Luggage on packed trains

I read urban trains, subways or otherwise, are most of the time packed. There will be times when travelers like me will have to lug our luggage along to travel to another place or city. I will not want my luggage to inconvenience another passenger. Any advice? Thanks.

I wouldn't say packed "most of the time"... if you can possibly stay away from rush times when people are trying to get to work, then they wont be so crowded usually.

If you absolutely must ride during a rush, and your luggage is small, putting it on your lap (if sitting) or overhead on the bars if standing will keep it out of others' way. If it is big luggage, there's not much you can do, just try to keep it close and as compact as possible.

Rush times are usually M-F in the morning around 7 and 8 AM, and in the evenings a smaller one around 5PM. Holidays/weekends will also see crowds, but they tend to be more spread out generally in the mornings 8 to about 10 as people head out for their plans. Also, special events in certain areas can affect lines and crowds of course; for example off the top of my head, the Yurikamome in Odaiba after an event at Tokyo Big Sight has ended. You can probably figure out ways to avoid those though!

Use public transports other than commute hours(6:30-9:30, 17:30-20:30).

Stand the edge of cabin and then keep your luggage there.

There will be times when travelers like me will have to lug our luggage along to travel to another place or city.

Actually, it would be uncommon that you really "have to" lug your luggage. Another option is to make strategic use of luggage delivery service.
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2278.html

Outside of rush hour, the trains run less frequently (it is unprofitable to run empty trains), so unless you have experience with a particular train line at a given time, it can be hard to predict whether it will be full or not.

On the shinkansen and limited express trains you can usually find a place to put your suitcases and it isn't particularly antisocial to bring them aboard as long as you manage them responsibly. You won't see many Japanese people with anything bigger than a carry-on size rollaboard, but if you look like a foreigner nobody will pay you much heed. On a packed commuter train, you may really annoy people, though.

If you have a JR pass, sometimes you can use long-distance trains even for short distances to avoid having to use commuter trains (without a JR pass this is simply not a practical option). I've used the shinkansen numerous times to get from Shinagawa to Tokyo or Tokyo to Ueno, for example, and limited express trains to get from Umeda to Shin-Osaka. I always consider luggage management when I pick my hotels (how I will get suitcases to and from the airport being a major consideration).

Sometimes you have no choice in the matter of when you travel and like most countries there is going to be a rush hour.

However as stated, try to avoid travelling at rush hour if you can, between 9.30am to 4pm the trains are much less packed. However even before and after the rush hours trains can still be packed. I once had to lug three pieces of luggage from the sticks to Ueno station (to get a narita express train) and even before 6am the trains were still packed.

If a train is frequent then don't board the first train, see if there is an area of the platform that is less busy, try to see if the train is less packed at one spot. Also make sure you don't enter a Woman only carriage by mistake...

If the train has a green carriage then pay the extra to use this, at peak hours it is still going to be packed but on some trains their is space for luggage behind seats.

If you plan to visit somewhere and come back a few days later then see if you can use a smaller bag or rucksack to take what you need and use a coin locker at a JR station, you can leave stuff for up to three days.

tokyo friend 48 wrote;
Stand the edge of cabin and then keep your luggage there.

I'm sure this doesn't mean the rear or front of a cabin/wagon. In most commuter trains, there is no room at that spot. Try to find a wall and put it there. There often is a tiny spot at the sides of doors. But don't block the door itself.

All in all, it's best to avoid rush hours. It's also common for locals to use taxis to/from City Air Terminals like TCAT and YCAT which are in the city centers. From there you can take the comfy and reasonable Limousine Bus to the airport.

Thank you, all of you for your concerns. In my case, I will need to transfer to Tokyo station from Shinjuku for my Shinkansen journey to Kyoto. I will definitely try to avoid the morning rush.

Better to do Shinjuku to Shinagawa, and catch the Shinkansen there. You'll avoid a complicated station with luggage.

Dale

Dale, I didn't think of that. Yes, I might have to follow like you have pointed out.

Actually, as a former frequent user of the Chuo and Yamanote lines, I don't understand how you could "avoid a complicated station with luggage" just by going via Shinagawa, but that is indeed one of your options.

By the way, most Shinkansen trains depart from Tokyo station before stopping at Shinagawa, so unless you have a reservation, you will have a better chance of having a seat as well as obtaining an ideal spot for your luggage if you board the Shinkansen at Tokyo station.

If your on one of the major major JR lines, paying the extra to travel on the Green Carriages can make a big difference as you tend to get a set and there are places (kind of) to put your luggage.

Not having people standing everywhere also makes a difference on this carriage. This is what I would do when I was going from Yokohama to Tokyo to catch the Shinkansen North to Tohoku during peak hour....

Well, this thread has probably gone on long enough, but if you are really worried about how to get your luggage to the shinkansen station, you could take the Super Azusa limited express or the Narita Express from Shinjuku to Tokyo. (An extremely limited number of Narita Express trains also stop at Shinagawa, which would be even faster and simpler.) Narita Express requires reservations; I'm not sure about the Super Azusa. But if you are planning to go and make a reservation for the shinkansen anyway, you could see if there is a conveniently timed limited express and reserve it at the same time.

Personally, I wouldn't want to take the Chuo line or the Yamanote Line at any time of day if I had a really big suitcase. If it was just a medium size suitcase, then maybe...

The Chuo and Yamanote lines can be quite roomy during the day. I recently boarded one from Mitaka to Tokyo station on a weekday afternoon and had no problem finding seats for two. But I do agree that they suddenly tend to get crowded between Shinjuku and Tokyo stations. When boarding at Shinjuku, you can try getting in the queue (yes, there is a vague queue) and wait for the next train so that you will be the first in line to rush to a good spot.

By the way, neither lines don't have the first-class-ish "Green Car"s. The Tokaido line is about the only commuter train line that has them in cental Tokyo.

I also don't think that Super Azusa goes to Tokyo station, although Narita Express does. You do need to pay extra, though.

Super Azusa does go to Tokyo Station, according to Hyperdia. Neither train costs extra if you have a JR pass. In a way, it's kind of an off-the-wall solution, but I've started using this sort of option quite a bit when I have a rail pass and don't want to deal with commuter trains. I've used the Thunderbird a number of times to get from Umeda to Shin-Osaka, for example.