The train splits at the designated station! Key traffic pitfalls to watch out for when heading to Kansai Airport

▲ JR Kansai Airport Rapid Service. (Photo / Reporter Tsai Wenjun)

▲ The JR Kansai Airport Rapid Service and the Kisei Main Line Rapid Service split at Kii-Funayama Station. (Video / Reporter Tsai Wenjun)

Travel Center / Comprehensive Report

Aside from the Nankai Electric Railway and Haruka, the “JR Kansai Airport Rapid Service” is also a good option for travel between Osaka and Kansai Airport. Although it’s cheaper, there’s a small pitfall when taking it from Osaka to the airport—if you board the wrong car, you won’t be headed to the airport but will instead be taken all the way to Wakayama.

In reality, the “JR Kansai Airport Rapid Service” and the “Kisei Main Line Rapid Service” to Wakayama run coupled together. Cars 1 to 4 are bound for Kansai Airport, while cars 5 to 8 go to Wakayama. After departing from Osaka, the two trains run together before splitting at Kii-Funayama Station.

▲ The JR Kansai Airport Rapid Service continuously reminds passengers not to board the wrong car. (Photo / Reporter Tsai Wenjun)

Since both car 4 and car 5 have conductor cabins, they are not connected, so you’ll need to get off and switch cars. But passengers don’t need to worry about boarding the wrong one—aside from clear destination markings on the outside of the train, there are also audio announcements in Chinese, English, Japanese, and Korean reminding passengers not to board the wrong car, and the screens inside the cars also provide alerts. So if you realize you’ve boarded the wrong car, just quickly switch to the correct one, and you won’t end up on the wrong train.