Hokuriku Shinkansen

Train names and service patterns

Since March 2015, services on the line are split into four types, with train names as listed below. Trains operate over the Joetsu and Tohoku Shinkansen tracks between Tokyo and Takasaki.

The original Nagano Shinkansen Asama services introduced in 1997 replaced the conventional Shinetsu Main Line limited express services, also named Asama, which previously took 2 hours 50 minutes from Tokyo (Ueno Station) to Nagano. Following the opening of the Shinkansen, part of the conventional line was abandoned between Yokokawa and Karuizawa. This section included the steeply-graded Usui Pass which required the use of bank engines on all trains.

Stations

Rolling stock

With the start of Nagano Shinkansen services, trains were operated by a new fleet of JR East E2 series 8-car sets. A fleet of 17 new E7 series 12-car trainsets were phased in from March 2014, and these were augmented by a fleet of 10 JR West W7 series 12-car sets introduced from March 2015. As of March 2015, the original Nagano Shinkansen 8-car E2 series trains remain on services as far as Nagano.

Former rolling stock

The original E2 series 8-car "J" sets, primarily used on Tohoku Shinkansen services were also used on some Asama services until they were subsequently lengthened to 10 cars. One specially-modified 200 series set, numbered F80, was used on additional Asama services in February 1998 during the 1998 Winter Olympics held in Nagano. The train was modified to operate on both 25 kV AC 50 Hz and 60 Hz overhead power supplies, incorporated weight-saving measures to comply with the 16 tonne axle load restriction, and included additional control equipment to cope with the 30‰ gradient of the Nagano Shinkansen. Its maximum speed was limited to 210 km/h.

Nagano Shinkansen

The initial section between Takasaki and Nagano opened on 1 October 1997.

Between May 2012 and March 2014, station platforms on the Nagano Shinkansen had their platform roofs extended to handle the E7 series 12-car trains which entered service in March 2014 ahead of the March 2015 opening of the extension beyond Nagano. The Hokuriku Shinkansen extension from Nagano to Kanazawa opened in March 2015. The 113-km extension from Kanazawa to Tsuruga was approved for construction in June 2012.

From the start of the revised timetable on 15 March 2014, E7 series trainsets were introduced on Asama services. Initially used on seven return services daily, this number was increased to eleven return services daily from 19 April 2014.

Extension beyond Nagano

Construction of the extension from Nagano to Kanazawa was completed on 24 May 2014. When services commenced in March 2015, the travel time from Tokyo to Toyama was reduced to about 2 hours, with Kanazawa an additional 30 minutes away. Final permission to start construction to Fukui was granted in December 2011, with modification works to Fukui Station already in progress for several years in anticipation of the extension. The extension to Tsuruga was approved for construction on 30 June 2012, and is scheduled to open in fiscal 2022. Beyond Jōetsumyōkō Station, the line is operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR West) instead of East Japan Railway Company (JR East).

Test-running

Test-running on the JR East section of the line between Nagano and Kurobe-Unazukionsen commenced on 1 December 2013, initially at low speeds using the "East i" test train. From 6 December, test-running commenced using 10-car E2 series trainsets, with running speeds gradually increased to the full line speed of 260 km/h. Test-running continued until the end of March 2014. Test-running on the entire line between Nagano and Kanazawa (Hakusan Depot) started on 1 August 2014, using the "East i" test train. Test-running using W7 series trains commenced on 5 August 2014, initially at low speed, on the JR West section between Kanazawa and Jōetsumyōkō.

Future plans

The route of the final section from Tsuruga to Osaka was finalized on 20 December 2016 as the 'Obama-Kyoto route. The following four options were under consideration, with a fifth unofficial option suggested by a local politician.

