01
Get off and look up1階 → 2階
Platforms 31–34, ground floor
Have your tickets in hand before the doors open. Escalators, stairs and lifts all lead up to the transfer concourse. Everyone is going the same way.
Lifts
yes
Time
2 min
Oct–NovEvery train between Kansai or Nagoya and Kanazawa, Toyama or Fukui changes here. With time to spare, make a stop at Imajō, 15 minutes up the Hapi-Line. The station was rebuilt for it: limited expresses on the ground floor, Shinkansen directly above.
At Tsuruga you go up, not across. The Thunderbird and Shirasagi arrive at ground-floor platforms 31–34. Escalators lead to a transfer concourse on the second floor, and the Shinkansen platforms 11–14 are on the third. Connections are timetabled at 8 minutes; allow 10 with luggage or children.
The Hokuriku Shinkansen reached Tsuruga in March 2024 and stops there until the extension to Kyoto and Osaka is built. JR West cut the Thunderbird (from Osaka and Kyoto) and the Shirasagi (from Nagoya and Maibara) back to Tsuruga and put their platforms under the Shinkansen so the change is one vertical move inside the paid area.
The reverse direction is the same in mirror image.
Have your tickets in hand before the doors open. Escalators, stairs and lifts all lead up to the transfer concourse. Everyone is going the same way.
Feed every ticket for the whole journey into the gate at once: the limited-express ticket, the Shinkansen ticket, and the fare ticket if it is separate. The gate returns the ones you still need. With a rail pass, use the staffed lane or scan the pass as instructed.
Screens show which platform your Tsurugi, Hakutaka or Kagayaki leaves from. Car numbers are marked on the platform. Toilets and a kiosk are on the concourse if you have a longer wait.
| Journey | Book | Fare |
|---|---|---|
| Kyoto → Kanazawa | Thunderbird + Tsurugi as one booking | ¥7,720 |
| Osaka → Kanazawa | Thunderbird + Tsurugi as one booking | ¥9,410 |
| Osaka → Fukui | Thunderbird + Shinkansen | ¥7,290 |
| Tsuruga → Fukui | Shinkansen, unreserved | ¥2,730 |
| Nagoya → Kanazawa | Shirasagi + Shinkansen, or Tōkaidō Shinkansen to Maibara first | see Kanazawa access |
Thunderbird and Shirasagi are all-reserved. Booking both legs together on e5489 or at a ticket office prices the pair as one journey: JR West's fare tables list Thunderbird plus Tsurugi together, with the basic fare on the full distance and both express charges added.
It is rare, and it is not your problem to solve alone.
Thunderbird and the Shinkansen from Tsuruga to Jōetsu-Myōkō, 7 days.
Find on Klook ↗Find your whole route, not just this leg, before you buy.
Rail pass hub →The same change, plus the Shinkansen all the way to Tokyo.
See on Klook ↗Connections are timetabled at 8 minutes. The Shinkansen platforms are directly above the Thunderbird platforms, two escalators up. Allow 10 minutes with heavy luggage.
No. You pass through transfer gates inside the station on the second floor and go straight up to the Shinkansen.
If your first train was delayed, staff at the transfer gates rebook you on the next Shinkansen. Services run roughly hourly or better.
No. Since March 2024 the Thunderbird ends at Tsuruga and you change to the Hokuriku Shinkansen there.
Yes, if your ticket allows a break or you hold a rail pass. Kehi Jingū and the harbour museums fill two hours.
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