JR Trains Serving for Downtown Tokyo

Some railways in urban Tokyo are run by JR, having the service for travelling around the city as well as commuting to and from work. It is absolutely an indispensable part of Tokyo urban rails as well as Tokyo transportation, with many trains running often, fast speed, and affordable price.

There are more than 30 JR railways in all directions, lengths, and traffic situation all over Tokyo downtown and its outskirts. However, for visitors to scenic attractions in Tokyo, Yamanote Line and Chuo-Sobu Line are enough for travelling. These JR rails are the lead players of the public transportation in Tokyo, convenient for direct rides and transfers. Visitors from overseas don’t have to take other negligible JR lines.

Tips for Taking JR Rails in Urban Tokyo

The number of the line and stations are very important for your travelling, which determines if you’re in the right station or not.

Without an IC transportation card, you need to buy a ticket on the spot. There is usually a map of the lines with stations above the ticketing machine. On the map, the number next to each station name corresponds to the fare to that station. Thus, you can select the ticket of corresponding price on the default interface of the machine. Also, you can transform the selection mode into that of the station number or station name as well. The machines can be operated in English.

Note: The image shows the self-service ticketing at Shinjuku, of Odakyu Electric Railway; although it's not at a JR station, it is in a similiar situation.

The trains running on the same route may be different, varied in the types of limited express train, express train, rapid train, and so on. These trains would stop at different stations, as some would stop at each stations, and some may stop at the large stations only. So, you need to check the train number, platform, and its departure time with your search result.

If you have missed your station and are about to go back, it should be noted that the platform is not the same probably. You’d better research the route to confirm the train and platform.

JR Yamanote Line (JY)

JR Yurakuchō Station (JY 30)

Yamanote Line, indicated in green, is the loop route linking some major hubs in the urban Tokyo. It is the main line in Tokyo for daily travelling, and connects the railways to/from all directions around the greater Tokyo region. Thus, there are many stations that you could transfer to other JR rails and more metro lines as well as private rails.

Locally, the route with trains running in the clockwise direction is called as the outer loop, while that anticlockwise is called the inter loop. It takes 1 hour or so to finish a full circle, and all the trains on Yamanote Line would stop at every station. It is very busy as the frequency reaches 2-3 minutes in rush hours and still kept to a maximum of 4 minutes in other hours.

The price for a single trip on Yamanote Line is about JPY 140-260; if you go farther to other lines, it would exceed JPY 580 generally.

Major stations and nearby attractions:

  Tokyo Station (JY 01/TYO): Tokyo Station, transfer to Imperial Palace
  Akihabara (JY 03/AKB): Akihabara
  Ueno (JY 05/UEN): Ueno Park, Tokyo National Museum
  Ikebukuro (JY 13/IKB): Ikebukuro
  Shinjuku (JY 17/SJK): Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden, Kabukicho Ichibangai
  Harajuku (JY 19): Takeshita Street, Omotesando, transfer to Meiji Jingu Shrine
  Shibuya (JY 20/SBY): Hachiko Statue, Shibuya
  Shinagawa (JY 25/SGW): near Tokyo Bay, transfer to Odaiba and Haneda Airport

Chuo-Sobu Line (JB)

The Platform at Shinjuku Station

Orange Chuo Line (JC) extends westward to Otsuki and even farther Nagoya from Tokyo Station, while Sobu Line (JO), indicated in dark blue with creamy white on the top, run eastward to Chiba. The two lines join together, so a new route – yellow Chou-Sobu Line (JB) is formed. It runs east-west across Tokyo downtown, dividing the loop Yamanote Line transversely. The Chuo-Sobu Line is busy likewise to travel for work and school. As it takes only 12-13 minutes to shuttle between Akihabara and Shinjuku at the fastest (about 30 minutes by Yamanote line), it becomes popular to cross over the city.

Usually, there are two lanes for the fast and slow trains, respectively. The fast trains run on Chuo Line or Sobu Line separately, stopping at large stations only. The slow trains run on Chuo-Sobu Line from Mitaka in the west to Chiba in the east directly, having 39 stations and stopping at every station.

It doesn’t matter if you can’t make the lines clear. The only thing you need to do is find the platform and your train according to the search result. The main station on the route include:

  Akihabara (JB 19): Akihabara
  Suidobashi (JB 17): Tokyo Dome
  Iidabashi (JB 16): Kagurazaka
  Shinjuku (JB 10)
  Kichijoji (JB 02): Inokashira Park, Sunroad Shopping Street
  Mitaka (JB 01): Ghibli Museum