The approximately 125-kilometer section of the Hokuriku Shinkansen connecting Kanazawa Station in Ishikawa Prefecture and Tsuruga Station in Fukui Prefecture opened on the 16th, and commemorative ceremonies were held from early morning at each station along the line.
At Tsuruga Station, the starting station on the Fukui Prefecture side, JR West President Kazuaki Hasegawa said, “Today’s opening will touch the hearts of many domestic and international users, and will lead to moving the future.” I’m looking forward to it,” he greeted.
With this extension, the shortest journey between Fukui and Tokyo will be around 2 hours 51 minutes and 30 minutes, and the shortest time between Kanazawa and Osaka, including limited express connections, will be around 2 hours 9 minutes and 20 minutes, respectively.
The “Hokuriku Support Discount” will begin on the 16th, and is expected to have a ripple effect on the economy, including an increase in the number of tourists to the Hokuriku region.
The Hokuriku Shinkansen section to Kanazawa opened in 2015, but the Kanazawa-Tsuruga section was one year behind schedule due to construction delays, and the project cost was over 1.67 trillion yen.
On the other hand, there is no prospect that construction will begin on the further extension from Tsuruga to Osaka, which is based on the national development plan, due to costs estimated to exceed 2 trillion yen and delays in assessing the environmental impact.