1. Maibara Route (米原ルート): This involved building a full standard shinkansen track to Maibara Station. It was one third of the length of the Obama Route, and provided good access to both Kyoto and Nagoya. It would have resulted in longer travel time to Osaka than the other options, and trains would have had to use the existing, already near-capacity Tokaido Shinkansen tracks between Maibara and Shin-Osaka.
2. Kosei Route (湖西ルート): This involved no new track construction; instead, this proposal would have upgraded the Kosei Line to Kyoto, either by regauging or dual-gauging the line to support Mini-Shinkansen, or alternatively utilising Gauge Change Train (GCT) operations. This was the cheapest option, but meant train speeds would likely be limited to a maximum of 160 km/h (100 mph) and hence travel times would have been longer than the other options.
3. Obama Route (小浜ルート): First proposed in 1973, this route involved building a full standard shinkansen track via Obama and Kameoka. It was the shortest route to Osaka, but also the most expensive (approximately 1 trillion yen), and would have bypassed Kyoto.
4. Obama-Kyoto Route (小浜・京都ルート): This, the now selected route, was first made public in August 2015, and involves following the proposed Obama Route west as far as Obama and then building shinkansen track southward to link with the Tokaido Shinkansen at Kyoto. Including Kyoto on the route is seen as important to increase tourism.
5. Maizuru Route: Kyoto politician, Shoji Nishida's proposal from Tsuruga, via Obama, to Maizuru then south-east to Kyoto, eastern Osaka and Kansai Airport. This option was uncosted but would have been the most expensive due to the scale of the proposal. It's case was to provide development to the Maizuru region as per the Japanese national government's policy, with the Maizuru Maritime Self-Defence Force Base and several nuclear power stations put forward as reasonable traffic generators. The option to extend the line south of Kyoto to a new Osaka station (located to the south east of Osaka) and onwards to Kansai International Airport was seen as a means to avoid the congestion of the Tokaido line. It may have served as an alternative route or terminus to Shin-Osaka station for Tokaido line trains, reducing Tokaido line congestion.

A government committee deliberating the proposals decided in April 2016 to narrow the proposed route to three alignments between Tsuruga and Kyoto and two alignments between Kyoto and Shin-Osaka (a northern route through Minoh and a southern route through the Kansai Science City). On 6 March 2017 the government committee announced the chosen route from Kyoto to Shin-Osaka is to be via Kyotanabe, with a station at Matsuiyamate on the Katamachi Line. There had previously been discussion of routing the line to Tennoji, a major terminal in southeast Osaka, which would allow an extension of the line to Kansai Airport.

Interim plans

In order to extend the benefits of the Hokuriku Shinkansen to stations west of Tsuruga before the line to Osaka is completed, JR West is working in partnership with Talgo on the development of a Gauge Change Train (CGT), which will be capable of operating under both the 25kV AC electrification used on the Shinkansen and the 1.5kV DC system employed on conventional lines. The six-car train is due to start trials on the Hokuriku Shinkansen and the 1067mm-gauge Hokuriku and Kosei lines in 2017. As part of the project JR West has already began trials with a purpose-built 180m-long gauge-changer at Tsuruga.

Conventional lines running parallel to the Hokuriku Shinkansen

With the opening of the initial Nagano Shinkansen section in October 1997, the section of the conventional (narrow gauge) Shinetsu Main Line running along approximately the same route between Karuizawa and Shinonoi was transferred from the control of JR East to a newly established third-sector railway operating company, Shinano Railway, becoming the Shinano Railway Line.

With the opening of the Hokuriku Shinkansen extension north of Nagano on 14 March 2015, the conventional lines running along approximately the same route were transferred from the control of their respective JR owning companies to newly established third-sector railway operating companies funded primarily by the prefectural and municipal governments through which the lines pass. A total of 252.2 km of route between Nagano and Kanazawa was transferred to four separate operating companies, including 75.0 km of the Shinetsu Main Line between Nagano and Naoetsu, and 177.2 km of the Hokuriku Main Line between Naoetsu and Kanazawa. Details of the four third-sector operating companies and their respective lines are as shown below.