Development of Japanese High-speed Rail Network

Shin-Aomori

One Year After Hokuriku Shinkansen Opening

West Japan Railway Company (JR West)

Akita
Shinkansen

Akita M
Introduction first year of service greatly exceeded expectations.
This article describes the results and efforts in the
With the opening of the Hokuriku Shinkansen between first year of Hokuriku Shinkansen services and covers
N aga n o a nd K a n a z awa o n 14 M a rc h 2 015 , We st expectations for the second year as well as the medium-
Japan Railway Company (JR West) worked with local to-long term outlook and issues in anticipation of the line
communities to further raise the attractiveness of the extension to Tsuruga (Figure 1). We hope this awareness
Hokuriku area as a tourism destination and held the will lead to new efforts to increase use of the Hokuriku
H o kuriku D estinatio n Ca mpaign ( H o kuriku D C ) to Shinkansen even further.
promote use of the shinkansen for tourism from the Tokyo Shinjo
metropolitan and Kansai (Kyoto, Osaka, and Kobe) region. Transport Volume Characteristics of
To spur business demand, we introduced convenient Hokuriku Shinkansen Yamagata
Shinkansen
online reservation products with airline trends in mind
and worked to raise the share for railway travel between Reflection on first year of service
Yamagata Sendai
the Tokyo metropolitan area and the Hokuriku cities of In its first year of service, usage of the Hokuriku Shinkansen
Kanazawa and Toyama. The number of passengers in the remained at about three times that of railway use in the

Niigata

Fukushima

Figure 1 Route of Hokuriku Shinkansen

Joetsu Shinkansen

Tohoku Shinkansen
Joetsumyoko
Itoigawa

Kurobe-
Shin-Takaoka Unazukionsen

Toyama Nagano
Kanazawa

Hokuriku Shinkansen Takasaki

Fukui

Omiya

Tokyo
Tsuruga

Tokaido Shinkansen

Nagoya

Kyoto

Shin Osaka

Japan Railway & Transport Review No. 68 • Oct 2016 26

 Development of Japanese High-speed Rail Network

previous year, exceeding expectations with a large number Looking at the number of passengers by quarter, usage
of people using the new line. These good results are increased especially in Q1 in line with the extraordinary
thought to be due to the success of various promotional demand that came from the start of shinkansen service and
measures held in cooperation with local communities to public display of the Buddhist statue at Zenko-ji temple.
attract visitors to the Hokuriku area (Ishikawa, Toyama, and Usage also increased greatly in Q3 during the Hokuriku DC
Fukui Prefectures) based on reduced travel time due to the promotion (Table 1).
opening of the Hokuriku Shinkansen and advantage over air Looking at dif ferences bet ween weekdays and
in terms of service frequency. weekends/holidays for the full year, weekday use was about
The following describes the first year of service, taking 23,000 passengers per day and weekend/holiday use was
into account items such as trend in transport volume, change about 30,000 per day. Weekend/holiday use was especially
in share, usage on weekdays and weekends/holidays, and high and so was the increase.
occupancy of individual train types. The high usage and increase on weekends/holidays
Before the opening of the Hokuriku Shinkansen, the suggests that many people use the Hokuriku Shinkansen
Hakutaka and Hokuetsu limited
ex p re s s t ra ins c a r rie d a b o u t
8000 passengers a day (between
Ito ig awa a n d N a o e t s u ) . T h i s Figure 2 Trend in Railway Passenger Volumes between Joetsumyoko and Itoigawa
jumped about three-fold to 25,000
(Passengers/day)
passengers a day after the start of
30,000
the Hokuriku Shinkansen (between
J o e t s u m y o ko a n d I t o i g a w a ) . 25,295
Although the goal was to double
passenger volumes, the actual
results were even better (Figure 2). 20,000

10,000 8,606

0
Before Service Start After Service Start
14 March 2014 to 13 March 2015 14 March 2015 to 13 March 2016

Table 1 Daily Passenger Volumes by Quarter on Weekdays and Weekends/Holidays (between Joetsumyoko and Itoigawa)

(14 March 2015 to 13 March 2016) (Unit: Passengers/day)

