A question my mind made up today whilst in line to swipe my IC card at the gates and I’m curious:
If I swiped through the gates to ride the train from one station a certain number of stops down the line, only to go to the opposite platform and ride the train back the other way to the original station, would I be able to tap back out again? Even though I rode a train, how does the gate know I’ve not just stood on the other side for a time before swiping back again?
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Ah, the old “sumimasen ekiin-san, i’m a dumb gaijin who entered the wrong train station and most certainly didn’t just come in here to use the bathroom, now please let me out” trick
Although I’d rather just have you go and do it to find out, I’ll answer. The gates won’t let you out and you’ll have to go to the station attendant to tap you out. They will ask what the situation is. Some train companies will charge you regardless (maybe called a platform pass and I think JR is ¥140), but some might let you out for free if you lie and say you didn’t go anywhere (not recommending that).
You won’t be able to go through, the gate will beep. A train station employee will have to put your card in their machine and reset it. I guess if it was only a few minutes, he will assume you entered by mistake and reset it, otherwise he may ask some questions.
Traditionally, it wouldn’t let you out unless you had a commuter pass and you would have to talk the station staff.
These days JR and maybe others count it as a station entry ticket and 140-150 yen gets deducted automatically.
You get an error and the guard comes over if you try to go back out of the same gate again. You’ll have to explain why – you could say you came in the wrong gate by accident and they’ll probably let you out, but if they scan the ticket and find out you came in an hour ago, you’ll have to explain what you were doing.
They know how long you have been in. But it’s legitimate. Some people go just to have lunch in the station (like Tokyo station)
Others might just need to go the toilet is there is non around.
They won’t know if you took the train.
It’s possible you take the train, go to a different station, have lunch in the station, and come back.
You just need to pay the minimum fee at the counter. Gate will not allow you to pass.
Some station explicitly mention you have to pay even if just want to take a shortcut through the station. (North side to south side for example)
i think there is a time limit to get out of the same train station for free.
i once tried it in Ueno station, just to grab something to eat: i entered the station, i ate and then i attempted to exit “for free” but the station staff said that ive been inside for a significant amount of time that they’ll have to charge me the minimum.
If you have the pass you can do it. I do it all the time to show my daughter the trains, then just tap back out.
The purpose of the train station is to get you from point A to point B.
They aren’t charging you for how much of the train that you rode.
Eventually, you would be questioned by the train staff if you were gone for a while, sure.
But, they wouldn’t really have a way of checking.
Since people sell things online, they usually go to that person’s station, and sell the stuff over the swipe gate so they don’t have to leave, and the travel was essentially free.
From what I understand, you are paying to leave the station, but if you don’t leave, then no problem maybe?
I think if you have a commuter pass it works to just go in and back out again. No questions asked.
Did this a few dags ago because I nearly pissed myself having a few cans outside Shibuya Station
> would I be able to tap back out again?
No. It won’t let you through. You have to talk to the attendant and they might charge you to leave.
The only exception to this is if you have a commuter pass and that station is along your route, in which case the ticket machine will skip the step entirely and let you in or out as many times as you like.
It’s actually pretty convenient – if, for example, you have a commuter pass for Shinjuku station’s JR area, you can take shortcuts through the separated JR gates without paying.
They track the time you’re in the system now and will charge you if it’s reasonably long.
It also depends on which system and line you’re on. JR got really strict in Tokyo in the past few years.
Yeah, it’s possible. I mean, have you ever tried to leave immediately after you entered the gates? You can go in and out freely!
Yes. I do it everyday. I have to pick up my students from the station platform and take them to school.
I use my computer pass to do this.
You will have to talk to the station staff to get out of the same station, and if you “spent” an hour or so inside, I guess they will likely charge you.
I believe in some JR stations you will be charged something. For example, I think you can swipe in at Shinagawa to go to the stores/restaurants inside the gates, but you will be charged something like 140 yen to do so. I see the other comments about getting in free to use the restroom, so don’t know how that works there.
Only works if you have teikiken
Important note! Stations like Shinagawa do allow this! You can just scan your ic, and don’t need a special ticket!
It’s only certain stations though, the station manager explained this to me.
The time limit is 2 hours. I exceeded it. He asked why. I said I was drinking with a friend. No issue…
Cost – 200 yenish
If you do it at like a large station like Shinagawa where there are shops inside you can but it will charge you to come out.
I’ve done it a few times, with a Suica card. If you leave more or less immediately, you can just scan the card again and it’s free. If you hang around for more than 5 minutes or so, you’ll be charged the minimum amount (100-something) on your scan to leave. Done that at a few Chuo-sobu stations – forgot something, decided I’d rather walk, whatever. However, I do recall being denied out in one of the inner Tokyo stations and having to explain to the ticket gate worker.
If you touch at same gate again, it wont allow you to pass because of entry and exit being same point. Train station then would have to read your suica/pasmo and reset depending upon the time. If its just 3-5 min, they may allow, but if its like 20-30min+ , they might charge you.
If you have a 定期券 and it’s along your route, you can scan right back out with no issue. Most JR stations now insist on charging to cancel you through if you don’t, but if it’s quick and you just say you made a mistake and wanted a different line or someone suddenly cancelled on you, they’ll usually not charge.
I always thought that you needed to go to the station attendant to let you out again.
However, recently, I mistakenly entered Shin-okubo station instead of Okubo station. The attendant told me to tap my Suica and I can just walk out. I don’t believe any money was deducted.
I don’t know how it works with Suica, but you technically need to buy an entry/platform ticket to get past the barriers. They wouldn’t necessarily know what you had done in between if you went in and out from the same station. Here are the JR rates. I think the private lines have something similar:
https://www.jreast.co.jp/kippu/18.html
Lol reminds me of that time I broke the system and went all the way from Sendai to Morioka and back for 200 yen 😂
Depends.
I’ve done it where the gates wouldn’t let me through, so I had to go talk to the station attendant.
I’ve also done it where the gates let me through but charged my IC card about 100 yen.
The IC cards absolutely do track when and where you tapped in/out, so the attendants will be able to tell once they scan it.
It is possible only if you have a commuter pass for that station.
I have done this exact same thing (no commuter pass) where I entered Shinjuku station to accompany my girlfriend to Ueno for her next train then returned back to Shinjuku to get out. You will have to explain this to the station attendant. You will be asked what you were doing if you were inside for a long time so I don’t think what you wanted to do will fly unless you somehow convince the attendant.
Other things to note is if you went in and went out on the same gate in a short amount of time you can be let out for free. But if you want to go out in a different gate you will be charged the minimum amount.
It probably depends on the station. At my local station I can enter and exit with suica for free if it’s within 30 minutes I think. Beyond that the gates won’t let you out and you have to talk to the attendant.
I believe it’s not possible. Like the others have commented, you need to go to the station office and ask them to cancel it.
I’ve done this when I entered the wrong gate a couple of times in the past.