ER
JAPAN Railways (JR) Group experienced an increase in train ticket bookings ahead of the 2021/2022 Christmas and New Year holidays. Quoted from Japan Today, Wednesday (15/12), JR Group noted that ticket bookings ahead of the year-end holiday increased by 81% compared to the same period in 2020.
JR Group noted that 2.32 million seats have been booked for the period from December 28, 2021 to January 5, 2022. This figure is the total order from the six passenger train companies in the JR Group.
Despite showing an increase, this number is still down when compared to the period before the pandemic, namely 2019-2020. However, this is considered to be starting to signal the easing of public concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic.
The increase in train ticket bookings also adds to the evidence that economic and social activity is recovering. Especially after the state of emergency in Tokyo and other major cities was lifted in September 2021.
Even so, the average daily seat bookings of 258,000 per day are still the sixth lowest since comparative data became available in the 1996 fiscal year. The peak increase in travel is expected to occur on December 30, 2021 and January 3, 2022.
Reservations for trains on the Tokaido Shinkansen and Sanyo Shinkansen lines that pass through major Japanese cities such as Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka and Fukuoka have increased. In fact, the increase occurred up to about two times compared to the same period last year.
Train operators including East Japan Railway are asking passengers to make plans in advance. Because it is estimated that the increase in ticket bookings will occur at the last minute before the end of the year. [sources/photo special]
