Fukui Prefecture is enthusiastic about the economic effects of the “Hokuriku Shinkansen Tsuruga Extension”

There is also the possibility that the opening will lead to more people leaving Tokyo. Redevelopment is booming in front of Fukui station.

Read other articles in the special feature “The Invincible Shinkansen”

With the end of the coronavirus pandemic, people’s movement has resumed, and demand for Shinkansen trains is continuing to recover.

“Weekly Toyo Keizai December 9, 2023 issue[雑誌]” (Toyo Keizai Inc.) Click on the book image to jump to the Amazon site.

The Hokuriku Shinkansen will be extended to Tsuruga in Fukui Prefecture on March 16, 2024. Two Shinkansen stations will be created in Ishikawa Prefecture, Komatsu and Kaga Onsen, and four Shinkansen stations will be created in Fukui Prefecture: Awara Onsen, Fukui, Echizen Takefu, and Tsuruga.

The extension section is approximately 125 kilometers. The Hokuriku Shinkansen began operating between Tokyo and Nagano in 1997 under the name Nagano Shinkansen. It was extended to Kanazawa in March 2015, with Iiyama, Joetsu Myoko, Itoigawa, Kurobe Unazuki Onsen, Toyama, and Shin-Takaoka stations along the way.

At that time, with the Kanazawa extension, the journey between Tokyo and Kanazawa became less than 2 hours and 30 minutes, about 1 hour and 20 minutes shorter than before the opening. According to an ex-post evaluation report published by the Japan Railway Construction and Transport Facilities Development Support Agency in March 2020, the amount of interregional flow between Toyama and Ishikawa prefectures and the Tokyo metropolitan area has increased by approximately 1.5 times. With the recovery in inbound demand, the area in front of Kanazawa Station is crowded with tourists carrying large suitcases every day.

Tower man also due to stretching effect

Currently, in Fukui Prefecture, preparations for the opening of the Shinkansen are progressing in various areas in anticipation of the effects of the extension of the Shinkansen.

Fukui station west exit. In the Ekimae Densha Dori Kita district, which was once known as a “triangular zone” full of small buildings, construction work by a redevelopment association has resulted in the emergence of a 27-story, 120-meter-tall building, the prefecture’s tallest building. Hotels affiliated with the US Marriott chain, offices, and commercial facilities are scheduled to open here. A 28-story condominium tower, which is said to be the highest in the Hokuriku region, is also under construction in the area.