norikata 乗り方

Myōkō Haneuma Line 妙高はねうまライン

Railway · Echigo Tokimeki Railway えちごトキめき鉄道 · 10 stations

How to ride Echigo Tokimeki Railway P

Operator-wide facts from Echigo Tokimeki Railway's own pages; individual lines and stations can differ.

IC cards (Suica etc.)Not accepted P
Credit card touchNot confirmed
OperationOne-man on some lines PThe operator refers to one-man trains (free passes can be bought on board them), but its pages do not say which trains run without a conductor.
Where you payOn board P
Delays & suspensionsLive status →Japanese only; delays of 30 minutes or more and cancellations
Step-free accessStation list → POnly Naoetsu, Takada and Jōetsumyōkō (Myōkō Haneuma Line) and Itoigawa (Nihonkai Hisui Line) have elevators; the station guides of both lines list each station's facilities.
Passes5 valid herefrom ¥1,200
IC cards and payment in detail

IC cards (Suica, PASMO, ICOCA etc.) cannot be used on Echigo Tokimeki Railway (Nihonkai Hisui Line and Myōkō Haneuma Line). Buy a ticket at a ticket machine or window before boarding. Credit cards are accepted only at some station windows (Naoetsu, Kasugayama, Takada, Arai, Myōkō-Kōgen, Itoigawa) and only for commuter passes and JR tickets/passes; Seishun 18 tickets are not valid on this railway. P

Getting on

  1. Buy a ticket at the ticket machine or ticket window before boarding. If you could not, pay the fare on the train.
  2. Limited express Shirayuki (Naoetsu – Arai, non-reserved seats) needs a limited-express ticket on top of the fare: adult ¥330, child ¥170.
  3. Seishun 18 tickets are not valid here: buy an Echigo Tokimeki ticket or the Toki-tetsu 18 Kippu, or pay on board.
Wheelchair assistance

Wheelchair users should contact the railway in advance: Sales Department 025-543-7889 (weekdays 8:30–17:30); requests cannot always be met. Stations where wheelchair assistance is possible (during opening hours): Naoetsu, Kasugayama, Takada, Jōetsumyōkō, Arai (platform 1 only), Myōkō-Kōgen (platform 1 only) and Itoigawa. Tel. 025-543-7889

Sources checked 2026-10-10 · review: draft_unreviewed

Passes valid on this line 5 P

Day passes, regional passes and special tickets that include this line, cheapest first. 1 of them are sold only to foreign visitors. Prices and rules change: check the official page before you buy.

Residents only 1 day · Unlimited rides

Jimo Pass (residents' one-day pass)

じもパス · Echigo Tokimeki Railway

¥1,800 Adult · ¥600 Child · ¥600 Senior (70+) · +1 more

One day. The date can be changed once if unused.

Anyone can buy 1 day · Unlimited rides

Toki-tetsu Tour Pass (one-day pass)

トキ鉄ツアーパス · Echigo Tokimeki Railway

¥2,400 Adult · ¥1,200 Child · ¥2,000 Adult, digital on my route (campaign price 7 Sep 2026 – 31 Mar 2027, 1,000 tickets)

One day. Paper tickets: date can be changed once if unused. Digital: tap "start using" on the day; no changes.

Foreign visitors only 2 days · Flexible days

SADO-JOETSU Pass

SADO-JOETSU Pass · Sado City / Jōetsu City Tourism and Ferry Council (sold at Echigo Tokimeki stations)

¥7,000 Adult (12+) · ¥3,500 Child (6–11) ¥3,500/day

Usable within 10 days of purchase: Echigo Tokimeki Railway on any 2 days you choose; Sado island buses on 3 consecutive days; return ferry within 10 days of the outward trip.

4 passes cover part of this line

Valid only between the stations named; outside that stretch you pay the fare. Stretches marked “unofficial source” come from Wikipedia or travel sites, and “estimated from the official map” ones were read off the issuer's map image, not its text: check the official map before you buy.

IC cards (Suica, ICOCA…) P

This line runs through more than one IC card area. A journey on an IC card must start and end in the same area: across the boundary, buy a ticket.

8 stations are not in the IC areas we have; check at the station.

How IC card areas work →

Trains to book on this line 2 P

Sightseeing trains and services whose seats you reserve in advance.

All seats reserved Sightseeing train

Echigo TOKImeki Resort Setsugekka

えちごトキめきリゾート雪月花 · Echigo TOKImeki Railway

Joetsumyoko – Myoko-Kogen – Itoigawa (morning run; afternoon run reverse). Summer and winter runs: Joetsumyoko – Nihongi – Ichiburi – Itoigawa

Mainly weekends and holidays. Regular runs 19 Sep – 29 Nov (morning and afternoon), summer 4 Jul – 13 Sep and winter 12 Dec – 28 Feb (one run a day); see the operating calendar

¥20,000 from

All seats reserved Sightseeing train

Koshino Shu*Kura

越乃Shu＊Kura · JR East

From Joetsumyoko to Tokamachi ("Koshino Shu*Kura"), Echigo-Yuzawa ("Yuzawa Shu*Kura") or Niigata ("Ryuto Shu*Kura")

On set days; the official calendar lists operating days through the second half of fiscal 2026 (from October 2026)

¥840 Car 3 reserved seat fee, adult (fare extra)

Stations

In order along the main route; branch stations, if any, are listed at the end. English names and readings where OpenStreetMap has them.

#StationEnglishPassengers / day (2024)Guide / other lines
1妙高高原 🗣Myōkō-Kōgen227Kita-Shinano Line
2関山 🗣Sekiyama85
3二本木 🗣Nihongi82
4新井 🗣Arai755
5北新井 🗣Kita-Arai210
6上越妙高
じょうえつみょうこう 🗣		Joetsu-Myoko4,996Hokuriku Shinkansen, Hokuriku Shinkansen
7南高田 🗣Minami-Takada771
8高田 🗣Takada2,061
9春日山 🗣Kasugayama756
10直江津 🗣Naoetsu9,793Shin'etsu Main Line, Nihonkai Hisui Line

Passengers per day: people boarding and getting off on an average day, all operators at the station counted once each (MLIT station passenger data S12).

Lines and stations: 「国土数値情報（鉄道データ、駅別乗降客数データ）」（国土交通省）を加工して作成 (MLIT National Land Numerical Information, railway data N02-24 and station passengers S12-25, CC BY 4.0). English station names and readings © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), where they match. Data & credits.