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Total

Result 22,874 24,552 24,237 18,680 22,903

Weekdays
Change from previous year 323 278 308 239 288

Result 31,290 32,476 30,838 24,520 30,138

Weekends/Holidays
Change from previous year 342 304 307 214 292

Result 25,649 27,136 26,389 20,680 25,295

Total
Change from previous year 331 290 308 246 295

Note: Q4 figures are for 1 January to 13 March

27 Japan Railway & Transport Review No. 68 • Oct 2016

 Table 2 Occupancy by Train Type and Seat Type

Train Type Seat Type

Train Occupancy Seat Type Occupancy

Kagayaki 53% GranClass 46%

Hakutaka 41% Green Car (first class) 35%

Tsurugi Ordinary Car Reserved 52%

19%
(Between Toyama and Kanazawa)
Ordinary Car Non-reserved 32%

Table 3 Use of Hokuriku DC Travel Products

From Kyoto/Osaka/Kobe From JR West Area

Product Change from Change from

Change from previous Change from previous
Result Result
previous year year, before previous year year, before
campaign campaign

Travel products 69,760 110% 109% 75,735 113% 111%

Individual 31,807 113% 98% 33,977 116% 102%

Group 37,953 108% 116% 41,758 110% 117%

Products sold directly 25,507 212% 102% 27,281 219% 102%

Special plans 15,124 172% 104% 16,030 181% 104%

Stationmaster
10,383 323% 82% 11,251 309% 90%
recommended trips

Total 95,267 126% 109% 103,016 129% 111%

for tourism, so there may be room to further increase Shinkansen, and provides snacks and drinks served by full-
business use. time attendants in a high-quality and roomy space to give
Looking at occupancy by train type, the Kagayaki passengers a premium experience. High occupancy rates
services with shorter travel times had high usage in excess have been maintained since the service start, and a high
of 50%. The Hakutaka services, which stop at all stations, interest level has been shown by many passengers.
also had usage in excess of 40%. The Tsurugi services, Use of the Hokuriku Shinkansen was 321% that of railway
which connect with the Thunderbird and Shirasagi limited use in the previous year during the period of the Hokuriku
expresses to link the Hokuriku area with the Kansai region DC from 1 October to 31 December 2015 (tabulated from 1
and Chukyo (Nagoya, Gifu, and Mie) regions, had only October to 20 December to remove impact of use during the
about 20% occupancy. All Hokuriku Shinkansen services peak New Year holiday period). Use of Thunderbird limited
are 12-car trainsets, and this number of seats is considered express between Kyoto and Tsuruga too was 109% that of
necessary due to usage changes at peak periods and the previous year, maintaining favourable results. Comparing
weekends (Table 2). this with the increase in the first half-year after the start of
Looking at occupancy by seat type, we see that the Hokuriku Shinkansen services (April to September), the
GranClass has a high occupancy rate in excess of 50%. JR Hokuriku Shinkansen results were 13% higher and the
West adopted GranClass for the first time on the Hokuriku Thunderbird were 4% higher.

