Narita Express or Skyliner? "The Skyliner Retakes the Lead in the Time It Takes to Crawl Up From the Sobu Line Underground Platform at Tokyo Station"

What Japanese people said — picked from the top 150 of 180 comments

• The Skyliner ran away with the first half so completely that I thought it would win easily. The N'EX getting there first was a surprise.

  前半のスカイライナーのぶっちぎり感が半端なくて余裕で勝つと思ったらN´EX先着とは意外だった

  — @buchigirepanda28747 likes

• So the N'EX is at Chiba right around the time the Skyliner is entering Tokyo.

  スカイライナーが都内に入るぐらいのタイミングでN'EXは千葉なのか。

  — @KS-zc9fs11 likes

• It was a contest that highlighted not so much the Skyliner's speed as the Yamanote Line's overwhelming slowness.

  スカイライナーの俊足ぶりより、山手線の圧倒的鈍足ぶりが際だつ勝負でした。

  — @渋川かつみ39 likes

• It was a narrow margin, but the Narita Express platform is deep underground, so depending on where in Tokyo Station you're going, the Skyliner can get you there faster.

  僅差ですが、成田エクスプレスの地下ホームは深いですので、東京駅の場所によりスカイライナーが速く着けることもできますね。

  — @待ち受けライティ58 likes

• If the finish line were the Marunouchi exit, the Skyliner might win. The Sobu underground platform is surprisingly deep, and the escalators take time (-。-;)

  ゴールを丸の内口にすれば、スカイライナーの勝ちかもですね。 総武地下ホームが案外地下深くにあって、エスカレーターに時間がかかります(-。-;)

  — @iamdemarseilleazr603210 likes

• Exactly. The only people whose business is on the platform are railfans...

  ほんそれ プラットホームに用があるのは鉄オタだけだからねぇ…

  — @な3337 likes

• In the video you take the stairs to the Yamanote Line platform, but if you're carrying luggage from an international flight, your route through the station gets dictated by where the escalators are and where the doors line up, so the Nippori transfer loses a lot more time too. Even on the Yamanote-to-Keikyu transfer for Haneda there are plenty of people struggling with their bags.

  動画では山手線のホームに階段で移動してるけど、国際線の荷物抱えてたら駅構内移動はエスカレーターの配置と乗車口の位置関係にルートが決定されるから、日暮里乗り換えも大分ロス大きくなるよ 羽田への山手線→京急でさえ荷物でヒーコラしてる人多いのに

  — @のぞみGO21 likes

• Well, given what people use this line for, I wouldn't want to ride the Yamanote with luggage. Even if I ended up on a slower train, I'd rather get there on one train.

  まぁこの路線使う目的考えたら荷物抱えて山手線は乗りたくは無いかな 遅い便に当たったとしても1本で行ける方が良いなぁ

  — @万年四段8 likes

• As someone who rides the Sobu Line every day, my impression is that a lot of people have come back to the Narita Express. It's at the level of "wait, is this really the Narita Express?!", so I think JR was smart to add the Chiba stop and the discount fares lol They always make us wait so long at Ichikawa, so I want it to win... lol

  日頃総武線を使ってると成田エクスプレスにかなり人が戻った印象。え、これ本当に成田エクスプレスか！？ってレベルで乗客増えてるから、千葉停車と割引価格を設定したJRは賢いなと思ってます笑 いつも市川でさんざん待たせてるんだから勝ってほしいな…笑

  — @kawaiitotemo12 likes

• The Skyliner has been adding intermediate stops too, so there are more and more runs that take longer, and it's losing its express edge.

  スカイライナーも途中停車駅増えて時間がかかるパターン増えて速達性を失ってきている

  — @MAXHAYATE5 likes

• The Skyliner's top speed is fast but its average speed is slow. The N'EX is the opposite, its average speed is fast.

  スカイライナーは最高速度こそ速いけど平均速度は遅い NEXはその逆で平均速度が速い

  — @チョイ三元5 likes

• Wait, when the N'EX had only just reached Chiba the Skyliner had already crossed the Edogawa into Tokyo, so how did it end up like this...!? I was stunned by the result. If by some one-in-a-hundred-million chance the "Airport Joban" via the Narita Line ever came back, I'd like to see a matchup of how big the gap would be against these two.

  えー、NEXがようやっと千葉に着いた時点で、スカイライナーはすでに江戸川渡って東京都に入ってたのに、なぜ、このような結果に…!?まさかの結果に驚いた。億が一、今後、成田線経由の「エアポート常磐」が復活したら、両者とどれだけ差が付くか、の対決も視てみたい。

  — @setteimizukami2 likes

• Good race. It looks like the choice comes down to where in Tokyo you're going.

  いい勝負でしたね。 東京のどこに行くかでどちらを使うか決める形になりそうですね。

  — @IamNEETchannel16 likes

• In the end it depends on where you're going. If you want to get to around Ueno as fast as possible, the Skyliner; if you want to get anywhere else without a transfer, the Narita Express, I suppose.

