--- In BATN@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "2/17 Ashai Shimbun" <batn@...> wrote: Published Friday, February 17, 2006, by The Asahi Shimbun JR railways work together to keep riders from airlines By Yasufumi Kado The Asahi Shimbun New airports in Kobe and Kita-Kyushu have prompted two Japan Railway companies to work together to better compete with airlines. Central Japan Railway Co. (JR Tokai) and West Japan Railway Co. (JR West) will increase the number of Shinkansen bullet trains linking Tokyo with Shin-Kobe and Hakata, near Kita-Kyushu, under new timetables starting March 18. JR Tokai, which operates the Tokaido Shinkansen line between Tokyo and Shin-Osaka, expanded the coverage of its online discount reservation system to Shin-Kobe in December and will further extend it to Hakata by summer. "Kobe and Kita-Kyushu are major cities," a senior JR West official said. "We cannot just sit back and watch (airlines) take over (the key markets)." Kobe Airport opened on Thursday, and New Kitakyushu Airport will replace the existing one on March 16. Trains, no match for airplanes in terms of speed, are facing greater competition on price and services as well. Skymark Airlines Co. links Kobe Airport with Tokyo International Airport at Haneda in 70 minutes for a regular fare of just 10,000 yen, nearly half the level of 19,200 yen charged by All Nippon Airways Co. and Japan Airlines Corp. In response, ANA and JAL are discounting their services to 9,500 yen and 9,200 yen, respectively, albeit only until the end of February. By comparison, JR's Nozomi bullet train connects Tokyo and Shin-Kobe in 2 hours and 45 minutes for 14,670 yen. Star Flyer Inc., a Kita-Kyushu-based start-up carrier, will launch operations when New Kitakyushu Airport opens, offering up to 12 flights daily to and from Haneda. The current airport has only five Haneda flights by JAL. The new Shinkansen timetables will include a Nozomi bullet train that allows passengers from Shin-Kobe to arrive at Shinagawa Station in Tokyo before 9 a.m. The service targets business travelers. The number of Nozomi trains that directly link Tokyo and Hakata will also increase by 19 to 52 daily. The trains will run at least twice an hour, in both directions, from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. Further, 20 Nozomi trains will be added between Nagoya and Hakata. The expansion is viewed as a countermeasure against JAL affiliate J-Air Corp., which will launch a new service from New Kitakyushu Airport to Nagoya airport. The competitive pressures from the new airports also persuaded JR West to allow JR Tokai's online discount reservation system to handle stations on its Sanyo Shinkansen line between Shin-Osaka and Hakata. The Express Reservation system, which grants discounts to its 400,000 subscribers, used to be limited to JR Tokai's Tokaido Shinkansen line. Despite repeated requests from JR Tokai since 2003, JR West had been reluctant to let the system cover its territory for fear of a fall in ticket revenues. A JR company has to pay commissions for tickets sold by another JR company. JR West relented in September, concluding that losses would be offset by an increase in overall passengers. >From December, subscribers to the Express Reservation system are able to buy a Nozomi ticket between Tokyo and Shin-Kobe for 13,720 yen, 950 yen less than the regular fare. "The main airplanes to be used at Kobe Airport and New Kitakyushu Airport have limited capacities of 200 passengers or less," a senior JR Tokai official said. "Together with JR West, we want to emphasize that Shinkansen bullet trains offer better transportation capacities and more frequent services." Shinkansen trains, whose tariffs are set based on travel distance, are losing ground to airplanes. Airlines have competed to lower fares partly as a result of the industry deregulation in the late 1990s. In fiscal 2004, Shinkansen trains accounted for 65 percent of the overall ridership between Tokyo and Osaka, down from 84 percent in fiscal 1995, according to the transport ministry. The share of air travelers increased to 35 percent from 16 percent over the nine-year period. Train passengers between Tokyo and Fukuoka fell to a mere 6 percent in fiscal 2004, down from 12 percent in fiscal 1995. --- End forwarded message ---