Know Your Trains: Fujikyu Railway

This article is based on a visit made on Wednesday, 16 November 2016.

Edit 12 November 2018: Added station numbers to table.

A 1000-series local train at Kawaguchi-ko Station.
Taken on Wednesday, 16 November 2016.

Previously on Sekai Ichi, I described the Kaiji, Azusa, and Super Azusa limited-express services operating on the JR Chuo line.  For those travelling to the Fuji Five Lakes by train, this is only half of the journey.  The other half is the Fujikyu line, operated by the Fuji Kyuko (富士急行, Fuji Kyūkō) Railway Corporation, or Fujikyu (富士急, Fujikyū) for short.  Fujikyu also operates short and long-distance bus lines to and through the area, the Fuji-Q Highland theme park, and other ventures.

Name	Type	Time*	Max. Frequency**
Local	Local	65 minutes	1-2 per hour
Thomas Land Train	Local	65 minutes	2 per day
Fuji Tozan Densha	Rapid	55 minutes	2-3 per day
Fujisan Express	Ltd. Exp.	50 minutes	1 per 3 hours
Fujisan View Express	Ltd. Exp.	50 minutes	2-3 per day

*Approximate time between start and end stations.
**Departures are based on April 2016 schedules and are subject to change.

Fujikyu operates multiple themed services on its rail line.  In terms of stopping patterns and fares, they can be grouped into three classes: local, rapid, and limited express.  There are two limited-express services, the "Fujisan Express" (フジサン特急, Fujisan Tokkyū) and the "Fujisan View Express" (富士山ビュー特急, Fujisan Byū Tokkyū), but they have the same stopping patterns.  The "Fuji Tozan Densha" (富士登山電車) is a rapid service, making a few extra stops compared to the limited express trains, but requiring only a few more minutes and cheaper fares.  Finally, there is the Thomas Land Train, a local service with special decor themed around the Thomas Land world at Fuji-Q Highland.

No.	Name (English)	Name (Japanese)	Local	Fuji Tozan	Fujisan Express
FJ01	Otsuki	大月	X	X	X
FJ02	Kamiotsuki	上大月	X	I	I
FJ03	Tanokura	田野倉	X	I	I
FJ04	Kasei	禾生	X	I	I
FJ05	Akasaka	赤坂	X	I	I
FJ06	Tsuru-shi	都留市	X	I	I
FJ07	Yamura-machi	谷村町	X	I	I
FJ08	Tsuru-bunka Daigaku-mae	都留文科大学前	X	O	X
FJ09	Tokaichiba	十日市場	X	I	I
FJ10	Higashi-Katsura	東桂	X	I	I
FJ11	Mitsutoge	三つ峠	X	X	I
FJ12	Kotobuki	寿	X	I	I
FJ13	Yoshiike-onsen-mae	葭池温泉前	X	I	I
FJ14	Shimoyoshida	下吉田	X	X	I
FJ15	Gekkoji	月江寺	X	I	I
FJ16	Fujisan	富士山	X	X	X
FJ17	Fujikyu Highland	富士急ハイランド	X	X	X
FJ18	Kawaguchiko	河口湖	X	X	X

Legend
X: All trains stop at this station.
O: Some trains stop at this station.
I: No trains stop at this station.

Notable stops

• Otsuki: Transfer to and from the JR Chuo line here.
• Tanokura: Shuttle buses to the Yamanashi Prefectural Maglev Exhibition Centre stop here and at Otsuki Station.
• Shimo-yoshida: Access to the Chureito Pagoda.
• Fuji-san: Buses for climbing Mt. Fuji depart from here.
• Fujikyu Highland: A theme park operated by the Fujikyu group.
• Kawaguchi-ko: The transportation hub of the Fuji Five Lakes.

The reserved lounge car on a "Fujisan View Express" train.
By Indiana jo [CC BY-SA 4.0], from Wikimedia Commons

Both the Fujisan Express and Fujisan View Express have two cars of non-reserved seats, plus a reserved-ticket lounge car.  Use of these limited-express trains requires a supplement ticket of ¥400, plus an additional ¥200 if you wish to use the first car.  The Fuji Tozan Densha, which consists of two reserved cars, only requires the ¥200 reservation fee.  The reservations are for the cars themselves, not for individual seats in those cars, so you are free to sit in any available seat.  The Thomas Land Train is a local service, so no supplemental tickets are needed beyond the basic fare.

Service	Total Cars	Non-Reserved Cars	Reserved Cars	Green Cars
Thomas Land Train	2	2 (Cars #1-2)	0	0
Fuji Tozan Densha	2	0	2 (Cars #1-2)	0
Fujisan Express Fujisan View Express	3	2 (Cars #2-3)	1 (Car #1)	0

A 5000-series "Thomas Land" train.
By HonAtsu [CC BY-SA 4.0], from Wikimedia Commons

Tips

• The Japan Rail Pass does not cover any costs for this line, nor do most JR East area passes.  The exception is the Tokyo Wide Pass, which covers all base fares and limited express fees.
• Major IC cards (Suica, Pasmo, etc.) are accepted on these trains.

Trivia

• Technically, the Fujikyu line consists of two lines: the Otsuki Line and the Kawaguchiko Line, which meet at Fuji-san Station.  In practise, all trains use both lines consecutively.
• In terms of elevation, the Fujikyu line climbs almost 500 metres between Otsuki (358m / 1,174 ft. above sea level) and Kawaguchi-ko (857m / 2,811 ft.) stations.
• The train models used on the Fujikyu line were purchased from other railways.  The Fujikyu 8000 and 8500 series trains, used for the Fujisan Express and Fujisan View Express respectively, were previously used for Odakyu's "Asagiri" (later renamed "Fujisan") limited-express service.
• Fuji-san Station was known as Fuji-Yoshida Station, named after the city in which it is based, until 2011.

An 8000-series Fujisan Express train, decorated with cartoon images of Mt. Fuji.
By Rsa [CC BY-SA 3.0], from Wikimedia Commons