Central Japan Railway and West Japan Railway are considering decreasing the number of non-reserved seats on Nozomi trains on the Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen lines starting next spring due to rising demand for reserved seats. 

The Nozomi bullet trains, which operate on the two lines connecting Tokyo with Fukuoka via Osaka, have a 16-car configuration, with 250 seats in three cars used as non-reserved seating.  

According to officials involved, both railway companies are considering converting one of the non-reserved cars with a seating capacity for 85 passengers into a car with reserved seating at the time of next March’s change in the timetable.  

JR Central and JR West have already been operating Nozomi bullet trains without non-reserved seats during the three peak periods of the New Year, Golden Week, and Obon, in response to increasing passenger demand for reserved seats.  

JR Central said that it is considering the most appropriate classification of seats based on the usage situation.