Haruka Express Green Car: Kyoto to Osaka Kansai Airport Train

After making a decision yesterday to book flights leaving Japan this morning I had to head back to Osaka Kansai Airport from Kyoto. There is a special direct service for this exact route, the Karuka Express, which bypasses Osaka. I was up fairly early and said goodbye to friends from the study tour at Kyoto Station. We had spent some time together late last night both in Kyoto and around the station but this morning was brief. I opted for the completely unnecessarily for the Green Car (think first class) and had the entire thing to myself. On this service the green car is 1×2 seating, the standard service is a very comfortable 2×2. It is the first carriage so you can get on board without much walking, but also the longest walk when arriving at Kansai Airport. I thought I was running late and going to miss it but it’s Japan, it left on the minute and you couldn’t even get on until moments before as they were cleaning it. So really no need to pay the extra, it is pointless but I had no idea whether the service would be busy until I arrived. Still nothing as pointless as the Dubai Tram gold class!

Not much more to say besides it goes to the airport, it was clean, efficient and other obvious things being in Japan. Uh, maybe some statistics… for some reason when I think of Japan and trains I think of a densha otaku then I think technical specifications. The green car held has ten rows, so 3×10=30 seats, the trip is around 90 minutes so the train reaches speeds of… well with a reference frame of… uh, well it’s fast. Although maybe not by Japanese standards. Ok, I’m done. Next stop Osaka Kansai Airport.

A wild Shinkansen appears!

Passing Kansai before crossing to the airport