Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route from Tokyo

Hi! I'm planning to go on the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine route from Tokyo in the morning and end up in Matsumoto by that same night... which means we would be starting the route from the western end in Toyama.

I've researched as much as could and learned that the new Hokuriku Shinkansen can get us to Toyama much faster than before. But we're still worried that we will be rushing a lot, and this being our very first trip to Japan, the train lines and all are confusing us!

Would like to know if anyone has suggestions on what time we should leave Tokyo to make the best of our day?

We will be staying in Meguro in Tokyo, so we need to factor in the time needed to get to the Shinkansen station as well.

Another question is regarding baggage.
I've read about luggage transfer services available for the route, but we are hoping to just transfer our luggages from Tokyo direct to our hotel in Matsumoto, so we don't even have to lug it from Tokyo to Toyama.

Would appreciate if someone could direct me to where this could be done, and the charges involved?

Thank you so much.

hello!

Regarding baggage, if you're coming from Tokyo you could probably do it relatively easily in Tokyo. You could get the baggage delivery agency to collect it at your hotel, that way you won't have to worry about finding a delivery spot!

Regarding Toyama, i've never been there myself, but considering that you can take a super early train at 6:16am to reach at 8:26am, you probably could clear it and reach Matsumoto at a decent pace. However, reaching Tokyo at 6:16am could be a little daunting, especially since you're staying in Meguro, approximately 20 minutes away from Tokyo. Considering that you'd need to check out, find the platforms etc, you'd probably find yourself waking up around 5 or earlier.

I would think you'd probably aim for the 7:20am train instead, which will arrive in Toyama at 9:34am, which makes it slightly more relaxing.

https://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/location/rtg/pdf/pg-402.pdf

Here's is a vague schedule of how long each area would take on an estimate. At 8 hours estimated, you would reach the end at Shinano Omachi around 5pm.

Shinano Omachi to Matsumoto will take approximately an hour, so that shouldn't be an issue.

My only concern would be what time do the modes of transport run until within the Alpine Route - you really do not want to get stuck in between!

Thank you for the suggestions!
I tried to look at the link you sent but I'm not sure.. it looks like it doesn't include the new shinkansen line?

I also tried checking the transport schedule on the official Alpine Route website, but it looks like the English site is not updated and only shows the schedule and information for 2014 :(

Hope somebody could help me out here!

Hi, you can try to search in the Hyperdia website on the train schedules.

http://www.hyperdia.com/en/


Enjoy!

this is a new schedule for alpine route 2015

http://www.alpen-route.com/en/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/2015timetable...

Thank you so much! The schedule will be very helpful... only if I can understand it properly. Oops!

I think most of the schedule on the route is pretty understandable, with some helpful English here and there. But I'm a bit confused about the railway that will take us from Toyama (Dentetsu-Toyama) to Tateyama.

So according to Hyperdia, when I search for routes from Meguro to Tateyama, the results tell me that the Toyama Chiho Railway only runs at 10:59am, even though I would have arrived at Toyama at 9:34am.

On the PDF schedule, however, it looks like there are trains leaving at 1050, 959, 954 and so on. Is there a reason why I cannot catch the earlier trains?

Thanks again for everyone's help :)

Again, the Alpine Route timetable is for 2014. The train timetables have changed since then. Use Hyperdia to look up the current train timetables, but don't pick a date that is too far in the future (more than a few weeks). Hyperdia does not deal correctly with dates in the far future.

Hello,

from what i can see according to Ur hit 10:59 train on hyperdia, day of Ur departure is saturday/sunday/holiday marked as red ‹x.
In pdf timetable each departure train had mark before it which is explained in legend (in japaneese ofc, use google translate here). So anwering question before 10:59 there are departures 9:04; 7:52; 7:20

Uji, the route timetable given by red is for 2015. It's stated in the PDF timetable, but I think I'm confused because I don't understand the Japanese or where to look for the legend to the markings.

I'm searching specifically for April 19, Sunday.

The 954 train is marked ‹x◉, 959 is •½, 1050 is •½◉, and the train that Hyperdia is giving me is at 1059, which is marked ‹x.

The 954 train is marked ‹x◉, 959 is •½, 1050 is •½◉, and the train that Hyperdia is giving me is at 1059, which is marked ‹x.

All that marks dont apply to ur choose of date, for Sunday only departures marked as
red ‹x - holiday will be realised. See my post above

for April 19, Sunday. if u arrive on toyama at 9.34, then u can take the train from dentetsu toyama at 9.54. ( u have 20 minutes to go to dentetsu station , 5-10minutes from toyama station and buy ticket)

as i know, The 954 train is marked ‹x◉, which is means the train operated on saturday and sunday, 959 is •½ (means operated only monday-friday)

if u can reschedulle to the weekday maybe u will meet less crowd than weekend

Oh, I understand that now. Thank you for the explanations.

Is the 20mins possible? Especially if we are first timers to both this route and to Japan?

Is the crowd really very bad? Unfortunately, we don't have the luxury of changing our dates because we only have 8 days in Japan to cover all that we want to see on this first trip of ours! :(

For the distance .I think 5-10 minutes is ok to reach the station.u can check the map btween toyama and dentetsu station before going there.what I afraid is the queue and crowd.I will go on may, so I cant recommend about the crowd yet, but from I read and check the crowded calendar, it's seem every weekend is crowded.but u can still wait for the nexr reain if u cant make it in time

yes, I know what you mean. Now I'm getting a bit worried that we will get stuck in between or stuck at some station because there's no more transport onward!

Is the 20mins possible? Especially if we are first timers to both this route and to Japan?

No problem, its only about 300m platform to platform. Like the previous poster said, 5-10 mins should be plenty of time.

Is the crowd really very bad?

It can get pretty busy but should still be manageable. You'll probably have to que up and wait at some of the busier stations though.

yes, I know what you mean. Now I'm getting a bit worried that we will get stuck in between or stuck at some station because there's no more transport onward!

Just give yourself plenty of time to get off the mountain and you'll be fine.