Japan Railway & Transport Review No. 68 • Oct 2016 28

 Development of Japanese High-speed Rail Network

Table 4 Passengers Boarding at Hokuriku Shinkansen Stations

Kurobe-
Kanazawa Shin-Takaoka Toyama Itoigawa
Unazukionsen

Passengers
22,999/day 1929/day 7901/day 967/day 482/day
boarding

Note: Including users boarding conventional trains

Sales of products for trains run by members of the Creating buzz and improving recognition
JR group of operators (travel products, stationmaster First, JR West worked to provide basic information about
recommended trips, and special tickets) sold in JR West train schedules (frequency) and ticket prices and to create
operations areas such as Kansai region and Chugoku a buzz from the perspective of telling customers about
area (Shimane, Okayama, Hiroshima, and Yamaguchi the convenience and comfort of the Hokuriku Shinkansen
prefectures) were up 129% year-on-year with demand and its attractions. We enhanced provision of information
exceeding that of the first half-year. Moreover, the Nanao using websites by means such as expanding the content on
Line Hanayome Noren sightseeing train and Johana Line/ fan sites and publishing the ‘MY FAVOURITE HOKURIKU’
Himi Line Belles montagnes et mer sightseeing train were web magazine.
almost completely sold out. In the ‘Japanese Beauty Hokuriku’ campaign run from
Sales by travel agencies of travel products using trains January, we set up travel products using regional foods—a
run by members of the JR group of operators in the year from major feature of Hokuriku in the winter—as a hook and gave
the start of service have remained good with totals for those away gifts. Television commercials featuring actress Yukie
departing Hokuriku to the Tokyo metropolitan area of 211% Nakama were run to help spur demand for travel to Hokuriku
of the previous year. Those departing Kansai for Hokuriku in the first winter after the start of shinkansen services.
were 108% of the previous year, and those departing Kansai The Hokuriku Shinkansen was also picked-up by
for Nagano and Niigata were 221% of the previous year, many media outlets, leading to more buzz and improved
demonstrating a large increase. Sales by travel agents of recognition.
stays at major hot springs in the Hokuriku area and visitors
to major sightseeing spots also increased, suggesting an Creating tourism demand
increase over a broad area and demonstrating widespread Next, I would like to mention demand through tourism.
effects from the start of the shinkansen service (Table 3). JR West worked from the start of service to promote use
Table 4 shows passengers boarding at the five Hokuriku of the Hokuriku Shinkansen from Japan’s three major
Shinkansen stations in 2015. Management of conventional conurbations (Tokyo metropolitan area, Kansai area, and
lines running parallel to the shinkansen has been spun-off to Chukyo area) by introducing attractive products and putting
third-party operators, making simple evaluation difficult, but in place intermodal transport routes. To promote ‘new ways
JR West intends to make further efforts in conjunction with of enjoying Hokuriku’ after the opening of the Hokuriku
local communities to improve awareness of and promote Shinkansen, we created open tickets for the Toyama/Fukui
usage of new excursion routes branching across a wide area area and enhanced promotion of three wide-area routes
so more visitors can move around a wider area. using excursion buses—through Gokayama and Shirakawa-
go to Takayama; connecting the Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur
Sales Measures Museum and Eihei-ji temple; and to Wakura Hot Springs
through Shin-Takaoka and Zuiryu-ji temple.
JR West has made revitalizing the Hokuriku area a priority The opening of the Hokuriku Shinkansen also made
since the opening of the Hokuriku Shinkansen. The travel to Niigata and Nagano from Kansai more convenient.
company has been furthering efforts in conjunction with To spread the tourism, we sent customers to Sado Island,
local communities to expand the flow of visitors across Nagano, and Karuizawa in an intensive manner. We also
wide areas, such as between Hokuriku and the Tokyo area; provided information on places to escape the summer heat
between Kansai, Hokuriku and Tokyo; and between Kansai that are easily accessed from the Hokuriku Shinkansen,
and Nagano and Niigata. Another goal was maximizing the such as Togakushi, Myoko and other places, along with
effects of the start of the shinkansen services. the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route. Information on the

29 Japan Railway & Transport Review No. 68 • Oct 2016

Hanayome Noren special sightseeing train (JR West)

Belles montagnes et mer special sightseeing train (JR West)

Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennial International Art Festival was Hokuriku DC

also provided. A major topic was the Hokuriku DC held for 3 months from
These efforts succeeded in dispersing travel throughout October to December 2015. By teaming-up groups from
Hokuriku, which otherwise tends to concentrate on a few the three prefectures comprising Hokuriku, we proposed
locations. We believe this helped maximize the special ways to enjoy Hokuriku’s vast tourism resources, such as
demand at the start of the shinkansen service. nature, historic locations, regional foods, and hot springs

