Handpicked experience · Tokyo
Tokyo, Japan
An express laid partly on the earthworks of a bullet train that was never finished, serving an airport built sixty kilometres out because the land fought back.
Hop on one of Japan's fastest trains and get convenient access to downtown Tokyo from Narita Airport.
Reserved seating means that you are guaranteed a seat.
Travel in comfort and style with dedicated luggage space for your bags.
A reserved seat rather than a scramble for space with luggage
One of the quickest airport-to-city rail runs anywhere
Luggage racks at the carriage ends, sized for airport use
A straightforward handover to the subway network at the city end
A reserved-seat ticket on the Skyliner, the limited-stop express between Narita Airport and central Tokyo. It covers the rail leg only, and it is the fastest way into the city on tracks.
Assigned seating, luggage space at the ends of each carriage, and a run of about forty minutes with almost nothing in between. The train sets down on the north-east side of the centre, from where the subway network takes over. Buy the seat for the arrival you actually land on, because the service runs to a timetable rather than continuously.
Part of the route runs on ground prepared for something else. In the 1970s a dedicated Shinkansen line to the new airport was planned, land was acquired and structures were built — and then the project collapsed amid the disputes that engulfed the whole airport. The earthworks sat unused for decades. When a faster airport line was finally opened in 2010, it was laid partly along that abandoned alignment, which is why a narrow-gauge train can hold such high speed for so much of the way.
Narita is around sixty kilometres out, which is unusual for a major hub, and the reason is political rather than geographic. The site was chosen and expropriated in the 1960s over fierce local opposition, and the resulting struggle delayed opening until 1978 — years behind schedule, with a single runway. Some farming families never sold. To this day a handful of plots remain inside the airport perimeter, and the runway layout still reflects land the airport could not obtain.
Japan's ordinary rail network runs on track narrower than the European standard, which limits speed. The Skyliner works up to a hundred and sixty kilometres an hour on it, the fastest scheduled service in the country outside the Shinkansen network. On the newer section the ride is noticeably smoother and straighter than the older suburban lines beside it.
This covers the train only. Onward subway travel, the observation tower and anything else in the city are separate. Seats are tied to a specific departure, and the ticket cannot be cancelled once booked, so it is worth fixing your flight before buying.
Open it to pick a date and work out the price.
What the fare covers, and what to budget for separately.
The practical detail, and the answers people actually ask for.
About forty minutes between the airport and the north-east side of central Tokyo, with very few stops along the way.
Because it runs on ground prepared in the 1970s for a dedicated Shinkansen line to the airport. That project collapsed, the earthworks sat unused for decades, and the 2010 airport line was laid partly along the same alignment.
For political reasons rather than geographic ones. The site was expropriated in the 1960s against fierce local opposition, and the dispute delayed opening until 1978, with a single runway.
Yes — some families never sold, and a handful of plots remain within the airport perimeter. The runway layout still reflects the land that could not be acquired.
Up to a hundred and sixty kilometres an hour, which makes it the fastest scheduled service in Japan outside the Shinkansen network, and it does that on track narrower than the European standard.
No. The ticket covers the express train only; onward travel across the city is arranged and paid separately.
No. A seat belongs to one departure and stays with it, so match the booking to a flight you are confident of rather than an optimistic one.