Fed up with crowded trains? An announcement made Monday by East Japan Railway Co. could further irk commuters -- the railway mistakenly charged higher fares for at least 31/2 years at many stations in eastern Japan.
The carrier said fare tables at 147 stations in Tokyo, Yokohama, Chiba, Sendai, Akita, Niigata, Nagano, Mito, Ibaraki Prefecture, and elsewhere listed the wrong fares for 290 sections of rail.
Fares were above the correct amount for 145 sections and lower for 145 sections, JR East said. All fare tables were corrected as of Monday morning.
JR East estimates that passengers using 76 sections of rail paid 50 yen to 210 yen higher when buying tickets from vending machines. Commuters who bought tickets from manned counters were likely charged correctly, the firm said.
Offering their deepest apologies, JR East officials said they are willing to respond to any requests for refunds -- even if a customer cannot specify the date of travel.
In most cases, the wrong fares were posted when the tables were replaced following the April 1997 consumption tax hike.
JR East began checking all of its fare tables after a passenger on Saturday pointed out a mistake in the table at Minami-Hashimoto Station in Kanagawa Prefecture.