JAPAN: At 06.00 on March 16 Tsurugi ‘local’ Shinkansen service No 1 departed Kanazawa for Tsuruga, forming the inaugural westbound train over the extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen between Tsuruga and Kanazawa, which it reached at 06.57. It was followed by Kagayaki service No 501 from Tokyo to Tsuruga, which arrived at 09.34 after a 575∙6 km run achieved in 3 h 8 min.
In the opposite direction the inaugural train from Tsuruga was the 06.11 Kagayaki 502 service to Kanazawa and Tokyo. The train departed following a formal opening ceremony attended by JR West President Kazuaki Hasegawa, who said that ‘today’s opening will touch the hearts of many domestic and international users and move the future forward’.
Inaugural events were also staged at intermediate stations. At Fukui, where the celebrations began at 05.30 in readiness for the arrival of Kagayaki 502 about an hour later, Mayor Shigeru Saigyo observed that ‘half a century has passed since the development plan [for the Hokuriku Shinkansen to Fukui] was decided, and although we faced many hardships, we were able to reach this day today. Today marks the beginning of a new era for Fukui.’
The new high speed line, where test running began in September last year, is expected to encourage domestic tourism from the Tokyo district, and promotional fares are being offered under the Hokuriku Support Discount scheme. All Hokuriku Shinkansen services are worked by JR East’s Series E7 and JR West’s W7 trainsets.
On the previous day JR West had run the final Shirasagi Limited Express service over the 1 067 mm gauge line between Kanazawa, Tsuruga and Nagoya. These trains now operate only between Tsuruga and Nagoya, connecting with Shinkansen services. Also curtailed was the Thunderbird service from Osaka to Kanazawa, which now terminates at Tsuruga. Averaging 104 km/h, these were the fastest Limited Express services in Japan.
