INTERVIEW: JR Tokai to Let Pet Dogs Enjoy Shinkansen Riding

Nagoya, Jan. 6 (Jiji Press)–Central Japan Railway Co., or JR Tokai, will launch a pilot service to let pet dogs have fun riding Shinkansen bullet trains with their owners, JR Tokai President Shunsuke Niwa said in a recent interview.

In the service, Shinkansen train cars will be chartered to allow passengers to release their dogs from cages and move around inside the cars with the pets.

“We’d like to create new demand through measures like this,” Niwa said.

The operator of the Tokaido Shinkansen line also plans a same-day luggage delivery service for guests at Mitsui Fudosan Co. group hotels in Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto using “Kodama” trains, which have already been utilized to meet corporate demand for same-day package delivery. Sagawa Express Co. will take charge of picking up and dropping off luggage at hotels and stations.

Niwa expressed willingness to “continue to cooperate with areas and businesses along the Shinkansen line.”

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]