By YOSHITO ASAKURA/ Staff Writer
September 26, 2023 at 18:37 JST
A W7 series Shinkansen is seen in a test run on a newly extended track between Kanazawa and Tsuruga stations on Sept. 26. (Kenta Sujino)
TSURUGA, Fukui Prefecture--Local residents and railway enthusiasts were excited to see the first bullet train travel through the prefecture in a test run on the newly extended Hokuriku Shinkansen Line.
The 12-car Shinkansen left Kanazawa Station in Ishikawa Prefecture early on Sept. 26 and arrived at Tsuruga Station in neighboring Fukui Prefecture at around 7:20 a.m.
During the course of the trip, the high-speed train stopped at five newly built stations: Komatsu, Kaga-Onsen, Awara-Onsen, Fukui and Echizen-Takefu.
Featuring the Kagayaki and Hakutaka trains of the W7 series, the test runs will last until Dec. 9.
Commercial operations in the new area will start on March 16 next year, according to West Japan Railway Co. (JR West) and East Japan Railway Co. (JR East). The extension will add around 125 kilometers of new track to the line.
Operators already started trials with the "East i" inspection trains on Sept. 23 but the latest test was the first to feature a real passenger train.
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