Shikoku is the fourth largest island of Japan. It's located about 800 kilometers west of Tokyo, and has a population of 3.63 million. I sometimes visited there on business or just for sightseeing, but always went by air to save time. So this time, I visited there by train for a change.
Firstly, I took Tokaido-Sanyo Shinkansen from Tokyo terminal. After arriving at Okayama station, I transferred to a JR conventional line, named the Seto Ohashi line. My vehicle was a rapid service train, "Marine Liner", bound for Takamatsu. Marine Liner is an inter-island train between Honshu (the main island of Japan) and Shikoku Island. It's jointly operated by JR Shikoku and JR West. My train was composed of two sets of direct current EMUs. They were the JR Shikoku 5000 series and the JR West 223 series. The 5000 series had a double-decker Green Car (the first class-car). I used the Green Car this time, since the view from the upper floor is excellent. The Green Car ticket was standard ticket plus 1,000 yen (7.2 USD) including my seat selection fee.
As its name suggests, "Marine Liner" crossed the Seto Inland Sea, and headed to Takamatsu, a major city on Shikoku Island. En route, the train passed over 13.1 kilometers long "Seto Ohashi", which consists of 10 separate bridges. I could enjoy looking at blue sea and green islands from my train window. Marine Liner... there must be something to excite the emotions of railway travelers like me.
To be continued...
