The is a rapid train service in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

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) and

Shikoku Railway Company The , commonly known as , is the smallest of the seven constituent companies of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group). It operates of intercity and local rail services in the four prefectures on the island of Shikoku in Japan. The company has it ...

(JR Shikoku) since April 1988. The ''Marine Liner'' links

Okayama is the prefectural capital, capital Cities of Japan, city of Okayama Prefecture in the Chūgoku region of Japan. The Okayama metropolitan area, centered around the city, has the largest urban employment zone in the Chugoku region of western J ...

, the capital city of

Okayama Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Okayama Prefecture has a population of 1,826,059 (1 February 2025) and has a geographic area of 7,114 Square kilometre, km2 (2,746 sq mi). Okayama Prefecture ...

and a major station on the

Sanyō Shinkansen is a former Japanese electronics manufacturer founded in 1947 by Toshio Iue, the brother-in-law of Kōnosuke Matsushita, the founder of Matsushita Electric Industrial, now known as Panasonic. Iue left Matsushita Electric to start his own bus ...

, with

Takamatsu file:Takamatsu City Hall.jpg, 270px, Takamatsu City Hall file:Takamatsu city center area Aerial photograph.2007.jpg, 270px, Aerial view of Takamatsu city center file:Takamatsu200910cut.JPG, 270px, View from Yashima to Takashima port is a capital ...

, the capital city of

Kagawa Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Kagawa Prefecture has a population of 949,358 (as of 2020) and is the List of Japanese prefectures by area, smallest prefecture by geographic area at . Kagawa Pr ...

on the island of

Shikoku is the smallest of the List of islands of Japan#Main islands, four main islands of Japan. It is long and between at its widest. It has a population of 3.8 million, the least populated of Japan's four main islands. It is south of Honshu ...

, via the

Great Seto Bridge The is a series of double deck bridges connecting Okayama and Kagawa prefectures in Japan across a series of five small islands in the Seto Inland Sea. Built over the period 1978–1988, it is one of the three routes of the Honshū–Shikoku ...

. Operating at a top speed of 130 km/h (81 mph), the journey takes approximately 52–63 minutes.

Overview

Since 1 October 2003, the ''Marine Liner'' has been operated by JR West 223-5000 series EMU trainsets. The first car on most Takamatsu-bound trains is a JR Shikoku 5000 series bi-level cab car with reserved seating. Previously,

213 series The is a suburban electric multiple unit (EMU) train type introduced in March 1987 by Japanese National Railways (JNR) shortly before its breakup and privatization, and currently operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR-West) and Central Japa ...

EMUs were used. From Okayama to Takamatsu, all ''Marine Liner'' trains stop at , and . Most trains also stop at either or , or both. Some early morning and late evening trains make additional stops at intermittent stations on the Seto-Ohashi and Yosan lines. As it is classified as a service, only a standard fare is charged for using the ''Marine Liner''. It currently takes about one hour to cover the entire journey. A passenger may upgrade to reserved seating, in both standard seats or Green Car seats for an additional fee. A crew change for the train driver and conductor occurs at Kojima, the boundary station between the two operating railways.

Route

The ''Marine Liner'' runs over two sections known collectively as the Seto-Ohashi Line. The Okayama-Kojima section is operated by JR West¹, and the Kojima-Takamatsu section is operated by JR Shikoku². ¹''Portions run over the JR

Uno Line The is a Japanese railway line which connects Okayama Station in Okayama, Okayama, Okayama to Uno Station in Tamano, Okayama, Tamano, both in Okayama Prefecture. It is owned and run by the West Japan Railway Company (JR West). It is also refer ...

''
²''Portions run over the JR

Yosan Line The is the principal railway line on the island of Shikoku in Japan, connecting the major cities of Shikoku, and via the Honshi-Bisan Line, with Honshu. It is operated by the Shikoku Railway Company (JR Shikoku), and is aligned approximately p ...

Stations

;Key (as of December 2006)

Formations

Services are formed as 2-, 3-, 5-, or 7-car formations as shown below with car 1 at the Takamatsu end. All cars are no smoking. Most of the trains use 5-car formations. *Green: Green class (first class) *White: Standard class *G (green class), R (standard class): Reserved seats *NR (standard class only): Non-reserved seats

History

The ''Marine Liner'' service was introduced in April 1988, using 3-car

EMUs formed as three-car, six-car, or nine-car formations.

References

External links

JR West ''Marine Liner'' information

JR Shikoku ''Marine Liner'' information
{{Shikoku transit Named passenger trains of Japan West Japan Railway Company Shikoku Railway Company Railway services introduced in 1988