Most confortable ride?

[disturbman]

To avoid hijacking Westfalen's thread with my question I decided to create a new and dedicated subject about it.

 

I just love the exterior curves and the interior design of the 885.

 

It looks nice but of all the Express I've ride in Japan it is the most uncomfortable.

Many of the first timers on the tour think the most comfortable and smartest looking train we've ridden so far this trip is the good old 100 series Shinkansen.

 

For those whose (like me) that have ridden trains in Japan which train offers the best ride/comfort?

 

I know that japanese trains are incredibly comfortable compared to (at least) their european counterpart (ridding a TGV or an ICE is awfully uncomfortable) but I'm still intersting to know which ones are the best in your opinion.

 

And to answer Westfalen: For me the most comfortable and smartest looking train I rode was JR Kyushu 800 Series Shinkansen (Tsubame) and the 787 Series (Relay Tsubame).

 

But I can say without thinking twice about it that I found older rolling stock a lot more comfortable than relatively new ones. I have found memories of trips in 485 Series and 783 Series.

[bikkuri bahn]

But I can say without thinking twice about it that I found older rolling stock a lot more comfortable than relatively new ones. I have found memories of trips in 485 Series and 783 Series.

 

I am of the same opinion.  Alot of it has to do with the fact that older stock is heavier, so you get more of the "cadillac" ride than the lightweight designs of today.  To compensate for their lighter weight, some modern designs incorporate active or semi-active suspension to improve ride. As for the most comfortable ride, I'll say a 24 series sleeper with a full passenger load on straight track...

[to2leo]

Sunrise Express is the most comfortable sleeping train, the EMU doesn't jerk you or rock you like the Blue Train I rode from Sapporo.

 

As for Shinkansen, I like sitting on the upper floor of the E4.

 

Other comfortable favorites are Odiroko Superview, E259 and 885 (considering the tracks it used.)

[westfalen]

For the upper deck of a shinkansen you couldn't beat sitting down for a meal in the dining car of a 100 series 'Grand Hikari'.

 

I'd have to say the 800's are the best looking and most comfortable of the modern shinkansen. I've been seeing a few 787's the last few days and I prefer the original lighter gray over the dark colour they wear today, I remember riding them in 1994 when they were new and just plain Tsubames.

[Martijn Meerts]

I know that japanese trains are incredibly comfortable compared to (at least) their european counterpart (ridding a TGV or an ICE is awfully uncomfortable) but I'm still intersting to know which ones are the best in your opinion.

 

I haven't ridden any Japanese trains, so I can't say anything about that. I have however ridden the TGV Thalys (Rotterdam -> Paris) which was pretty bad. The ride itself wasn't bad, but there was just too little room in the train. Very little leg space, and not nearly enough room for luggage.

 

My experiences with the ICE are much better though. I've ridden an ICE 2 from Hamburg via Hannover to Köln. It was a silky smooth ride, very relaxing, and with good on-board service. Granted, I paid a bit extra and was traveling first class ;)

[to2leo]

We got rail pass so we had to travel on first class in Europe.  The train rides on the ICE-T, ICE 3, TGV Thalys, Eurostar, Duplex and SBB IC2000 were all very comfortable.  I really loved the ICE-T as it went thru the valleys from Munich to Berlin.

 

The CityNightLine trains on the other hand were not that great when compared to the JR Sunrise Express.

[spacecadet]

I haven't ridden any Japanese trains, so I can't say anything about that. I have however ridden the TGV Thalys (Rotterdam -> Paris) which was pretty bad. The ride itself wasn't bad, but there was just too little room in the train. Very little leg space, and not nearly enough room for luggage.

 

There's not really any room for luggage on the shinkansen either, at least not any of the models that run on the Tokaido line.  You'd better have luggage that can fit in the overhead racks.  If you're a tourist and get caught with a suitcase that's too big, you can sometimes fit them in behind the last row of seats in the car - provided no one else has beat you to it.

 

As for comfort and ride, I haven't noticed much difference in ride quality between the 100, 300, 700 and N700 series; they all seemed pretty smooth to me.  But the seat pitch in the 100 was *much* too small for me to be comfortable.  I thought originally that this was because we were riding in a non-reserved car, but I've since been told that reserved and non-reserved cars have the same seat pitch.  The pitch in all the other trains was plenty, although as a big western guy, I'm not a huge fan of the five abreast seating.  I do very much like the four abreast green cars, though the footrest can get kind of annoying.

[ToniBabelony]

I'd like to say the Caddilac Fleetwood 1977 2-door coupé, but as this is about trains in Japan, I'd like to candidate the 200 Series Shinkansen.

 

On the other hand, the standard IC-cars with 6-person compartments from the DB (Germany) are pretty damn comfortable as well.

[westfalen]

The tour group rode the Botchan Train in Matsuyama today (I forfeited in favour of riding all the Iyotetsu lines) and said it was like traveling in a standing room only mobile sauna.

[Tecchan]

The Kyushu Limited Express like the Sonic, Kamome and of course Relay Tsubame are really great trains to travel with!

If the tracks weren't so "bumby", they would be a lot greater than Shinkansen.

 

One of my best rides war on Hokkaido from Asahikawa to Wakkanai. A 6 hours trip because of heavy rain but I was all comfy on my seat with no neighbor, food (eki-ben), computer filled with anime, Nintendo DS and of course the beautiful scenery of northern Japan!

[miyakoji]

Excepting various shinkansen rolling stock, I'm going with JRW 221/223 series.  I also liked some Keihan cars, but I don't recall what models they were.  Kintetsu has a nice selection of express rolling stock, I wish I'd ridden those lines more often.

[yakumo381]

MagLev from Shaghai City Centre out to Pu Dong Airport @ 450 km/h. Downside is that the viaducts it is built on already appear to have concrete rot so doubtfull how long it will last but what a way to go!