Dedicated cars for families travelling on Japanese bullet trains

Hard on the heels of our story about the private meeting rooms aboard the Thalys high-speed train in Europe comes word of something related in Japan. It’s not for meetings this time, however; rather, it’s cars dedicated to families travelling on JR Tokai’s Tokaido Shinkansen bullet train. Targeting this winter’s peak travel season, JR Tokai — also known as Central Japan Railway — recently introduced “family cars” on its Tokaido Shinkansen bullet train line between Tokyo and Shin-Osaka stations, according to a report in the Mainichi Daily News. What that means, essentially, is that the cars are meant for families with young or rambunctious children, thereby removing some of the pressure for parents to keep their children quiet and well-behaved. The concept was first tested last August, Mainichi reports, and was then adopted on 39 Nozomi and Kodama trains for a total of 10 days during the New Year holidays. Fares are reportedly 7 to 9 percent cheaper on family cars than the standard fare. In addition, passengers on the Nozomi family cars are reportedly permitted to use one or two extra seats for strollers and other belongings. Segmentation is often a good strategy, but that’s especially true when particular segments can be kept physically separate from one another. Now if only such stratification were possible in air travel as well… 😉 (Related: In Paris, child-friendly café keeps kids entertained — Hotel targets expectant mothers with ‘birth tourism’ packages — Scheduling service for families with kids.) Spotted by: Mark Image credit: Mainichi Daily News