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On March 18, 2006, the Japan Railways Group (JR) implemented a few changes to its services. The timetables of most train lines remain unchanged or were affected only by minor changes. New train between Tokyo and Nikko JR East and Tobu Railways started operating direct limited express trains between Shinjuku, Nikko and Kinugawa Onsen. The trains are using JR and Tobu railway tracks: The one way journey to Nikko takes roughly two hours and costs 3900 Yen. All seats are reserved. The JR Tobu Nikko Kinugawa Free Kippu includes a round trip to Nikko and unlimited use of Tobu buses in the Nikko area for only 7800 Yen. Since the train partially run on non-JR tracks, Japan Rail Pass holders have to pay an additional fee when using this train. Read more about access to Nikko Read more about Nikko Izumo night train discontinued The dying of overnight trains is continuing due to competition by cheaper highway buses and low domestic airfares. The latest victim is the Izumo night train between Tokyo and Izumo, which stopped operation after more than 50 years of service. Furthermore, all Nihonkai night trains henceforth terminate at Aomori. One of two daily Nihonkai trains used to run as far as Hakodate. Over the last few years, several overnight train services have already been discontinued, including the Sakura (Tokyo - Nagasaki), Asakaze (Tokyo - Shimonoseki) and Suisei (Kyoto - Miyazaki). Read more about night trains Nihonkai night train at Osaka Station Increase of non-smoking cars and smoke free trains Car 4 of nozomi, hikari and kodama trains on the Tokaido Shinkansen was changed from smoking to non-smoking, leaving only 4 of the trains' 16 cars to smokers. Furthermore, all trains in Hokkaido (excluding limited express trains to/from Honshu) were made smoke free. In December 2005, the Nagano Shinkansen, Narita Express and some other express trains on relatively short routes, were already made smoke free. Increase of hikari railstar and nozomi trains on the Tokaido/Sanyo Shinkansen Two additional Hikari Railstar trains were introduced between Shin-Osaka and Hakata in both directions, resulting in two trains/hour during the morning and evening peak hours and one train/hour during the rest of the day. The number of nozomi trains on the Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen were also increased by about ten round trips per day. Read more about shinkansen Hikari Rail Star at Shin-Yamaguchi Station IC Prepaid Cards become even more user friendly Since January 28, the Suica Prepaid Card (to be used on JR trains in the greater Tokyo and Sendai areas) is now available as mobile phone. Several cell phone models with integrated Suica Prepaid Card function are now on sale. The service is known as Mobile Suica. Since February 1, the Icoca Prepaid Card (to be used on JR trains in the Kansai region) and the PiTaPa Prepaid Card (to be used on non-JR transportation in the Kansai region) can be used interchangeably on each other's networks. The Suica and Icoca cards can already be used interchangeably since 2004. Any Questions? Ask them in our question forum.

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