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Odakyu Electric Railway Co., Ltd. has recently opened an Odakyu Sightseeing Service Center, Odawara branch inside Odawara Station of Odakyu Line early this month, to cater for the growing number of foreign visitors to Hakone.

In recent years, many foreign tourists have visited Japan, with about 6.8 million visitors in 2009. Odakyu opened its first Odakyu Sightseeing Service Center to specifically cater foreign visitors inside Shinjuku Station of Odakyu Line in 1999, a first attempt in the railway industry.

The center has been visited by a total of about 353,000 people by December 2009. Now there will also be a branch of Odakyu Sightseeing Service Center in Odawara Station, which, as a starting point for travel in Hakone, is visited by many foreign tourists.

The Odawara branch will act as a facility for providing information on transportation and sights, as well as selling all kinds of tickets, such as the Hakone Freepass. Odawara branch is also designated by the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) as a Visit Japan Information Center.

Tokyo Monorail (東京モノレール, Tōkyō Monorēru) connecting Haneda Airport in Ōta ward, to Hamamatsuchō Station in Minato ward, has finalized the name for its latest station, “Haneda Airport International Terminal”, and to commence service later this year in October along with Haneda airport’s 4th runway, scheduled to complete in the same period.

Haneda Airport International Terminal station is added between Tenkūbashi Station and Shin-Seibijō station. The proximity between Hamamatsuchō is closer than Haneda Airport Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 station.

The new monorail station will be linked, with a walkway, to the departure lobby on the 3rd floor of the international terminal building, allowing for an easy access, and through this arrangement it is able to bring the traveling time to Hamamatsucho Sta. in just 14 minutes. The full length of the Tokyo Monorail line is around 18km with trains travel along an elevated track that follows the coastal line of Tokyo Bay. The trip from the Haneda airport to Hamamatsuchō Station costs 470yen one-way.

Tokyo Monorail has announced that it will disrupt service along the track from Showajima Station to Haneda Airport Terminal 2, from 1300h on April 10 till the following morning at 0500h, for construction work to expand the rail network.