Japan Railway & Transport Review No. 68 • Oct 2016 30

 Development of Japanese High-speed Rail Network

via the MY FAVORITE HOKURIKU

web magazine, ran the ‘My-fav’
TV commercial featuring actress
Ayami Nakajo, and made other
efforts to prevent Hokuriku losing
mind-share among residents of
Kansai area. We continued to
provide information in new ways,
such as running ‘Hokuriku College’
promotions in conjunction with
universities to provide information
and create travel products from
students’ perspectives. We will
continue to work on creating wide-
ranging tourism demand.
Meanwhile, JR West is
working closely with Universal
Studios Japan to promote use
Hokuriku DC Press Conference  (JR West)
of the Hokuriku Shinkansen for
travel originating in Hokuriku; we
are promoting the new ‘Harry
under the themes of nature, gourmet foods, traditions, Potter’ attraction as much as possible as well as providing
hot springs, and beliefs. The members of the JR group of information on new theme-park events.
operators cooperated as a whole to send customers to the In addition, Kansai–Hokuriku Area Exchange Meetings
Hokuriku area brimming with attractions. Results in terms started from August 2013 before the opening of the Hokuriku
of usage during the campaign period are as previously Shinkansen to enhance interaction between Kansai area and
mentioned, but weekday use in particular grew, and we Hokuriku. Specific studies were made at these meetings to
were able achieve the greater weekday use we were expand interactions related to tourism, economy, and culture,
concerned about. In particular, the Hanayome Noren and such as tie-ups with government, business, educational
Belles montagnes et mer special sightseeing trains were institutions such as universities, and others. Five meetings
nearly always sold out. After the Hokuriku DC, Hanayome have been held so far and we intend to hold more in future.
Noren special weekday extra trains for groups were set-up
and continue to be popular. Expanding online membership programmes and
Hokuriku DC created valuable effects in the autumn increasing business demand in Hokuriku area
after the extraordinary demand that came with the start With the opening of the Hokuriku Shinkansen, JR West
of shinkansen service had stabilized. For that, JR West is started online sales of Hokuriku Shinkansen tickets. The
thankful to many parties involved. company introduced the ‘e5489’ online reservation service
for the Hokuriku Shinkansen to facilitate more convenient
Increasing passenger flows between Kansai area and shinkansen use. We also linked this with JR East’s Eki Net
Hokuriku online reservation service so that Hokuriku Shinkansen
There were some initial concerns that the traditional ties tickets reserved via the ‘e5489’ service can be picked-up
between the Kansai and Hokuriku regions would weaken at JR East stations serving the Hokuriku Shinkansen and at
with the opening of the Hokuriku Shinkansen. Various stations in central Tokyo.
efforts were made to prevent this, including enhancing By promoting the convenience of online products in
travel products before the start of shinkansen service in Tokyo as well as between Kansai area and Hokuriku, JR
conjunction with communities and travel agencies, West increased the number of online programme members
conducting focused promotions, and enhancing the and increased competitiveness. And the company spurred
attraction of the Thunderbird by renovating the rolling stock. members to sign-up for credit cards by further promoting
As a result, Thunderbird limited express saw a 105% year- products and conducting campaigns where participants
on-year passenger increase in the first year of the Hokuriku receive gifts.
Shinkansen. To target airline passengers leaving Hokuriku early in
For tourism in particular, JR West provided information the morning, we ran the Early Departure Point Campaign

31 Japan Railway & Transport Review No. 68 • Oct 2016

giving loyalty points when using ‘e5489’ reservations for Inbound Travel
early travel from Hokuriku to Tokyo. This helped boost Finally, I would like to touch on inbound customers. At the
weekday volumes. start of the Hokuriku Shinkansen service, we introduced
Using these efforts, we have been able to capture the Kansai–Hokuriku Area Pass and worked to promote
more of the business market and have raised awareness sales by reviewing the effectiveness of the Hokuriku Area
of the superiority of online products. JR West intends to Pass, and Takayama–Hokuriku Area Tourist Pass. Products
enhance its efforts to expand Internet use and capture for visitors to Japan remained steady as seen by various
more business demand. indexes, such as total sales remaining good at about 1.7
times the previous year.
For inbound visitors, we worked to attract individual and
group travellers to the Hokuriku area by running a Detective
Conan Mystery Tour in Kanazawa, making train rides more
convenient by setting-up luggage spaces on the Hokuriku
Shinkansen, and enhancing promotion of the Hokuriku
Shinkansen overseas. The number of inbound travellers
to Japan is increasing fast, and we want to increase the
visibility of Hokuriku as a future destination.

First-Year Service Revenues

As a result of the Hokuriku DC and other sales measures
promoting tourism, the Hokuriku Shinkansen has maintained
a level of usage exceeding projections. Revenue in FY2015
was ¥45.9 billion.
After the Hokuriku Shinkansen opening, it is said that
more people are staying at major hot springs in Hokuriku
and visits to sightseeing locations have increased over a
wide area, so JR West sees the effects of the start of service
as being spread out over a wide area. Factors behind
the increase are probably the efforts in tourism, such as
‘hospitality’ measures put in place together with local

‘e5489’ online site at

communities, along with rising interest in Hokuriku.
https://www.jr-odekake.net/goyoyaku/news/e5489-hokuriku/
 (JR West)
Future Developments
Efforts in second service year
With first-year usage exceeding
expectations, JR West is proposing sales
measures in partnership with JR East and
local communities to further spur business
and tourism demand and ma ximize
the transport capacity of the Hokuriku
Shinkansen.
We have just conducted special
projects and the 1st ANNIVERSARY
HOKURIKU SHINK ANSEN campaign
ending in September 2016 to showcase the
attractions of the Hokuriku and Shinetsu
areas in partnership with JR East and local
communities. These campaigns express
our thanks to everyone who used the
Hokuriku Shinkansen in its first year, and
Hokuriku Shinkansen first year anniversary campaign logo  (JR West)

