Moonlight Echigo

Moonlight Echigo
A 485 series EMU formation on a Moonlight Echigo service, March 2007
Overview
Service typeRapid
StatusDiscontinued
LocaleJapan
First service1986
Last service2014
Current operatorJR East
Former operatorJNR
Route
TerminiShinjuku
Niigata
StopsIkebukuro, Ōmiya, Takasaki, Nagaoka, Mitsuke, Higashi-Sanjō, Kamo, Niitsu
Lines usedTohoku Main Line, Takasaki Line, Joetsu Line, Shinetsu Main Line
On-board services
Catering facilitiesNone
Technical
Rolling stock485 series EMU
Track gauge1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Electrification1,500 V DC

The Moonlight Echigo (ムーンライトえちご) was a seasonal rapid overnight train service operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East), which runs from Shinjuku to Niigata in Niigata Prefecture via the Takasaki Line, the Joetsu Line, and the Shinetsu Main Line. The name is taken from the Echigo Province, the old name of Niigata Prefecture. Service was reduced to run on a seasonal basis in 2009 and, while JR East has not formally announced its discontinuation, no services have operated since May 2014.