Hanshin Electric Railway Co. has expanded its email service to notify parents when their children arrive at and leave school beyond its home market in the Kansai region to cover Tokyo and Nagoya.

Hanshin started the service at elementary schools along its railway lines in April 2011. Around 66,000 children at 283 schools have joined, making it the largest service of its kind, the carrier said Thursday.

Hanshin said it has partnered with subsidiaries of Nagoya Railroad Co. and Tokyu Corp.

IC tags attached to children's school bags are designed to prompt email messages to their parents when the kids pass through the gates on their way in and out of school.