Oh, Tokaido Line

Seriously, the Tokaido Line has become my new best friend lately. I take it two days a week, soon to be three. It’s part of the JR company, but it runs in an ‘X’ pattern to the Chuo line, my train line. In my mind, it’s the long-distance line because I have to take it to work places that are nowhere close to my home, and usually not that close to Nagoya either. On Wednesdays and Thursdays I take it northwest to Ichinomiya and Gifu respectively. And starting on Fridays, I’ll take it southeast to Toyohashi.

Now, I used to complain about having to go to Ichinomiya and Gifu, which are 15 and 23 minutes away on a Rapid train, but that’s has come to a screeching halt. It takes 43 minutes to get to Ichinomiya on the Rapid train. It’s killing me already, and I haven’t even gone there yet.

But here’s a mystery of the Tokaido line. In Nagoya, there are seriously three different platforms for the Tokaido line. Nos. 5 & 6 only go to Gifu and Ogaki, 1 & 2 always bring me in from Gifu or Ichinomiya, and I’m pretty sure there’s one more, but I can’t remember it right now. I don’t understand why there needs to be so many platforms. That’s just guaranteeing that people will get on the wrong train and end up lost in the middle of the boonies. So, if you find yourself traveling on the Tokaido line in Nagoya, study the maps carefully to make sure your train actually goes where it’s supposed to go.