Skyliner train to make Tokyo-Narita run in 36 minutes

Most airport sare awful to get to because they were designed and built so long ago. Recent good ones like BKK, HKG and Singapore are the exception. Fact is if they ran NEX every 15 minutes it is pretty good - Nippori doesn't seem like much of an improvement to me. What happened to all the hot air from LDP etc on making Tokyo more "business friendly"?

noborito at 03:20 PM JST - 23rd May

It's only taken them 20 years to figure a way to get people to the airport in a reasonable time. Why any major country would create an international airport so far away is insane, or just Japanese. Osaka has much smarter people. must be in the water.

Are you serious? Have you ever been to Kansai airport? They created an island far from the city, and built the airport on that(which started sinking quite soon afterwards). Getting too/from Kansai is just as much of a hassle as it is for Narita.

Nipporti station turned from an old station to a modern one (2008 compared to 2007) but Keisei area was still on work, I really don't remember an escalator... anyway, I used it twice to reach Narita, it was a good train and if speed will increase, surely better. As someone told, Nippori is on Yamanote Line, 10 minutes (or 12, can't remember) from Tokyo station...

Badge 213: Skyliner and Nex only leave once an hour. Thus, it's taken me up to 3 hours to get home in central Tokyo, "depending on traffic conditions."

Badge, Unagi,

Don't forget ORD (Chicago). The Kennedy Expressway during the rush hour can make you spend up to 1.25 hours to get to/from downtown and the CTA Blue Line (all-stops only) is a urine-stenched, rickety, cramped ride that can take close to 50 minutes also.

The N'EX or Skyliner is first class compared to that poor excuse... transportation...

Badge123;

Agree - at least with Narita there are options like actually having rail lines to get there. For most North American airports (and all Canadian ones), the road is the only way to get there and during rush hour it takes me about 45 minutes to get to the airport (<30 km) by taxi, which is the quickest option.

Even if Narita got a direct maglev hyperspatial 5 minute connection to Tokyo, I bet the complaints would then move on to how expensive it is.

JFK to downtown manhattan = takes up to an hour or more depending on traffic and transportation used.

Dulles to downtown DC - 45mins to one hour again depending on traffic conditions

Many international airports in other cities are similarly not well positioned. At least Japan has the up of having more reliable transportation.

It's only taken them 20 years to figure a way to get people to the airport in a reasonable time. Why any major country would create an international airport so far away is insane, or just Japanese. Osaka has much smarter people. must be in the water.

Nippori Station? Nuts. How about something in Yokohama or at least Shinjuku?

With existing standard gauge networks on no matter what train company mate, the possibilities are endless!

This is the "new" Skyliner, current skyliner services already serve those areas.

This is great if you live near Ueno, but the rest of us can look forward to doubling that travel time schlepping through the depths of Tokyo.

Yes but still faster then current methods.

Nippori Station? Nuts. How about something in Yokohama or at least Shinjuku?

JR trains connect those areas. Keisei services one portion of the population usually northern, north eastern areas, JR services other areas, both only have a small part of the market combined with direct airport limousine buses.

Nippori station isn't that bad, it's gotten bigger over the years, and it entirely depends on where your final destination is.

Shinjuku is + 20 minutes from Nippori, so the trip will be 20-30 minutes faster then any current mode of transportation currently available, to any point in Central Tokyo.

The best way to get to Narita for most people is by bus.

Okachimachi? I spent a week there one night.

Well it looks like I picked the right time to move to Okachimachi--this will be much more convenient (and faster) than going to Hakozaki and taking the bus.

Nippori Station? Nuts. How about something in Yokohama or at least Shinjuku?

WoW! I am so excited! How much will it cost??

Ahhh, finally! There are very few opportunities in life to brag about living in Chiba. Proximity to the airport. Oh, and lower taxes, but that's not related.

GRRRR!!!!! If only getting to Nippori or Ueno wasn't such a drag.... Skyliner is favorite way of getting to and from the airport but it is rarely my first choice. When they gonna build a maglev going from Roppongi to Narita?

"the train was designed by fashion leader...".surely only the colour scheme and perhaps internal seat layout..not the whole train as implied by the article..

This is great if you live near Ueno, but the rest of us can look forward to doubling that travel time schlepping through the depths of Tokyo.

There's a proposal for a Keisei 'ride in' through Toei-Asakusa towards Tokyo Station.

Both the shinkansen and the Keisei line are standard gauge. There is no wide gauge in Japan.

to Nippori?? thats just useless???

This is great if you live near Ueno, but the rest of us can look forward to doubling that travel time schlepping through the depths of Tokyo.

Narita sucks, it always has and it always will. Looking forward to the expansion of Haneda.

If linear motor train runs between Tokyo/Haneda and Narita, then much faster than Skyliner, maybe it takes 5-10 minutes. I like that! but It's a dream.

according to the wikipedia entry on narita shinkansen, it's standard gauge

While revivals of the Narita Shinkansen have been proposed periodically, the cancellation of the basic plan, lack of political will and the construction of the Narita Rapid Railway as a replacement all combine to make this unlikely. The Rapid Railway is being built as standard gauge (like the Shinkansen), theoretically leaving a door open for eventual conversion. However, the Rapid Railway's design speed is only 160 km/h and it will — at least initially — terminate at Keisei Ueno Station, not the more central Shinkansen hub of Tokyo Station

Good grief! What a bunch of misinformation here ...

Actually a route always was planned and the land acquired but it was primarily 'seen off' by some serious lobbying by environmentalists and residents of Eastern Tokyo who did not want a new shinkansen line built through the area ...

That original route has now been developed by Keisei from Narita to the outskirts of Tokyo but then follows existing Keisei tracks into town. The gauge is 1435mm -the SAME as JR shinkansen AND existing Keisei tracks, not the narrower 1071mm gauage used on most of JR. 1471mm gives much more stability at speed than 1071mm

It's not going to use the same track as the current skyliner service (which will continue to run alongside the new servive)

It was going to originally, but was deemed to have a poor cost-effectiveness..... actually, this new skyliner will use part of the shinkansen tracks that JR original laid for the proposed shinkansen route

I think you need to qualify that, tokyochris, because Shinkansen tracks would be wide gauge and Keisei is not. It might be they purchased land from the JR, but "use part of the shinkansen tracks" cannot be correct for this reason.

Beelzebub and flammenwerfer - wait until it's built, hop on it, and get the first flight back to your oh-so-efficient home countries. Stop pissing and whining like 5 year olds.

It's a good thing it's happening. Period.

wow...domestic competition...how'd that slip thru the cracks ?

Narita should have had its own Shinkansen station from Day 1

It was going to originally, but was deemed to have a poor cost-effectiveness..... actually, this new skyliner will use part of the shinkansen tracks that JR original laid for the proposed shinkansen route

I agree, what about a HanedaNarita link..

How about decent Haneda rail access, period. It's worse than Narita.

Beelzebub - Amen to that! they could spend trillions of yen to bore massive tunnels through the Alps to Niigata but couldnt make a 60km flat track? Nearsighted idiots indeed.

How much is it going to be to use it? Was this information not available to go into the article?

What about to Haneda?

I agree, what about a Haneda<->Narita link..

That infuriates me. They opened that bloody airport 33 years ago and they're only now getting around to arranging for efficient access to the terminal. Narita should have had its own Shinkansen station from Day 1. Idiots!

What about to Haneda?