Shinkansen Goes Smoke-Free
JR Central has announced that it will soon be removing the train's smoking rooms. Currently the Tokkaido Shinkansen (my area in central Japan) does not allow smoking in the cars' seating areas, but cars 3, 10, and 15 have standing use smoking areas at the end of the cars and are accessed by a sliding door.
Starting in the spring, which is the usual time for Japanese companies to make major policy changes, JR Central will be permanently closing these smoking rooms and use the space for storage of drinking water in case of emergency. East Japan Railway Company and Hokkaido Railway Company have already banned smoking inside their shinkansen.
6 comments:
Aren't we lucky we are not smokers?
Pamela: This is a wonderful idea, not being a smoker and having family members who had lung cancer and died due to smoking.
Catherine
That's a good decision.
I love that!Well, done, Shinkansen!
It may be difficult for smokers, but I think it can't be helped since the Shinkansen is a highly public train.
Here in Germany, trains have been smoke free for a long time now. Smokers usually step out quickly at a stop to get a few puffs in. But I think the Shinkanzen travels so quickly, that might be difficult!
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