International Railroad Discussion > Tokyo (Ueno) to Tsunan

Shinkansen to Iiyama, Iiyama Line to Tsunan. Yes, I could save time by routing through Echigo Yuzawa and Tokamachi instead. But that means changing trains twice, and dealing with luggage in a station (Tokamachi) that doesn't have elevators where they're needed.

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I'm looking at the JR Timetable (October 2022 edition), and some of the time savings for the Echigo-Yuzawa routing on the Joetsu Shinkansen comes from additional stops/mileage on the Hokuriku Shinkansen via Iiyama (that's two i's for those who don't know).

Joetsu Shinkansen: Takasaki to Echigo-Yuzawa = 94.2 km (58.5 miles)
Hokuriku Shinkansen: Takasaki to Iiyama = 147.3 km (91.5 miles)

Takasaki is where Joetsu and Hokuriku Shinkansen lines split, and it's 101.4 km (63 miles) from Ueno to Takasaki, where both lines share stations and tracks. (You probably know all this, but I'm mentioning this for other TO members)

On the Iiyama Line, Iiyama to Tsunan is 38.7 km, while it's "only" 17.4 km from Toukamachi, but that doesn't include the additional 33.5 km on the Joetsu (non-Shinkansen) and Hoku-hoku Lines from Echigo-Yuzawa.

The additional travel time is worth it, besides the one transfer and the elevator - you get more comfort time in your seat in both the Shinkansen and Iiyama line trains.

In addition, there's no additional cost for JR Rail Pass users via the Hokuriku Shinkansen routing while there's additional charge via the Joetsu Shinkansen routing for the Hoku-hoku Line section (Muikamachi to Toukamachi), which is non-JR.

I often travel "slower but more comfortable" when I fly into Narita. If my Tokyo destination is closest to a subway station, I avoid JR East's Narita Express or Keisei Line's Skyliner, and instead, take the slower limited express train with through-service into Toei Asakusa Subway Line. No transfer needed until I'm inside the Tokyo subway network, and it's much easier to transfer between subway lines instead of transfering from a surface station to a subway station, even if there's elevator available.

Thanks for your report. It's nice to have travel choices, even outside urban areas.