The was a

limited express A limited express is a type of express train service. It refers to an express service that stops at a limited number of stops in comparison to other express services on the same or similar routes. Japan The term "limited express" is a commo ...

train operated by the

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, and ...

(JR West) between and in Japan until March 2011, using portions of the

Tōkaidō Main Line The is a major Japanese railway line of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) network, connecting and stations. It is long, not counting its many freight feeder lines around the major cities. The high-speed Tōkaidō Shinkansen largely parall ...

Kosei Line The is a commuter rail line in Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto Metropolitan Area, operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR West). The line was completed in 1974 by the former Japanese National Railways (JNR) to provide faster access from the Kansai region t ...

, and

Hokuriku Main Line The Hokuriku Main Line ( ja, 北陸本線, ) is a 176.6 kilometer railway line owned by the West Japan Railway Company (JR West) connecting the Maibara Station in Maibara, Shiga, with the Naoetsu Station in Joetsu, Niigata. The section betw ...

. The characters 雷鳥 literally mean "thunder/lightning" and "bird" in Japanese, but the compound word 雷鳥 (''raichō'') is the name of ''Lagopus muta'', the

Rock ptarmigan The rock ptarmigan (''Lagopus muta'') is a medium-sized game bird in the grouse family. It is known simply as the ptarmigan in the UK. It is the official bird for the Canadian territory of Nunavut, where it is known as the ''aqiggiq'' (ᐊᕿ� ...

, not a mythological creature. The ''raichō'' bird inhabits the Tateyama Mountain Range and is the prefectural bird of Toyama, Nagano, and

Gifu Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Gifu Prefecture has a population of 1,991,390 () and has a geographic area of . Gifu Prefecture borders Toyama Prefecture to the north; Ishikawa Prefecture ...

Station stops

Stations in parentheses were not served by all services. - - - (: Raicho 8 only) - (: Raicho 33 only) - - - - - - - - -

Rolling stock

485 series The (and the earlier 481 and 483 series variants) is a Japanese limited express electric multiple unit (EMU) type introduced in 1964 by Japanese National Railways (JNR), and subsequently operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East), We ...

EMUs

Formation

*Green: Green car (first class) *White: Standard class car *O: Observation seats *R: Reserved seats *NR: Non-reserved seats *No smoking accommodation *6 cars *Women-only seats are available in Car 3.

History

The ''Raichō'' service was first introduced on 25 December 1964 as a limited express operating between Osaka and Toyama. From 11 March 1989, ''Super Raichō'' services were introduced, operating between Kobe/Osaka and Toyama/Wakura Onsen. From the start of the 20 April 1995 timetable revision, new 681 series EMUs were introduced on Osaka to Toyama services, named ''Super Raichō (Thunderbird)''. These became simply '' Thunderbird'' from March 1997. JR West introduced a "women-only" section in the reserved-seating cars of ''Raichō'' and ''Thunderbird'' trains from October 2007 following the rape of a female passenger by a man in a train toilet while travelling on a ''Thunderbird'' service in August 2006. The last remaining ''Raichō'' service was discontinued from the start of the 12 March 2011 timetable revision, with all trains subsequently using the ''Thunderbird'' name.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Raicho Named passenger trains of Japan Railway services introduced in 1964 Railway services discontinued in 2011