  結局どこに行くかによりますね。上野あたりに最速で行きたければスカイライナー、それ以外に乗り換え無しで行きたい場合は成田エクスプレスなのかなと。

  — @rr-qd4rd7 likes

• For getting anywhere north of Ueno, I guess the Skyliner is a bit more convenient.

  上野より北側へのアクセスだと少しスカイライナーの方が便利になるんかな

  — @take738413 likes

• The N'EX has the transfer to the Tokaido Shinkansen at Shinagawa, and the Skyliner has the transfer to the Tohoku, Joetsu and Hokuriku Shinkansen at Ueno.

  NEXは品川で東海道新幹線の乗り換えとスカイライナーは上野で東北、上越、北陸新幹線の乗り換えあり

  — @takuya27434 likes

• The real value of the N'EX is no-transfer access to places beyond Tokyo. It was never meant to get you there fast; it's meant to get you there comfortably and on time. That's why the price is forgivable.

  NEXの真価は東京以遠への乗換なしアクセスですからね。 決して早く行くためのものでなく、楽して定時性を確保するためのもの。 だから高くても許される。

  — @DJKotony2 likes

• SaveNippori Station↗日暮里駅Arakawa, Tokyo

  Where the Skyliner meets the JR Yamanote Line. The transfer is what riders with international luggage warn about: your route through the station is dictated by where the escalators are (21 likes), and nobody wants to ride the Yamanote with suitcases (8 likes).

• SaveTokyo Station, Sobu Line underground platforms↗東京駅 総武線快速ホームChiyoda, Tokyo

  The Narita Express arrives here, and the platform is deep. The most-liked comment (202 likes) says the Skyliner route retakes the lead in the time it takes to climb to street level; 58 likes agree it depends on which exit you need, and one rider notes the escalators to the Marunouchi side take time (10 likes).

• SaveKeisei Ueno Station↗京成上野駅Taito, Tokyo

  The Skyliner terminus, and the switch point for the Tohoku, Joetsu and Hokuriku shinkansen at JR Ueno (4 likes). Riders warn the walk from the Keisei platforms to the JR Ueno-Tokyo Line is long enough to cost you time (7 likes).

Named in the source comments. Where a note gives a price, opening status or rule, we checked it against the linked source on the date shown — everything else is what the comments said. All of it can change; check the map listing before you go.

Narita Express or Skyliner: which should you take into Tokyo?

Pick by where you are sleeping, not by which train is faster. The rule Japanese riders converge on: Skyliner for Ueno, Nippori and anywhere north of them (36 minutes to Nippori, roughly 2,500 yen at the ticket machine), Narita Express for Tokyo Station, Shinagawa, Shibuya, Shinjuku or Yokohama with no change of train (about an hour to Tokyo Station, 3,140 yen), and the Narita Express whenever your suitcase is heavy, because the Skyliner's Yamanote Line transfer at Nippori is where the time and the effort go (21 likes).

Sources: keisei.co.jp · keisei.co.jp · ekitan.com — checked 2026-08-31

Is the Skyliner faster than the Narita Express?

To Nippori or Ueno, yes, by a lot: 36 minutes at up to 160 km/h on the Narita Sky Access route, against about an hour on the Narita Express to Tokyo Station. To Tokyo Station itself it is close to a tie. In the filmed race the Narita Express arrived first, and the most-liked comment (202 likes) points out that its platform is deep underground, so by the time you reach the Marunouchi side the Skyliner-plus-Yamanote route has caught up; 58 likes for the reply that it depends on which part of the station you are heading for.

Sources: keisei.co.jp · ekitan.com — checked 2026-08-31

Does the Japan Rail Pass cover the Narita Express or the Skyliner?

The Narita Express, yes: it is a JR East limited express, and the pass covers limited express trains on all JR Group railways, seat reservation included. The Skyliner is run by Keisei, a private railway, so the pass does not apply. Without a pass, foreign passport holders can buy the N'EX TOKYO Round Trip Ticket, 5,200 yen since the March 2026 fare change and valid for 14 days, or a discounted Skyliner e-ticket sold online to overseas visitors, instead of paying the walk-up fares.

Sources: japanrailpass.net · jreast.co.jp · japantravel.navitime.com · keisei.co.jp — checked 2026-08-31

Which airport train connects better to the shinkansen?

Both do, at different stations (4 likes). The Narita Express stops at Shinagawa and Tokyo, where the Tokaido Shinkansen leaves for Kyoto and Osaka, while the Skyliner ends at Keisei Ueno, near JR Ueno and the Tohoku, Joetsu and Hokuriku lines heading north. Commenters warn that the walk between Keisei Ueno and the JR platforms at Ueno is longer than it looks on a map (7 likes), and that the Skyliner has been adding intermediate stops, which eats into its speed advantage (5 likes).