User:Wbenton/夜行列車

A night train stopping at Hamamatsu Station (January 2007)

A night train (Yakoressha) is a train that runs at night and across days. It is sometimes called a night train or a night train for short. Also, among night trains, those that mainly use sleeper cars are called sleeper trains.

Most night trains do not handle passenger services during the late night except at major stations, but trains that depart late at night and arrive early in the morning and have a short operating distance may handle passenger services at many stations even late at night. The biggest advantage of night trains is that you can travel to your destination while you sleep. In recent years, in the case of nighttime services, there has been a rise in competing modes of transportation, such as highway buses that can reach your destination while you are asleep, passenger planes including low-cost airlines (LCCs) with short travel times, and high-speed railroads such as Shinkansen. High-cost, high-priced night trains are on the decline worldwide, starting with Japan, but also in Europe, the United States, Asia, Africa, South America, and Australia.

In Japan, as of 2021, there are only two regular night trains remaining per day, but there are luxury sightseeing trains that tour multiple areas including late at night, and those that run from late night to early morning so that you can enjoy the starry sky, night views, and sunrise. Other special trains are in operation as well.

Special all-night trains, which are mainly operated for New Year's Eve visitors in Japan, will not be discussed here.

Prior to Shinkansen opening
In Japan, night trains began to operate after the mid-Meiji period, when the nationwide railway network was completed. Long-distance trains at that time did not arrive at their destinations unless they ran day and night, so they were inevitably night trains. Initially, trains were operated only with seat cars, but in 1900 Sanyo Railway (operating the current Sanyo Main Line, etc.) became the first company in Japan to provide sleeper cars.

Most of the railway network formed by large private railways was nationalized in 1907 (Meiji 40), and various night trains were operated by the Imperial Railway Agency (later Cabinet Railway Agency -> Ministry of Railways -> Ministry of Transport and Communications Railway General Bureau -> Ministry of Transport), had come into operation. After it was nationalized and became a government-operated railway, the speed was improved by improving the tracks and rolling stock. The special express train between Tokyo Station and Shimonoseki Station (the train numbering is #1 train for down trains and #2 trains for up trains), which has been in operation since 1912 (Meiji 45/Taisho 1), departs Shimbashi Station at 8:30. The train arrived at Osaka Station at 20:33 and arrived at Shimonoseki Station, the terminal station, at 9:38 the next morning after running a night train on the Sanyo Main Line, taking 25 hours and 8 minutes. The 1st and 2nd trains are set as representative trains of Japan, and the organization consisted of 1 first class observation car, 1 first class sleeper, 2 second class cars, 1 second class sleeper, dining car and luggage. It was a 7-car train. This train was named "Fuji" in 1930 (Showa year 5) and speeded up further, leaving Tokyo Station at exactly 13:00 and arriving at Shimonoseki Station at 8:50 the next morning, taking 19 hours and 50 minutes. However, the Sanyo Main Line section was basically a night train.

In 1937 (Showa year 12), which was the heyday of government-owned railways before World War II, two limited express trains, "Fuji" between Tokyo Station and Shimonoseki Station, and "Sakura" mainly for third-class seats, were operated. Four other express trains were set up, two of which operated at night on the Tokaido Main Line and the other two on the Sanyo Main Line. In addition, there are four express trains between Tokyo and Kansai, among which the night express "17, 18 train" between Tokyo Station and Kobe Station is exclusively for first and second class and is also known as "Meishi Train". was These superior trains before World War II were completely abolished in 1944 (Showa year 19) when the Pacific War (Greater East Asia War) intensified, and at the same time sleeper cars were no longer in operation.

After the war, on November 20, 1945 (Showa year 20), the night express was revived between Tokyo Station and Osaka Station, and in 1948 (Showa year 23), sleeper cars resumed service. After that, the government-operated railway was taken over by the newly established public corporation JNR in 1949 (Showa year 24), and the night train was gradually reinforced by the JNR along with the reconstruction of Japan. In a survey conducted by the National Railways Passenger Bureau in the mid-1950s on whether to choose between daytime and nighttime travel, if the boarding time is between seven and a half hours and nine hours, daytime and nighttime use are evenly matched. However, it was found that night trains are preferred if they are more than 9 hours. When applied to the Tokaido Main Line at that time, night trains were preferred unless limited express trains were used between Tokyo Station and Osaka Station. In addition, in 1957 (Showa year 32), in the first five-year plan of the National Railways, it was decided that "of the limited express trains, trains or diesel cars will be used for daytime trains, and sleeper cars will be used for night trains". In 1956 (Showa year 31), the night express "Asakaze", which was created by putting together the same type of passenger car and sleeper car as the express, was changed to a 20 series passenger car manufactured according to this policy from 1958 (Showa year 33).

At that time, there were many single-track, non-electrified lines, and train speeds were slow. For example, in the timetable revision on November 19, 1956 (Showa year 31), the express "Satsuma" bound for Kagoshima Station departed Tokyo Station at 21:45 and arrived at Kagoshima Station at 5:46 in the morning two days later. Actual in train time was about 32 hours.

The number of night trains on the Tokaido Main Line, including those bound for Kyushu, increased, and from 1963 (Showa year 38) to 1964 (Showa year 39), just before the opening of the Tokaido Shinkansen, in the midst of a period of high economic growth. The number of night trains peaked in January. In September 1964 (Showa year 39), the number of night trains on the Tokaido Main Line departing from Tokyo Station was as follows, according to the timetable at that time.

- Express trains using 20 series passenger cars bound for Kyushu: 4 round trips

-Passenger express train labeled "Sleeper train": 7 round trips bound for Osaka/Kobe Station, 1 round trip bound for Hiroshima Station

-Night train express: 3 round trips to Osaka/Himeji Station, 1 round trip to Ogaki Station

-Passenger car express mainly for seat cars: 6 round trips to Kyushu, Sanyo, Sanin, Hokuriku, etc. Local train: 1 round trip to Osaka Station

At that time, night trains departed from Tokyo Station every 10 minutes from 19:50 to 22:10. In addition, there were four round-trip passenger express trains bound for Kyushu that ran on the Tokaido Main Line during the day and on the Sanyo Main Line at night.