Anyone can buy Until 31 Dec 20261 day · Unlimited rides
Hokuhoku One-Day Pass (Matsudai Usagi edition)
ほくほくワンデーパス 松代うさぎVer. · Hokuetsu Express
¥1,800 Adult (no child version)
One day; sold only on the day of use.
Hokuhoku Line ほくほく線
Railway · Hokuetsu Express 北越急行 · 12 stations
How to ride Hokuetsu Express (Hokuhoku Line) P
Operator-wide facts from Hokuetsu Express (Hokuhoku Line)'s own pages; individual lines and stations can differ.
IC cards (Suica etc.)Not accepted P
Credit card touchNot confirmed
OperationOne-man train Pワンマン: the driver collects fares
Where you payOn board P
Change on boardChange machine P
Step-free accessStation list → PStep-free (elevators or slopes) at Muikamachi, Shinza, Tokamachi (not the passage to the JR Iiyama Line), Matsudai (not the passage between platforms 1 and 2), Hokuhoku-Oshima and Uragawara; trains have a wheelchair space. Wheelchairs up to about 120 cm long/high and 70 cm wide; contact Tokamachi Station in advance.
IC cards and payment in detail
IC cards (Suica, PASMO etc.) cannot be used on the Hokuhoku Line. Seishun 18 tickets are not valid either: buy a separate ticket. Coming by Shinkansen to Echigo-Yuzawa, buy a through ticket (ほくほく線連絡きっぷ) to your destination at the JR ticket machines there. P
Getting on
- All trains are one-man (no conductor); ask the driver only while the train is stopped.
- At staffed stations all doors open: press the door button of the nearest door to board.
Getting on
- Unstaffed stations have a ticket machine (except Misashima and Ōike-Ikoi-no-Mori): buy a ticket to your destination first. Some machines do not take ¥10,000, ¥5,000 or ¥2,000 notes.
- At Misashima and Ōike-Ikoi-no-Mori take a boarding certificate (乗車駅証明書) from the machine instead.
- Board by the rear door (on two-car trains you cannot board the rear car). Doors are semi-automatic: press the button to open them.
Getting off
- Get off by the front door (on two-car trains, the frontmost door of the front car); press the door button.
- Put your ticket, or your boarding certificate plus the fare, into the fare box right behind the driver. Have ¥1,000 notes or coins ready; the fare box can change them.
- Commuter-pass holders show the pass clearly to the driver.
Wheelchair assistance
Hokuhoku Line Tōkamachi Station (window 7:00–19:00) handles enquiries about fares, travel and lost property. Tel. 025-752-0770
Sources checked 2026-10-10 · review: draft_unreviewed
- hokuhoku.co.jp/wheelchair.html · official accessibility page · checked 2026-10-10
- hokuhoku.co.jp/riyo.html · official howto · checked 2026-10-09
- hokuhoku.co.jp/contact.html · official contact page · checked 2026-10-09
- www.hokuhoku.co.jp/unkou/pcGuide.html · official status page · checked 2026-10-09
Passes valid on this line 6 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.
Anyone can buy 2 days · Unlimited rides
Echigo Two-Day Pass
えちごツーデーパス · JR East
¥3,300 Adult · ¥1,650 Child (6–11) ¥1,650/day
2 consecutive days on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, holidays and set Golden Week, summer and New Year days.
Anyone can buy On sale from 27 Nov 20267 days · Unlimited rides
Hokkaido & East Japan Pass (local trains)
北海道＆東日本パス（普通列車限定） · JR East and JR Hokkaido
¥11,780 Adult · ¥5,890 Child (6–11) ¥1,683/day
7 consecutive days; valid until the last train on the last day.
Conditions apply On sale from 18 Dec 20265 days · Unlimited rides
Otona no Kyūjitsu Club Pass (East Japan)
大人の休日倶楽部パス（東日本） · JR East
¥21,000 Ordinary car (station / ticket machine) · ¥20,000 Ordinary car (Ekinet) · ¥36,000 Green car (Ekinet only) ¥4,000/day
5 consecutive days. Up to 6 seat reservations included.
Conditions apply On sale from 18 Dec 20265 days · Unlimited rides
Otona no Kyūjitsu Club Pass (East Japan & Hokkaido)
大人の休日倶楽部パス（東日本・北海道） · JR East and JR Hokkaido
¥29,000 Ordinary car (station / ticket machine) · ¥28,000 Ordinary car (Ekinet) · ¥51,000 Green car (Ekinet only) ¥5,600/day
5 consecutive days. Up to 6 seat reservations included.
Foreign visitors only 5 days · Unlimited rides
JR EAST PASS
JR EAST PASS · JR East
¥35,000 Adult, 5 days · ¥17,500 Child (6–11), 5 days · ¥50,000 Adult, 10 days · +1 more ¥7,000/day
5 or 10 consecutive days from the start date you choose.
Stations
In order along the main route; branch stations, if any, are listed at the end. English names and readings where OpenStreetMap has them.
| # | Station | English | Passengers / day (2024) | Guide / other lines |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 六日町 🗣 | Muikamachi | 8,177 | Joetsu Line |
| 2 | 魚沼丘陵 🗣 | Uonuma-Kyuryo | 79 | |
| 3 | 美佐島 🗣 | Misashima | 6 | |
| 4 | しんざ 🗣 | Shinza | 86 | |
| 5 | 十日町 🗣 | Tokamachi | 1,855 | Iiyama Line |
| 6 | まつだい 🗣 | Matsudai | 390 | |
| 7 | ほくほく大島 🗣 | Hokuhoku-Ōshima | 49 | |
| 8 | 虫川大杉 🗣 | Mushigawa-Ōsugi | 98 | |
| 9 | うらがわら 🗣 | Uragawara | 136 | |
| 10 | 大池いこいの森 🗣 | Ōike-Ikoi-no-mori | 13 | |
| 11 | くびき 🗣 | Kubiki | 105 | |
| 12 | 犀潟 🗣 | Saigata | 1,190 | Shin'etsu Main 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.