Know Your Trains: Kintetsu Limited Express

A lineup of Kintetsu limited-express trains, including the 50000-series "Shimakaze" (left), at Kashihara Jingu-mae Station.
By foooomio (Blue Red Yellow) [CC BY 2.0 ], via Wikimedia Commons

Previously on Sekai Ichi, we went to Iga City.  As described in my introduction to Iga, there are two ways to get there by train: via the JR lines, which I used, or via the Kintetsu network.  Kintetsu, short for Kinki Japan Railway (where "Kinki" (近畿) is an alternate name for the Kansai region), is the largest non-JR railway network in Japan, with a combined 500km (300 mi.) of tracks connecting Osaka, Kyoto, Nara, Nagoya, and more.  To get where you're going in speed and style, Kintetsu has a wide array of Limited Express trains supplementing their regular services.

Name	Start Station(s)	End Station(s)	Time	Max. Frequency*
Limited Express	Osaka-Namba	Kintetsu-Nara	35 minutes	1-2 per hour, mornings/evenings**
Limited Express	Osaka-Namba	Kintetsu-Nagoya	140 minutes	1 per hour
Urban Liner	Osaka-Namba	Kintetsu-Nagoya	130 minutes	1 per hour
Limited Express	Osaka-Namba	Kashikojima	150 minutes	1 per hour
Shimakaze	Osaka-Namba	Kashikojima	140 minutes	1 per day
Limited Express	Osaka-Abenobashi	Yoshino	75 minutes	1-2 per hour
Blue Symphony	Osaka-Abenobashi	Yoshino	75 minutes	2 per day
Limited Express	Kyoto	Kintetsu-Nara	35 minutes	2 per hour
Limited Express	Kyoto	Kashikojima	175 minutes	3 per day
Shimakaze	Kyoto	Kashikojima	165 minutes	1 per day
Limited Express	Kintetsu-Nagoya	Kashikojima	60 minutes	1 per hour
Shimakaze	Kintetsu-Nagoya	Kashikojima	100 minutes	1 per day

*Based on August 2018 schedules.
**Mornings to Osaka-Namba, evenings to Kintetsu-Nara.

A 21020-series "Urban Liner" train at Yamato-Yagi Station.
By Rsa (Rsaが大和八木で撮影) [GFDL or CC-BY-SA-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Like the Romancecar article, this is gonna be another big one, so I'll sort these trains by departure station.  First on the lineup is Osaka-Namba.  (Osaka-Uehommachi is the official start of this line, but most services start from and end at Osaka-Namba.)  From here, trains depart for Kintetsu's stations in Nara, Nagoya, and the Ise-Shima Peninsula.  There are also limited-express services between Osaka-Namba and Kintetsu-Nara, but they mostly run for commuters in the morning (to Osaka) and evening (to Nara), and cheaper express trains are not much slower besides.  To Nagoya, regular limited-express services alternate with the Urban Liner, which makes fewer stops and has a Deluxe seating car.  To Ise-Shima, there is one round-trip per day of the Shimakaze, a premium excursion train with deluxe seating, salon cabins, and a cafe car.

No.	Name (English)	Name (Japanese)	Line	Limited  Express	Limited  Express	Urban  Liner	Limited  Express	Shimakaze
A01	Osaka-Namba	大阪難波	Kintetsu Nara (A)	X	X	X	X	X
A03	Osaka-Uehommachi	大阪上本町		X	X	X	X	X
A04	Tsuruhashi	鶴橋		X	X	X	X	X
A17	Ikoma	生駒		X	I	I	I	I
A20	Gakuemmae	学園前		X	I	I	I	I
A26	Yamato-Saidaiji	大和西大寺		X	I	I	I	I
A28	Kintetsu-Nara	近鉄奈良		X	I	I	I	I
D25	Yamato-Takada	大和高田	Kintetsu Osaka (D)	I	I	I	X	O
D39	Yamato-Yagi	大和八木		I	X	O	X	X
D45	Haibara	榛原		I	I	I	X	I
D49	Nabari	名張		I	X	I	X	I
D52	Iga-Kambe	伊賀神戸		I	O	I	X	I
D57	Sakakibara-Onsenguchi	榊原温泉口		I	I	I	O	I
			Kintetsu Nagoya (E)
E39	Tsu	津		I	O	I	I	I
E31	Shiroko	白子		I	O	I	I	I
E21	Kintetsu-Yokkaichi	近鉄四日市		I	O	I	I	I
E13	Kuwana	桑名		I	O	I	I	I
E01	Kintetsu-Nagoya	近鉄名古屋		I	X	X	I	I
M61	Ise-Nakagawa	伊勢中川	Kintetsu Yamada / Toba / Shima (M)	I	I	I	X	I
M64	Matsusaka	松阪		I	I	I	X	I
M73	Ise-shi	伊勢市		I	I	I	X	X
M74	Uji-Yamada	宇治山田		I	I	I	X	X
M75	Isuzugawa	五十鈴川		I	I	I	X	I
M78	Toba	鳥羽		I	I	I	X	X
M88	Shima-Isobe	志摩磯部		I	I	I	X	I
M91	Ugata	鵜方		I	I	I	X	I
M93	Kashikojima	賢島		I	I	I	X	X

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

A 26000-series "Sakura Liner" train at Kashihara Jingu-mae Station.
By TRJN [CC BY-SA 4.0 ], from Wikimedia Commons

Osaka-Abenobashi, a separate station in Osaka, serves as the terminus of the Minami-Osaka line.  Some services are branded as "Sakura Liner"; these include deluxe seating in some cars.  The Blue Symphony, a retro-themed premium excursion train, makes two round-trips daily.  The Sakura Liner and Blue Symphony make the same stops as normal limited-expresses.

