If you plan to travel on the Hitachinaka Seaside Railway Co. or Kashima Rinkai Tetsudo Co. train lines this weekend, I hope your reservations have been made... or maybe that should be "maid". Yes indeed, cosplay is finally going off, er, on the rails!

The special service offered by the two Ibaraki prefecture train lines is an effort to boost ridership on the local lines. If previous maid-related phenomena such as the Maid Taxi are any indication, the promotion should be a huge success... as long as the maids are being featured.

"Amakusa Chuchu" is one of six young ladies hired to put on cosplay regalia complete with white aprons and blue miniskirts. Squeals Miss Chuchu (choo-choo, heh), "Masters and younger ladies who are not regular customers in Akihabara, I'm looking forward to seeing you."

I'm guessing the opposite is more accurate as an untold number of Japan's basement-dwelling Otaku "masters" get some badly needed fresh air and sunshine en route to the stations where the special Maid Trains will be stopping.

For more information on the maid Train, schedules and updates, visit the Maid Train website. All aboooooooard!! (via Asahi Shimbun and Walker Plus)