
The Eizan Dentetsu train ("Eiden" for short) that goes to my neighborhood is only one or two cars long, and every train is a local. Only last year did they install card and ticket readers and begin accepting the Surutto Kansai card. Otherwise, the train still operates like a bus: You pull a paper ticket out of the machine when you enter, which has a number for your starting station printed on it. When you get off, you look up at the lighted fare board and pay the driver (he gets up out of his seat at every stop to man the fare box) according to your destination, dropping the fare and ticket into the till. At the terminal stations Demachiyanagi (close to downtown) and Kurama (in the mountains) you pay at the wickets rather than as you leave the train. The 10 minute ride from my station (really just a platform, there is no building) to Demachiyanagi costs ¥260.