Many destinations could be reached riding on a (for example, limited express) train before Shinkansen lines started their operations, but after their operations were started, it has become necessary to ride on more than one train (for example, a Shinkansen train and a limited-express) to reach these destinations, and this system has originally been introduced to alleviate increases in total limited express fees in such cases.
これは、新幹線が開業する前は1本の（特急等の）列車で済んでいたものが、開業したことによって複数の（新幹線と特急等の）列車に分割されることによる合計後の特急料金等の負担増を軽減することをそもそもの目的として設けられたものである。