By TOMOKI MORISHITA/ Staff Writer
September 25, 2023 at 07:00 JST
West Japan Railway Co. President Kazuaki Hasegawa, right, and Harumi Nakagawa, vice chief of the Railway Business Headquarters at East Japan Railway Co., unveil an operation plan for the Hokuriku Shinkansen Line ahead of the opening of its extension between Kanazawa and Tsuruga stations during a news conference in Fukui on Aug. 30. (Tomoki Morishita)
FUKUI--The Hokuriku Shinkansen Line’s extension between Kanazawa Station in Ishikawa Prefecture and Tsuruga Station in Fukui Prefecture will open on March 16, West Japan Railway Co. (JR West) and East Japan Railway Co. (JR East) announced.
“It will accelerate cultural and business exchanges,” JR West President Kazuaki Hasegawa said during a news conference held here on Aug. 30. “We want to continue working to promote the charms of the local communities.”
The bullet train will make 14 round trips between Tokyo and Tsuruga stations per day, with the fastest train on the line connecting the two cities in three hours and eight minutes, down by 50 minutes from the current schedule.
The extended section is about 125 kilometers, according to JR West.
The high-speed train will pass through five stations: Komatsu Station in Komatsu, Ishikawa Prefecture; Kaga-Onsen Station in Kaga, Ishikawa Prefecture; Awara-Onsen Station in Awara, Fukui Prefecture; Fukui Station in Fukui; and Echizen-Takefu Station in Echizen, Fukui Prefecture.
The Hakutaka and Kagayaki trains will directly link Tokyo and Tsuruga.
The Hakutaka will stop at each of the five stations in the extended section, making five round trips.
The Kagayaki will make fewer stops to make nine round trips, with five round-trip services stopping at Kanazawa, Fukui and Tsuruga stations, while the remaining four services will make stops at different stations depending on the service.
The section between Tokyo and Kanazawa stations on the Hokuriku Shinkansen Line opened in 2015.
The extended section was initially scheduled to open in spring 2023, but it was postponed by about a year due to delays in construction and other reasons.
There are also plans to extend the Shinkansen route from Tsuruga to Osaka.
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