Hyperdia.com question
 

I've used Hyperdia.com for a while now, planning my trip and seeing what connections and times it takes to get to places. It's an extremely useful resource when one can't read other timetables due to accessibility and language.

But every time I use it, the dates available stop in September. I've waited and waited to see if they would update to no avail. I've even tried to e-mail the service provider but I received no answer.

If there is someone who can read hiragana out there who has the time to scan the Japanese portion of the website, can that someone tell me if there is any information available as to why there isn't any updates to the timetables passed September? I'm going in October and if there are any changes to the schedules, it would be difficult for me to inform myself by any other means, unless that is, there is another website which provides such timely and clear-cut information.

Any info you can provide to clear this up would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

The Japanese portion is exactly the same.

However, mostly minor chnages are made on the timetables from one month to next. Bigger changes tend to come between March and April as April is the start of the Japanese fiscal year.

I use the following website for my travels and it has up until December. It's all in Japanese, though, mind you.

Yahoo!路線情報

If you have an important schedule to make for October, I would be happy to be of assistance.

Thank you Sashimister!
 

So based on what you say, can I go by the schedules I have made with September dates and be pretty sure they won't change that much? I have itineraries for trips with specific arrival times and departures. That is why I like Hyperdia so much, since you can put in whether it's the departure you want at that time, or the arrival at your destination.

I know one such trip would be to get to Higashi-Shizuoka from Shinagawa at about 0930 and then leave there about 1130 to Hanagawa and then return to Shinagawa about 7pm.

Hyperdia tells you exactly what to take and how much time you have in-between.

Another question is, would these timetables be any different during the weekend? Can I just pick a weekday in September and trust that most likely it would be the same in October?

Better yet, would you think Shinagawa station would have an information desk that would be able to handle requests that Hyperdia could handle?

I like to plan out the itineraries a little in advance so I know what I'm working with, time-wise.

If it were possible, Sashimister, could I message you with a few itineraries from the website you suggested and you can tell me what they are so I can compare with the data I have from September Hyperdia? If you would agree, I would really appreciate it!

Thanks again!

Right, that's what I meant.

I don't think I have ever encountered a line that operates on the same timetable for both weekdays and weekends. If you pick a weekday in September, that would only be good in "predicting" for a weekday in October, not a weekend in that month.

Absolutely yes.

Sure, I'll be happy to do that.

I'm about to hit the futon right now, so I won't be able to take a look until around noonish, Japan time.

I am unable to access Hyperdia from my iPod Touch at hotspots in Tokyo (unless I want to pay for an Internet wifi I would only use maybe twice a month for 5 minutes.) I don't suppose it is possible to download info about
train schedules in English into the Touch from Hyperdia or elsewhere - is it???

Ta very much for any help you can offer.

As far as I know, you can't "download" anything to an iPod Touch or iPhone. I couldn't use it in Japan unless I paid for an international package of $50 for 50Mb of data through AT&T. The iPhone automatically switched to NTT DoCoMo. For my itineraries, I used the internet in the hotel and wrote the train numbers for the attendants at the Midori no madoguchi.

Well, maybe "download " is the wrong term. I can get email on the touch and save it, I can take screen shots (when online) of maps etc and save them on the Touch.

This is driving me nuts. I keep getting lost in Tokyo, and when that happens it can literally take hours to get back to the right train or location. I really need Internet access while in Tokyo, but since I only go in (from Chiba) a couple time a month it is silly to pay an Internet keitei contract.

I read somewhere about a prepaid Internet service recently introduced -
Doccica? But I don't know what device I could hook up to it besides a heavy laptop. Would an e-book reader work ? A Blackberry? I'm told the iPod Touch can't be connected to a USB modem like this prepaid service offers. Any ideas?

I regularly used my iPhone with hyperdia, but then, I have a Japanese iPhone, and an account with Softbank...

MetrO

I don't believe it takes into account schedules, but if you just want to download route information for a particular city to use offline, this app is wonderful.

Hyperdia works for inter-city transport, which I think is what he wants.