January 06, 2020, 03:10 PM
According to The Mainichi, the Central Japan Railway Co. and West Japan Railway Co. are expanding their bullet train ticketing services to foreign customers worldwide.
This is done to better accommodate the increase in tourist numbers leading up to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics.
The operators oversee the Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen lines, which connect Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka and Fukuoka.
A new website will allow people across the globe to book the Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen tickets in advance.
Users will be able to collect these tickets at JR Central’s Tokaido Shinkansen Line and JR West Sanyo Shinkansen Line at ticketing machines or load them into smart cards that can be used as the ticket.
Singapore users can use app to buy tickets
Singaporeans won’t have to wait until March 2020, however, as a smartphone app that allows users to book Tokaido Sanyo Shinkansen tickets overseas has been made available since 2017.
Image via Central Japan Railway Company's website
The app, called SmartEX (EXpress Ride in Taiwan) is only available in eight countries, including the United States, Thailand and Singapore.
Users can easily book tickets for the Shinkansen one month prior to departure.
The app also allows users to change the reservation time easily, up to four minutes before departure.
To collect tickets, users simply need their credit card used to pay for tickets via the app, and the password they used to login to the service.
Image via Central Japan Railway Company's website
Image via Central Japan Railway Company's website
Image via Central Japan Railway Company's website
Convenient.
Top image via Pixabay
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