What Does "Limited" Mean? 近畿日本鉄道 特急料金の謎

Japanese follows English.　英語の後に日本語が続きます。

I went to Kyoto/Nara this summer. The two prefectures are next to each other, so I took the Kintetsu Kyoto line when travelling between the two places. On the first day, when waiting in a line to buy tickets for a limited express at the Nara station, I overheard a Chinese tourist asking a guy in the ticket office in English, "What does 'limited' mean?" He wanted to know why he had to pay an additional fare of JPY510 to a regular fare. The ticket seller could say that that was for a limited express, but couldn't explain what "limited" means. 

Limited express trains only stop at a limited number of stations. The JPY510 is for that reduced number of stops, but I don't understand why the fare amount is the same for any number of stops, i.e., the additional fare when a train doesn't stop at all between Kyoto and Nara and that when it stops at one or more (but not all) stations are the same, JPY510. It's like the fare for Nozomi Shinkansen is the same as that for Hikari Shinkansen.

I've been to Nara for the last ten years. Ten years ago, I saw a few non-Japanese tourists, but for the last several years, the number of tourists to this prefecture has dramatically increased. It may be good for it financially, e.g., more tourists meaning more revenue, but also has caused some issues as well, e.g., becoming more busy with handing questions about what would never have been asked by local residents, like the meaning of a "limited express." Nara has been changing. I hope this is a good change for them. By the way, if you are looking for a good place to eat in Nara, please read another post about Nara obanzai cuisine!

夏休みに京都と奈良に行った。京都と奈良の行き来には近鉄を使うのだが、奈良駅で特急券を買おうと並んでいたら、前にいた中国人が英語で「limited express の limited とはどういう意味だ？」と聞いていた。乗車券に加えてどうして510円を払うのか理由を知りたかったようだ。駅員さん、英語で510円が「limited express」のためだということまでは言えたが、limited が何を意味するのかまでは答えられなかった。

limited は限られた、という意味で、限られた駅にしか止まらないという意味だが、実は私も一つ、以前から不思議に思っていたことがあった。ノンストップでも2～3駅止まっても特急料金は一律510円なのだ。のぞみとひかりの特急券が同一料金ということ？。

奈良にはここ10年、毎年行っている。10年前は少なかった外国人観光客はここ数年でぐっと増え、まるで京都のようだ。観光客が増えるということは街も潤うということだが、地元の人なら聞かないような質問（limited の意味とか（笑））にも対応しなければならない。奈良がどんどん変わっている。地元の人にとっていい方向であることを祈っている。ちなみに奈良で食事する場所をお探しの方はこちらをご覧ください！