Operator-wide facts from Nagano Electric Railway (Nagaden)'s own pages; individual lines and stations can differ.
IC cards (Suica etc.)Not accepted P
Credit card touchNot accepted PVisa, Mastercard etc. contactless
Delays & suspensionsLive status →Status box on the top page; Japanese only
Step-free accessMost stations · Station list →PWheelchair users cannot use Shiyakusho-mae, Gondō, Zenkōji-shita, Murayama, Hino, Sakurasawa, Yomase or Kamijō; Shinano-Takehara only from the down platform. Elevators at Nagano, Shinano-Yoshida, Suzaka and Shinshū-Nakano; accessible toilets at Nagano, Hongō, Shinano-Yoshida (outside the station), Obuse and Shinshū-Nakano.
IC cards and payment in detail
IC cards such as Suica, PASMO and KURURU cannot be used to ride Nagaden trains (there are no IC readers at the gates). You can, however, use a nationwide transport IC card (not PiTaPa) as electronic money to buy a paper ticket at the ticket machines, which also take credit cards (Visa, Mastercard, JCB, AMEX, Diners, Discover), QR-code payments (PayPay, d-barai, Alipay, WeChat Pay and others), Rakuten Edy, nanaco, WAON, iD and QUICPay. Cashless payment works at the ticket machines of 16 stations; other machines take cash only and do not accept the new banknotes or the new ¥500 coin. P
Buy a one-way paper ticket at the ticket machine (only one-way tickets are sold; no through tickets to JR or other railways). Cards, IC cards as e-money and QR payments work at the machines of 16 stations.
Limited express trains need an extra limited-express ticket (adult ¥100, child ¥50, any distance); reserved seats cost ¥300 more and can be booked online up to 31 days ahead.
Getting on
If the station has a ticket machine, buy your ticket there before boarding (at some stations, e.g. Kirihara, the machine is only on one platform).
Nakano-Matsukawa, Shinano-Takehara, Yomase and Kamijō have no ticket machine: just board and pay the fare at the station where you get off. On a limited express, buy your ticket from the conductor on board.
Wheelchair assistance
Nagaden Customer Support Center: 026-248-6000. Some stations cannot be used in a wheelchair: check the operator's barrier-free table first. Doors of the 1000 series "Yukemuri" are 62 cm wide and a ramp cannot be used; the 2100 series "Snow Monkey" (91 cm), 8500 series (130 cm) and 3000 series (140 cm) can be boarded with a ramp. There may be a large gap or step between platform and train: ask staff for help. Tel. 026-248-6000
Day passes, regional passes and special tickets that include Nagano Electric Railway, cheapest first. Prices and rules change: check the official page before you buy.