Japan Railway & Transport Review No. 68 • Oct 2016 32

 Development of Japanese High-speed Rail Network

we will continue to maximize the effects into the second year. key issues. As a railway operator running services that make
Moreover, we will enhance the product range using the up key parts of the excursion routes, JR West intends to
‘green’ and ‘snow’ seasons to send even more customers participate actively and deepen ties with communities.
from Kansai area to Niigata and Nagano, improve the We also will work to further increase the flow of people
attraction of members-only programmes, and otherwise between Kansai and Hokuriku/Niigata and Nagano. At the
work to further spur demand in areas such as tourism and start of services to Tsuruga in 7 years, we can cut travel
business. We will also improve the quality of the Hanayome times between Kansai and Niigata/Nagano in addition to
Noren and Belles montagnes et mer sightseeing trains and between Kansai and Hokuriku. Travel convenience between
conduct seasonal update of foods and onboard sales line- Kansai and Niigata/Nagano will increase by transferring
up to further increase attractiveness. between Thunderbird limited express and the Hokuriku
In the business market, we will provide information Shinkansen, so we will promote efforts with this in mind.
tailored for membership-programme customers through Success depends on efforts made in an integrated
convenient online reservation products and expanded manner with the three prefectures comprising Hokuriku.
programme membership. We will also update our travel The effects of the service start spread broadly across
products for business. the three prefectures because they worked together on
In the area of inbound travel, we will work to popularize promoting tourism. Seen from afar, places in Hokuriku have
the Hokuriku Shinkansen through measures such as the a common image of tradition and beauty and so excursion
creation of the ‘Osaka–Tokyo Hokuriku Arch Pass’. This pass routes spanning prefectural boundaries are effective in
was set up in April to facilitate convenient integrated travel attracting visitors from the three major urban areas. From
throughout Kansai, Hokuriku, and Tokyo metropolitan areas. the perspective of attracting inbound overseas visitors, it
With these and other efforts in the second year, we aim would be extremely effective for the three prefectures to
to reach achievements on the same level as the successful work as one.
first year. We see the second year as an important year A council for collaboration made up of the three
leading to future progress. prefectures and JR West plans to attract visitors by
expanding activities in the next fiscal year, and intends to
Medium to long-term outlook with extension to Tsuruga attract school excursions from the Tokyo metropolitan area.
Ahead of the extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen
to Tsuruga, we will work to improve the attraction and Conclusion
revitalize the region in partnership with local communities
from the medium-to-long term as well as wide-ranging This article has reflected on the first year of service of the
perspectives; we intend to expand interactions and promote Hokuriku Shinkansen with a focus on transport volume, and
railway use resulting from these activities. We also plan to it has also covered the situation in the second year and
take a proactive role in development of tourism stations future efforts.
and sightseeing locations (intermodal transport, lodgings, The extension of Hokuriku Shinkansen services to
regional foods, souvenirs, and hands-on experience Kanazawa has not only greatly reduced travel times
resources) in the Fukui and Tsuruga areas. between Hokuriku and Tokyo, but has also increased
The new section will serve the business centres of interactions between cities and has revitalized the Hokuriku
Fukui and Komatsu, the large hot-spring resorts of Kaga region as seen by flows of people in broad areas between
Hot Springs and Awara Hot Springs, and the Wakasa wide- Kansai and Hokuriku/Niigata and Nagano. We feel that the
area excursion base of Tsuruga. We intend to consider Hokuriku Shinkansen plays an important role in the region
measures to expand shinkansen use matching the features for which we have great responsibilities. In the second
of each area. service year, JR West will continue to secure revenues on a
We must not be complacent in tourism promotion, par with the first year while strengthening collaboration with
thinking many people will come just as a result of starting its regional partners.
the shinkansen service. It is vital that we think of where to go
by what routes from the Tokyo, Kansai, and Chukyo areas
and what to enjoy, develop destinations by means such as Acknowledgment
developing intermodal transport and creating appeal as This article was contributed by West Japan Railway Company (JR West).
sightseeing areas, and prepare and promote relevant travel
products. This will take much time, so it is important to start
work now. Since there are many famous hot-spring resorts in
the area, improving and revitalizing their attractiveness are

33 Japan Railway & Transport Review No. 68 • Oct 2016