The Ginga was an overnight express sleeper train operating on the Tōkaidō Main Line between and in Japan. It was initially operated by Japanese National Railways and, after its privatization in 1987, by West Japan Railway Company. The Ginga followed a similar route to the much faster Tōkaidō Shinkansen high-speed line, and filled the overnight gap in the Shinkansen's timetable. While the last Osaka-Tokyo Shinkansen trains departed at 21:20, Ginga departed Osaka at 22:30 and Tokyo at 23:00, and arrived over an hour before the first Shinkansen arrival the next morning. This made it somewhat popular among business travelers who needed a later departure or earlier arrival than the Shinkansen could provide. However, the numerous overnight buses on the Tokyo-Osaka route largely captured the budget traveler market, while late evening and early morning flights to Kansai Airport were now used by many business travelers who would otherwise have used Ginga. As a result, Ginga's ridership fell dramatically and finally the train was discontinued upon the 15 March 2008 timetable revision.
The westbound Ginga stopped at,,,,,,,,,,, and. The eastbound Ginga stopped at Osaka, Shin-Osaka, Kyoto, Ōtsu, Maibara,,,, Atami, Odawara, Ōfuna, Yokohama, Shinagawa, and Tokyo.
History
The name "Ginga" was first carried from the start of the 15 September 1949 timetable revision by the overnight sleeper train departing from Tokyo at 20:30 to Osaka and the opposite working from Osaka to Tokyo. Other overnight trains between Tokyo and Osaka were named Myōjō and Ryūsei. Initially formed of first and second class cars only, third class seating cars were added to the Ginga formation from 24 September the same year.
With the completion of electrification to Inazawa, overnight trains between Tokyo and Osaka were increased to four return workings nightly: Myōjō, Ginga, Suisei, and Gekkō. From this date, the Ginga operated from Tokyo to Kobe, with the opposite working from Kobe to Tokyo. From 20 March 1956, third-class sleeping cars were included in the train formations.
With the completion of electrification on the Tōkaidō Mainline, journey times were reduced, and the Ginga timings became Tokyo to Kobe, with the opposite working from Kobe to Tokyo.
This timetable revision saw the emergence of the Akatsukilimited expressnight train, and the Ginga timings became Tokyo to Kobe, with the opposite working from Kobe to Tokyo. Train formation was MaNi + MaRoNe40 + MaRoNe41 + SuRo54 x3 + NaHaNe10 x4 + SuHa x4 + OHaFu.
With an increase in daytime limited express trains between Tokyo and Osaka, the Ginga became all sleeping car accommodation from this timetable revision. Timings became Tokyo to Kobe, with the opposite working from Kobe to Tokyo.
1 October 1968 timetable revision
This major timetable revision known as yon-san-tō saw the Ginga and Myōjō services combined to become Ginga 1 and Ginga 2. Timings for Ginga 1 were Tokyo to Osaka, with the opposite working from Osaka to Tokyo. Timings for Ginga 2 were Tokyo to Himeji, with the opposite working from Himeji to Tokyo.
With the completion of the Sanyo Shinkansen, the Ginga 1 and Ginga 2. services were cut back to one return working between Tokyo and Osaka. Timings were Tokyo to Osaka, with the opposite working from Osaka to Tokyo.
Rolling stock upgrades
From 20 February 1976, the ageing rolling stock was replaced by more modern 20 series "Blue Train" sleeping cars cascaded from the Tsurugi service between Osaka and Niigata, which had been upgraded to 24 series sleeping cars. Haulage was by JNR Class EF58 electric locomotives until September 1980, when these were replaced by JNR Class EF65 locomotives. From 14 March 1985, the Ginga 20 series rolling stock was replaced by 14 series sleeping cars displaced by the use of 583 series EMUs on Kitaguni services. The following year, from the 1 November 1986 timetable revision, the 14 series rolling stock was replaced by 24/25 series sleeping cars.
