The is a
commuter limited express train service operated by
West Japan Railway Company
, also referred to as , is one of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) companies and operates in western Honshu. It has its headquarters in Kita-ku, Osaka. It is listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange, is a constituent of the TOPIX Large70 index, ...
(JR West) between and or in Japan since June 2003. It replaced the previous ''Biwako Liner'' services.
Service pattern
, one weekday morning service (''Rakuraku Biwako'' 1) runs from to , and two weekday evening services (''Rakuraku Biwako'' 2 & 4) run from Osaka to Maibara and respectively, with the journey time from Osaka to Maibara taking approximately 1 hour 28 minutes.
Rolling stock
*
681 series or
683 series
The is a dual-voltage electric multiple unit (EMU) train type operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR-West) on limited express services in Japan since 2001.
Variants
683-0 series
The first subseries consists of 54 cars composed of 6 6-ca ...
6-car EMU sets
*
KiHa 189 series 3-car DMU (since March 2014)
Services were initially operated using the nine-car 681 series or 683 series EMUs used on ''
Thunderbird'' services.
Formations
''Rakuraku Biwako'' 1 and 2
''Rakuraku Biwako'' 1 and 2 (between Osaka and Maibara) are formed as follows, with car 1 at the Maibara end.
*Trains run as 9-car formations on certain days.
''Rakuraku Biwako'' 4
''Rakuraku Biwako'' 4 (Osaka to Kusatsu) is formed as follows, with car 1 at the Osaka end.
* All cars are standard class and no-smoking.
* Trains run as 6-car formations during busy periods.
History
The ''Biwako Express'' service was introduced from 2 June 2003.
The service was made entirely no-smoking from 1 June 2009.
The service started calling at Minami-Kusatsu Station, and all seats become reserved from 13 March 2021.
Effective the 16 March 2024 timetable revision, all services were renamed to ''Rakuraku Biwako''. At the same time, 9-car 683 series sets operated on this service were replaced with 6-car 681 or 683 series sets.
See also
*
List of named passenger trains of Japan
This article contains lists of Lists of named passenger trains, named passenger trains in Japan.
Shinkansen (bullet trains)
Daytime trains Limited express (partial list)
Express
Rapid
Night trains Limited express
Express
...
References
External links
JR West 683 series ''Biwako Express''
JR West KiHa 189 series ''Biwako Express''
{{JR West trains
Named passenger trains of Japan
West Japan Railway Company
Railway services introduced in 2003
2003 establishments in Japan