The recent JR Group announcement (JR East, JR Central, JR West, JR Kyushu) that their separate online ticket reservation systems (Eki-Net, EX, e5984, JR KYUSHU Train Reservation) would finally start working together was met with wild cheering from the gaijin crowd: finally, we’ll have one unified app that does it all.
Ummm, not really. JR Group ticket reservation has always been unified…on their backend. Their MARS system powers all JR station kiosks and ticket reservation offices across the country. The current proliferation of multiple online ticketing systems is a result of the 1987 JNR breakup. This happened just before the internet revolution hit. The newly independent JR companies each pursued online ticket reservations that made sense for their operating region: EX focused exclusively on the Tokaido Shinkansen, Eki-Net on JR East express train reservations and Shinkansen lines, and so on. They all used the MARS backend but created different front end UIs with payment accounts. The initial focus was also mostly paper tickets.
Smartphones and mobile apps changed everything. Nobody wants to juggle different ticket reservation apps and accounts just to make a trip but that’s how things evolved. Fortunately JR Group is finally addressing the problem. By 2027 an Eki-Net user for example can buy EX/e5984/JR KYUSHU Train Reservation tickets in the Eki-Net app or website, all charged to their Eki-Net account, reservations can be changed and refunded too. The JR Group press release diagrams illustrate a single ID login working across different systems:
Transit/payment YouTuber Kenzy201 posted a good overview analysis of the announcement. I agree with his take that the effort is collaboration, not integration. In fact the systems already integrate in limited ways, they are simply expanding it. By mid 2027 we’ll get one user interface and one login, but not one eTicket for traveling from Sendai to Osaka (but you can attach multiple eTickets to Mobile Suica or other Transit IC cards like you can now). The systems will stay separate. Shinkansen eTickets and Express Train Ticketless will be the main focus on Transit IC card and QR. JR West’s Mobile ICOCA system hosting Mobile TOICA and Mobile SUGOCA makes a lot more practical sense now in the context of JR Group ticketing collaboration.
He also makes a great point about how this development should eliminate the current confusion of ‘where do I issue my paper ticket’. For example, a Eki-Net online purchased thru trip from Tokyo to Minobu requires that the tickets are issued from a JR East station kiosk. In the JR Central region there are few station kiosks where users can issue connecting Eki-Net purchased tickets. And so on. Issuing tickets from anywhere, dealing with changing reservations and getting refunds online instead of hunting for the nearest overcrowded JR Ticket Reservation office will save users time and hassle.
There are still many details we don’t know yet: do I get JRE POINT when purchasing EX eTickets in Eki-Net? Or there needs to be point exchanges between the systems. There’s certainly a lot of UI opportunity to improve route and price search across ticketing systems, with services too. I hope JR Group makes the best of it.
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