From New Chitose Airport to Sapporo – Taking the Rapid Airport Train

The simplest way to get from New Chitose Airport to Sapporo is by taking the JR Hokkaido Rapid Airport Train.
Not only are there frequent departures, but the travel time is also short. On average, there are five trains per hour, and the fastest one takes only 37 minutes to reach Sapporo Station.
The boarding process is straightforward as well.
When arriving at New Chitose Airport on an international flight, you will enter through the 2F of the international terminal.
The ticket gate for the JR New Chitose Airport Station is located on B1 of the domestic terminal, so follow the signs to the domestic terminal and then take the elevator to B1.
(Note: If you don’t take the elevator, the escalator only goes to the 1st floor, and from the 1st floor to B1, there are only stairs.)
Once you reach B1, you will see the New Chitose Airport Station.
Below is an image of the automatic ticket machines at New Chitose Airport Station. Next to the ticket machines is the foreign visitor service counter.
If you have a Suica, ICOCA, or JR Hokkaido’s KITACA card, you can simply tap your card to enter and board the train.
If you don’t have one of the ten major transportation IC cards, you will need to buy a ticket before entering and boarding the train.

From New Chitose Airport to Sapporo

Ticket Purchase and Boarding

From New Chitose Airport Station to Sapporo Station, the fare for adults is only ¥1150.
If you want a reserved seat, you need to purchase a reserved seat ticket (u-Seat) for an additional ¥840.

How to buy tickets: First, select the number of passengers.
The black icon represents adults (12 years and older); the red icon represents children (6-11 years old).

Then, choose the ticket price you want to buy (the image below shows the ticket price I purchased at that time).

Insert the required amount.

Take your ticket and board the train.

Rapid Airport Train

Next, head to the platform to board the train.
Since New Chitose Airport Station has only two platforms, sometimes two trains may be at the station simultaneously (rarely).
So, when boarding, make sure to check which train departs first.

Confirm that this train is the Rapid Airport 177, heading to Sapporo.
Usually, the fourth car is the reserved seat car, and the other cars are non-reserved seats.

This time, I took the Airport 177, which only goes from New Chitose to Sapporo.
Since there weren’t many people, I placed my luggage beside me.

There are also signs on the wall indicating the direction of travel, helping passengers understand the direction they are heading.

Although there weren’t many people, quite a few were seated.

This is an older train, so you need to manually open the door to leave the car.

Arriving in Sapporo

The platform at Sapporo Station upon arrival.

It takes about 37 minutes to reach Sapporo Station.

That’s the simple process of taking the Rapid Airport Train from New Chitose Airport to Sapporo.

Additional Information

1. The Rapid Airport train has a luggage area located in car 4 (the reserved seat car), near car 5 (click here to view).
So, if you have a lot of luggage, you can sit in car 5 and place your luggage in car 4!!
However, this time I forgot again…
Because there were too many people on the return trip, I had to stand all the way from Sapporo to New Chitose~XD

2. Reserved Seat Ticket (u Seat Ticket) (from Otaru-Sapporo-New Chitose) is uniformly ¥840
From New Chitose Airport to Sapporo, since there are fewer passengers, you can opt for unreserved seats.
However, from Sapporo to New Chitose Airport, there are usually many passengers, and reserved seats often sell out.
If you want to secure a reserved seat, it’s best to buy your ticket the day before or a few hours in advance. If you wait until just before departure, it’s very likely you won’t get one.

References

JR Hokkaido Rapid Airport Timetable (New Chitose Airport)

Rapid Airport Train Configuration

『Original Source:https://nicklee.tw/1289/