Originally Posted by
KI-NRT
Wow, what a major inconvenience for us, as we often take the Thunderbird from Osaka to Kanazawa (and beyond.) I'd much rather just go in one shot, even if it takes slightly longer to get there.
What about if we want to go from Osaka to Wakuraonsen? In the past, there were several direct routes a day. Would we need to make two transfers, or go on an even slower train along the way to get there?
Unfortunately, starting March 16 you have to make two transfers (at Tsuruga and Kanazawa) to get to Wakuraonsen from Osaka/Kyoto. Currently there are few limited express Thunderbird which runs directly to Wakuraonsen without transfer from Osaka. However, that is no longer starting March 16.
This extension of Hokuriku Shinkansen from Kanazawa to Tsuruga really is not convenient for many people, especially for people in Kansai and Nagoya area heading to Fukui and Ishikawa prefectures. Only advantage is people traveling between Tokyo-Fukui, where there will be direct (no transfer) service between these two cities.