No.	Name (English)	Name (Japanese)	Line	Limited  Express
F01	Osaka-Abenobashi	大阪阿部野橋	Kintetsu Minami-Osaka / Yoshino (F)	X
F16	Furuichi	古市		O
F23	Shakudo	尺土		X
F24	Takadashi	高田市		X
F42	Kashihara Jingu-mae	橿原神宮前		X
F44	Asuka	飛鳥		X
F45	Tsubosakayama	壺阪山		X
F48	Yoshinoguchi	吉野口		X
F50	Fukugami	福神		X
F52	Shimoichiguchi	下市口		X
F54	Muda	六田		X
F55	Yamato-Kamiichi	大和上市		X
F56	Yoshino-jingu	吉野神宮		X
F57	Yoshino	吉野		X

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

A 50000-series "Shimakaze" train.
By Oka21000 [CC BY-SA 3.0 ], from Wikimedia Commons

Next are the remaining services starting from Kyoto and Kintetsu-Nagoya.  The Shimakaze also makes one round-trip journey per day from both of these termini to Ise-Shima.

No.	Name (English)	Name (Japanese)	Line	Limited  Express	Limited  Express	Shimakaze	Limited  Express	Shimakaze
B01	Kyoto	京都	Kintetsu Kyoto (B)	X	X	X	I	I
B07	Kintetsu-Tambabashi	近鉄丹波橋		X	X	X	I	I
B26	Yamato-Saidaiji	大和西大寺		X	X	X	I	I
			Kintetsu Nara (A)
A28	Kintetsu-Nara	近鉄奈良		X	I	I	I	I
D39	Yamato-Yagi	大和八木	Kintetsu Osaka (D)	I	X	X	I	I
D49	Nabari	名張		I	X	I	I	I
E01	Kintetsu-Nagoya	近鉄名古屋	Kintetsu Nagoya (E)	I	I	I	X	X
E13	Kuwana	桑名		I	I	I	X	I
E21	Kintetsu-Yokkaichi	近鉄四日市		I	I	I	X	X
E31	Shiroko	白子		I	I	I	X	I
E39	Tsu	津		I	I	I	X	I
E42	Hisai	久居		I	I	I	O	I
M61	Ise-Nakagawa	伊勢中川		I	X	I	X	I
			Kintetsu Yamada / Toba / Shima (M)
M64	Matsusaka	松阪		I	X	I	X	I
M73	Ise-shi	伊勢市		I	X	X	X	X
M74	Uji-Yamada	宇治山田		I	X	X	X	X
M75	Isuzugawa	五十鈴川		I	X	I	X	I
M78	Toba	鳥羽		I	X	X	X	X
M88	Shima-Isobe	志摩磯部		I	X	I	X	I
M91	Ugata	鵜方		I	X	I	X	X
M93	Kashikojima	賢島		I	X	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.

Premium excursion trains like the Shimakaze and Blue Symphony (pictured) carry only Deluxe seating.
By Things in information [CC BY-SA 4.0 ], from Wikimedia Commons

Onboard accomodations vary among the different limited-express trains.  The basic cabins for all trains have 2+2 seating arrangements, and seat pitch lengths no less than 100cm (39 in.).  Certain types of trains -- the Urban Liner, Ise-Shima Liner, and Sakura Liner -- also have Deluxe seats, arranged 2+1 with seat pitches of 105cm (41 in.).  The special excursion trains -- the Shimakaze and Blue Symphony -- only have Deluxe seating, resulting in premium ticket prices, but an above-and-beyond seat pitch of 125cm (49 in.).  In addition, some trains also have salon-room seating for groups of 4 or so passengers.

Service	Total Cars	Reserved Cars	Deluxe/Salon Cars	Cafe/Other Cars
Limited Express	6	6	0	0
Ise-Shima / Sakura Liner	6	4 (Cars #1-4)	2 (Cars #5-6)	0
Urban Liner	6	5 (Cars #2-6)	1 (Car #1)	0
Shimakaze	6	0	4 (Cars #1-2, 5-6)	2 (Cars #3-4)
Blue Symphony	3	0	2 (Cars #1, 3)	1 (Car #2

Tips

• The Kintetsu Rail Pass, available in 1, 2, or 5-day varieties, covers base fare but not limited-express fees within their respective coverage areas.  For more information, read my article about rail passes of the Kansai region.
• Passengers may purchase limited-express tickets online through Kintetsu's website.  Upon buying an "e-Ticket" online, you will need to print out the confirmation, bring it to the station, purchase the base fare, and show both tickets to the gate attendant.  More information: (English) (Japanese)
• The Shimakaze, Blue Symphony, and during the cherry blossom season, other express trains to Yoshino are some of the most difficult trains to get tickets for in Japan, so reserve as early as possible.

Trivia

• The Minami-Osaka / Yoshino line, which is separated from Kintetsu's other lines, uses narrow-gauge tracks (1,067mm / 3' 6" between rails) as opposed to the standard-gauge (1,435mm / 4' 8½") favoured by the rest of the network.  This is because that line was built and operated by a separate company, before being merged into (what would later become) Kintetsu in 1943.
• Multiple Kintetsu trainsets have won the Blue Ribbon Award for the best in Japanese train design.  The most recent recipient, in 2014, was the 50000-series train used for Shimakaze services.
• The name Shimakaze, written in Hiragana as しまかぜ, means "island wind" in English.  It has also been used to christen some destroyer ships of the Imperial Japanese Navy before/during World War II, and the Japanese Maritime Self-Defence Force afterwards.