Tourism Shinkansen Supreme Class pricing revealed

I wonder if there's really a market for this.

The operators of the Tōkaidō and Sanyō Shinkansen have unveiled details of new private compartments that will be introduced on selected bullet train services from October. Central Japan Railway Co. (JR Central) and West Japan Railway Co. (JR West) announced on Wednesday how the new accommodation will work, including fares and booking arrangements. According to the companies, passengers using the free online reservation system will pay ¥32,660 for a one-way trip between Tokyo and Nagoya in a single-occupancy compartment. That is roughly US$200 at current exchange rates.


A larger compartment designed for up to two passengers will cost ¥47,060. The second passenger will only need a standard fare ticket and a limited express surcharge ticket. Initially, the companies plan to offer private compartments on about 12 trains per day, with the service expected to expand gradually.

As the rich get richer and the poor get poorer the market for these luxury items will continue to expand. In this particular case probably many people that use it will be able to expense it as a business expense.

It's very cheap! I went from Devon to Edinburgh (an 8 hour journey for our joke of a rail network) and it cost me $738.09 and that with no guarentee of food and drink! It was very disappointing and under par.

I will never do first class train travel, in the UK again.