page_title: Bilevel rail car
section_title: Japan
hierarchical_section_title: Bilevel rail car / Operators / Japan
caption_attribution_description: 日本語: E233系のグリーン車、サロE233-3005。（横浜駅） English: JR East E233-3000 series EMU bilevel Green car SaRo E233-3005 at Yokohama Station
context_page_description: The bilevel car or double-decker train is a type of railcar that has two levels of passenger accommodation, as opposed to one, increasing passenger capacity. In some countries such vehicles are commonly referred to as dostos, derived from the German Doppelstockwagen.
  The use of double-decker carriages, where feasible, can resolve capacity problems on a railway, avoiding other options which have an associated infrastructure cost such as longer trains, more trains per hour or adding extra tracks besides the existing line.
  Bilevel trains are claimed to be more energy efficient, and may have a lower operating cost per passenger. A bilevel car may carry up to about twice as many as a normal car, if structure and loading gauges permit, without requiring double the weight to pull or material to build. However, a bilevel train may take longer to exchange passengers at each station, since more people will enter and exit from each car. The increased dwell time makes them most popular on long-distance routes which make fewer stops.
  Bilevel cars may not be usable in countries or on older railway systems with low loading gauges.
context_section_description: In Japan, double-decker trains are used either to show better scenery, or to increase seat capacity. In Tokyo area commuter trains, double-decker cars are generally used as Green Cars, the cars with better accommodations than the regular commuter cars.
  The first Japanese double-decker train appeared in 1904. It was Type 5 train of Osaka City Tram. The Kintetsu Railway 20100 Series EMUs were built in 1962 and designed for school excursion. Sightseeing trains that feature double-decker carriages include the JR Shikoku 5000 series, Keihan 8000 series, JR Central 371 series, and Odakyu 20000 series RSE. The first JNR/JR double-decker trains were 200 series Shinkansen and 100 series Shinkansen, for Shinkansen lines.
  JR East introduced the 215 series double-deck EMUs for Home Liner services in 1992. JR East also introduced E1 Series Shinkansen and E4 Series Shinkansen for its Shinkansen Lines; the trains are doubled decked to increase their capacities. This includes JR West 285 series EMUs for Sunrise Izumo/Sunrise Seto and JR East E26 series cars for Cassiopeia services.
caption: JR East E233-3000 series bilevel Green Car
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