JR East Rail Pass

The main stations covered by JR East Rail Pass’s route map include

• Haneda Airport
• Kumagaya
• Nagaoka
• Utsunomiya
• Honjo Waseda
• Joetsumyoko
• Niigata
• Narita Airport Terminal 1
• Nasushiobara
• Nagano
• Echigo Yuzawa
• Nagano station
• Tsubamesanjo
• Iiyama
• Ueno
• Tokyo
• Takasaki
• Oyama Tochigi
• Urasa
• Omiya
• Karuizawa
• Sakudaira
• Ueda Nagano
• Jomokogen

Here are some of the routes offered by JR East Rail Pass which enjoy the greatest popularity with travellers:

• Tokyo - Nagano
• Tokyo - Karuizawa
• Nagano - Tokyo
• Tokyo - Niigata
• Niigata - Tokyo
• Tokyo - Utsunomiya
• Karuizawa - Tokyo
• Tokyo - Gunma
• Tokyo - Takasaki
• Tokyo - Tochigi
• Joetsu - Tokyo
• Nagano - Narita Airport
• Gunma - Yuzawa Niigata
• Saitama - Tokyo
• Saitama - Gunma
• Saitama - Karuizawa
• Saitama - Utsunomiya
• Tochigi - Saitama
• Tsubame - Tokyo
• Niigata - Saitama
• Utsunomiya - Saitama
• Nagano - Haneda Airport
• Takasaki - Yuzawa Niigata
• Nagaoka - Tokyo
• Yuzawa Niigata - Takasaki
• Saitama - Nagaoka
• Tokyo - Nagaoka
• Nagaoka - Saitama
• Takasaki - Niigata
• Karuizawa - Saitama
• Niigata - Nagaoka
• Saitama - Nagano
• Joetsu - Saitama
• Joetsu - Nagano
• Gunma - Niigata
• Tokyo - Saitama
• Nagano - Takasaki
• Saitama - Joetsu
• Tochigi - Tokyo
• Niigata - Gunma
• Karuizawa - Nagano
• Tokyo - Joetsu
• Yuzawa Niigata - Niigata
• Utsunomiya - Tokyo
• Yuzawa Niigata - Tokyo
• Yuzawa Niigata - Gunma
• Tokyo - Yuzawa Niigata
• Saitama - Yuzawa Niigata
• Gunma - Tokyo
• Saitama - Tochigi
• Nagano - Saitama
• Tsubame - Takasaki
• Saitama - Takasaki
• Takasaki - Tokyo
• Nagano - Joetsu
• Takasaki - Karuizawa
• Takasaki - Joetsu
• Niigata - Takasaki
• Gunma - Nagano
• Nagano - Karuizawa
• Nagaoka - Niigata
• Takasaki - Saitama
• Takasaki - Nagano
• Yuzawa Niigata - Saitama
• Narita Airport - Nagano
• Niigata - Yuzawa Niigata
• Tokyo - Tsubame
• Haneda Airport - Nagano
• Gunma - Saitama
• Saitama - Niigata

Depending on the length of your trip and your preferences you can choose a first or second class ticket in a sleeper coach for an overnight trip or opt for a hard or soft seat if available. Note that the choice of ticket classes depends both on the route and the length of your trip. Basically, your train may feature first class berths but you will not be able to book one if you are doing just a short two-hour stretch. In general, second class berths are a good choice for longer trips, and soft seats get you covered if your train ride is supposed to take under 4-5 hours.

Pros of Train Travel

• The best thing about railway travel is no traffic jams. Even on rush-hour, long weekends or during the high season
• An easy online booking process – you do not need to go to the railway station, which was the case in many places not so long ago!
• Prices for train tickets are usually more affordable compared to airplane tickets yet for certain destinations and trips the total travel time can be almost the same
• While rail travel is obviously slower than air travel, railway stations are often located in the centre of the city which saves you a sack of time getting to/from there while airports are almost always are quite a long way out of the city
• Travelling by night allows you to save on a hotel room and sleep well at the same time – opposite to a night bus where even the sleeping class is a huge compromise
• On certain routes luxury service is available

Cons of Train Travel

• For longer trips a train ride is definitely more time consuming than air journeys
• Trains do ride on schedule but being out of schedule is not unheard of for train travel – and delays can be huge, so if you are planning a connection to your flight, carefully check the time your train arrives at the station and think twice.
• Cleanliness is sometimes an issue with second and third class tickets, and with toilets, too.
• If your train makes a lot of stops, in some cases it is difficult to figure out when to get off as stops are not always clearly announced or marked with the exception of an electronic screen.