JR East trains run all night on New Year’s Eve – Operation will be reduced from last year

From New Year’s Eve 2022 to New Year’s Day 2023, JR East will operate trains all night on some lines in the Tokyo metropolitan area, and will run extra limited express trains that go directly to the first sunrise spot in the suburbs.

• Yamanote Line every 15 minutes
• JR East will operate trains all night on New Year’s Eve 2022-2023
• A small gift on the Choshi Electric Railway

Yamanote Line every 15 minutes

Their all-night trains on New Year’s Eve was canceled in the end of 2020 due to the spread of COVID-19, but it has been decided that those will be operated for the second consecutive year following 2021.

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Both the inner and outer loops of the Yamanote Line run every 15 minutes from 1:00 to 5:00 all night. In addition, on the Keihin Tohoku-Negishi Line (between Sakuragicho and Omiya), the Chuo Line Rapid (between Mitaka and Takao), the Chuo-Sobu Line Local (between Mitaka and Chiba) and the Yokosuka Line (between Yokohama and Zushi), the trains are scheduled to run after the last train on New Year’s Eve until before the first train on New Year’s Day.

On the Ome Line, the extra rapid trains “Musashi Mitake Shrine Hatsuhinode”, which is convenient for making the first visit to shrines and temples or seeing the first sunrise of the year, will have two round trips between Tachikawa and Mitake. They aim to make it easier for you to go out to places such as Musashi Mitake Shrine (Ome City, Tokyo) and Shiofune Kannonji Temple (same) along the line. The other hand, on the Sobu and Narita Line, 2-round-trip extra trains will run between Chiba and Narita, and will be used to transport New Year’s visits to Naritasan Shinshoji Temple (Narita City, Chiba) (check the chart below for details such as a transit map for overnight operation).

A small gift on the Choshi Electric Railway

All-night trains in the Tokyo metropolitan area on this year will be implemented on the above 7 routes, downsized from last year’s 9 routes. The Saikyo Line, Shonan-Shinjuku Line, Utsunomiya Line and Takasaki Line, which operated all night last year, will end operation with the usual last train. Especially, in the area north of Omiya Station, the all-night-trains will disappear on all sections.

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In addition to running all night, JR East will operate some extra limited express trains from New Year’s Eve to New Year’s Day so that you can conveniently go to see the first sunrise of the year in the suburbs of the Tokyo metropolitan area. The limited express “Fuji Kaiyu No. 85 (Fuji Hatsuhinode)”, which leaves Shinjuku Station at 4:13 a.m. on New Year’s Day, arrives at Kawaguchiko Station on the Fujikyuko Line at 6:17 a.m. You can enjoy the first sunrise of the year from the Mt. Fuji/Kawaguchiko area. On New Year’s Day, the returning train “Fuji Kaiyu No. 84 (Fuji Hatsuhinode)” will also depart Kawaguchiko Station at 3:57 p.m. and arrive at Shinjuku Station at 5:59 p.m.

Two extra trains will run to the Boso area, which is dotted with many sunrise spots centered around the coast. The limited express “Sotobo Hatsuhinode”, which departs Shinjuku Station at 11:53 p.m. on New Year’s Eve, will arrive at Chikura Station at 3:30 a.m. on New Year’s Day, stopping at major stations on the Sotobo Line. Also, the limited express “Inubo Hatsuhinode”, which departs from Shinjuku Station at 0:12 a.m. on New Year’s Day, will arrive at the final stop, Choshi Station at 2:55 a.m, via the Narita Line. The Choshi Electric Railway, which connects from Choshi Station, is scheduled to operate on a special schedule on New Year’s Day, and will run extra trains from 4:00 early in the morning to Inubo Station, which is the nearest station to Inubosaki. In addition, they are planning the present the post-it notes and design cards commemorating “the 150th anniversary of the opening of the railway” for the 200 people who get on the first train in 2023 upon arrival at Inubo Station (departing from Choshi Station at 4:32 a.m.).