to pay the fare.
If 5 years old or younger ride a train my themselves then fare need to be paid.
As for your question about Kansai Thru Pass, not exactly sure about getting to the places faster. Kansai Thru Pass will give you unlimited ride on non-JR trains. Are you indicating that you will get to places faster on JR trains?
It is all dependent from where to where you are planning to visit. JR Kyoto station is located at south portion of the city. Kawaramachi and Sanjyo of Kyoto which is served by Hankyu Line and Keihan Line (you can use Kansai Thru Pass) is more of central location of Kyoto. Hankyu Line and Raden Line (can use Kansai Thru Line) take you to Arashiyama, where JR cannot.
From Kyoto to Nara, JR and Kintetsu Line (can use Kansai Thru Pass on Kintetsu) both are pretty much same time of journey, If you looking at faster, then fasted between Kyoto and Nara is Express train of Kintetsu Line where reserved seating where you have to pay surcharge.
If you are thinking Shinkansen is faster, again, JR Kyoto station is at south part of the city and Shinkansen will take you to Shin-Osaka which you will likely require few extra transfer to get to place you want. Not sure how much saving you will get in time wise.
If you can provide specific to/from location then we can compare the actual journey time.
Child 5 years old or younger ride free if accompanied by a person 12 years old or older, if a child does not occupy a seat by themselves. If 5 years old or younger will occupy the seat by themselves then the child need to pay the fare.
One person can accompany up to two 5 years old or younger for free. For example, one 30 years old accompanying three kids 5 years or younger. Third kid has to pay the fare.
If 5 years old or younger ride a train my themselves then fare need to be paid.
As for your question about Kansai Thru Pass, not exactly sure about getting to the places faster. Kansai Thru Pass will give you unlimited ride on non-JR trains. Are you indicating that you will get to places faster on JR trains?
It is all dependent from where to where you are planning to visit. JR Kyoto station is located at south portion of the city. Kawaramachi and Sanjyo of Kyoto which is served by Hankyu Line and Keihan Line (you can use Kansai Thru Pass) is more of central location of Kyoto. Hankyu Line and Raden Line (can use Kansai Thru Line) take you to Arashiyama, where JR cannot.
From Kyoto to Nara, JR and Kintetsu Line (can use Kansai Thru Pass on Kintetsu) both are pretty much same time of journey, If you looking at faster, then fasted between Kyoto and Nara is Express train of Kintetsu Line where reserved seating where you have to pay surcharge.
If you are thinking Shinkansen is faster, again, JR Kyoto station is at south part of the city and Shinkansen will take you to Shin-Osaka which you will likely require few extra transfer to get to place you want. Not sure how much saving you will get in time wise.
If you can provide specific to/from location then we can compare the actual journey time.
Regarding child’s train ticket, if we don’t get a ticket for our son, can he sit on an unoccupied seat? Or are all seats allocated on the shinkansen from Nagoya to Kyoto? That’s what we normally do in the U.K., if seats are available then the child can use it, if not, the child needs to sit on the adults knees.
Ive had an other look, I think we won’t be getting the Kansai Thru pass. The longest journey would only be Kyoto to Nara (Kintetsu) in the three days, I don’t think we will spend more than 5200JPY on train/bus. Our rough plan is one day to Nara, one day to Osaka and one day to Arashiyama.
Thanks.
Jan 21, 2019, 6:44 pm
#17
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: TYO
Programs: Tokyo Monorail Diamond-Encrusted-Platinum
Posts: 9,632
In the UK, reserved and unreserved seats are in the same carriage - and if someone finds another passenger occupying their reserved seat, the person with the reservation may often just take an unreserved seat. (IME, asking someone in the UK to vacate the seat that you have reserved can elicit foulmouthed protests ... ). In Japan, carriages are designated as "reserved seating" or "unreserved," and a person who has reserved a seat will expect to sit in it. If they just move to another seat nearby, there's a good chance they'll be asked to move by the person who reserved that seat.
Jan 21, 2019, 11:21 pm
#18
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: London
Posts: 18,404
As someone sensitive to the situation jib71 (kind of) describes - where a passenger with an assigned seat may go elsewhere (perhaps the unreserved carriage) rather than risk confrontation by pointing out that there is a child in his/her seat that doesn’t belong there - my personal way to deal with this was to have my child in my lap whenever the train would reach a station and for a few minutes after pulling out. Only once it was clear that an unoccupied seat was going to remain unused could LapInfant go there. When we got to the next station, she’d come back to my lap, and so on, and so on. This was a habit for us, whether in reserved or non-reserved seats, but particularly in reserved seat carriages.
Worth remembering the distaste Japanese people feel for shoes on seats. I recommend shoes that you can take off and put on easily so that the little one can clamber around up there without upsetting anyone. As a parent you can spend a HUGE proportion of a journey putting shoes on and taking them off as walking on the floor in socks or pram shoes is not appreciated either. Socks/bare feet for the seats, shoes for the floor.
Same thing for any play areas you might come across - if you see barefoot kids in a delineated area or on carpet your child can join them, just make sure the shoes come off first - and same for you if you need to go in and get your kid out.
Worth remembering the distaste Japanese people feel for shoes on seats. I recommend shoes that you can take off and put on easily so that the little one can clamber around up there without upsetting anyone. As a parent you can spend a HUGE proportion of a journey putting shoes on and taking them off as walking on the floor in socks or pram shoes is not appreciated either. Socks/bare feet for the seats, shoes for the floor.
Same thing for any play areas you might come across - if you see barefoot kids in a delineated area or on carpet your child can join them, just make sure the shoes come off first - and same for you if you need to go in and get your kid out.
Last edited by LapLap; Jan 21, 2019 at 11:27 pm
Jan 21, 2019, 11:59 pm
#19
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Hilton, Hyatt House, Del Taco
Posts: 5,378
A minor correction... the child may ride free with an adult if he/she has not yet started elementary school. So a 6yo who's still in kindergarten can still ride free. I clarified this with JR office when my older daughter was 6.