Moonlight Nagara
A 185 series EMU formation on a Moonlight Nagara service, December 2013
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| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Service type | Rapid |
| Status | Seasonal operation |
| Locale | Japan |
| First service | 16 March 1996 |
| Current operator(s) | JR East, JR Central |
| Route | |
| Start | Tokyo |
| Stops | Shinagawa, Yokohama, Odawara, Numazu, Shizuoka, Hamamatsu, Toyohashi, Nagoya, Gifu |
| End | Ōgaki |
| Average journey time | 6:40 westbound, 6:16 eastbound |
| Service frequency | Seasonal |
| Line used | Tokaido Main Line |
| On-board services | |
| Catering facilities | None |
| Technical | |
| 185 series EMU | |
| Track gauge | 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) |
| Electrification | 1,500 V DC |
The Moonlight Nagara (ムーンライトながら) is a seasonal rapid overnight train service operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East) and Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central), which runs from Tokyo to Ōgaki in Gifu Prefecture via the Tokaido Main Line. Since 2009, the service has been offered approximately three weeks per year, corresponding to the spring, summer and year-end holiday seasons.
Since December 2013, Moonlight Nagara services are formed of 185 series electric multiple unit (EMU) 10-car (4+6-car) formations based at Omiya Depot.
From the introduction of the Moonlight Nagara service, trains were normally formed of three three-car 373 series EMUs owned by JR Central and based at Shizuoka Depot. Additional Moonlight Nagara 91 and 92 trains also operated during busy seasons, and these were formed of ten-car 183 series EMU sets owned by JR East and based at Tamachi Depot.
165 series, December 2000
373 series, September 2007
183/189 series, January 2007
The Moonlight Nagara service was introduced on 16 March 1996. The name was taken from the Nagara River in Gifu Prefecture, and was formerly used for a semi express service which ran between Tokyo and Ōgaki from 1 June 1960 until 1 October 1965.
Overnight services on the Moonlight Nagara route had existed in various forms since 1899, when through services commenced between Shimbashi in Tokyo and Kobe, extending as far west as Kagoshima in the 1940s. Prior to World War II, as many as seven overnight round-trip services existed on this route. Rail services were cut dramatically in the wake of the war. The line briefly saw three to four daily overnight services in the late 1950s, but electrification of the line, coupled with the opening of the Tokaido Shinkansen high-speed line in 1964, reduced the need for overnight services.
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