Review: Revaty Kegon (Tobu 500-series) Limited Express Train (Nikko-Asakusa)
After spending 2 nights in Nikko at The Ritz-Carlton, I headed back to Tokyo for another night for an anticipated tonkatsu dinner before leaving for home.
Navigating between Tokyo and Nikko is very easy with limited express trains that serve between the two places. Revaty Kegon in particular has either Tobu-nikko or Asakusa (Tokyo) as the last stop, making it the most convenient and easiest to take.
Train Ride/Cabin
The Revaty has 3 cars total. The Kegon service in particular takes around 2 hours from first to last station (Tobu-nikko – Asakusa).
If you have the Nikko All Area Pass, you need to pay a supplement ticket still to ride the Revaty since the All Area Pass only covers the base fare for local trains. You’ll need both the base and limited express fare to ride.
It’s worth paying around $10 extra to save you the time with less stops and no transfers along the way while you get to ride a nicer train.
The seats are comfortable with attractive purple seats with cloud patterns.
Tray table and drink holder are on the back of every seats.
On the rear of each car is a luggage storage space. Additionally, there’s overhead compartments above the seats for carry-on sized luggage.
The toilets are located in the center car. First, the biggest is the universal-access toilet. The toilets also come with bidet.
There’s also standard toilet rooms as well that come with baby diaper changing table.
Finally, there’s simple urinal rooms for men.
Conclusion
The Revaty of Tobu Railway is a very cool train! I particularly love how sleek the styling of the exterior is, which looks futuristic. Toilets with bidets are also nice, which older trains may not come with even in Japan.
I do want to try out the Spacia X for my next visit to Nikko which is the newest train between Tokyo and Nikko. That one comes with premium lounge-like experience on a train with sofa configurations and a cafe counter!
Regardless, the Revaty is the great happy medium option.