The was an overnight train service that operated in Japan from October 1961 until January 2013. Operated by

West Japan Railway Company , also referred to as , is one of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) companies and operates in western Honshu. It has its headquarters in Kita-ku, Osaka. It is listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange, is a constituent of the TOPIX Large70 index, and ...

(JR West), it ran between and , taking approximately nine hours northbound and eight hours southbound. Reduced to seasonal operations in March 2012, the service was officially discontinued in January 2013.

Route

The ''Kitaguni'' ran on the following lines:

JR West , also referred to as , is one of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) companies and operates in western Honshu. It has its headquarters in Kita-ku, Osaka. It is listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange, is a constituent of the TOPIX Large70 index, and ...

* Kyoto Line (

Tōkaidō Main Line The is a major Japanese railway line of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) network, connecting and stations. It is long, not counting its many freight feeder lines around the major cities. The high-speed Tōkaidō Shinkansen largely parallel ...

): Osaka - Kyoto * Biwako Line (

Hokuriku Line The Hokuriku Main Line ( ja, 北陸本線, ) is a 176.6 kilometer railway line owned by the West Japan Railway Company (JR West) connecting the Maibara Station in Maibara, Shiga, with the Naoetsu Station in Joetsu, Niigata. The section betwee ...

): Kyoto - Nagahama *

: Nagahama - Naoetsu

JR East The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and is the largest of the seven Japan Railways Group companies. The company name is officially abbreviated as JR-EAST or JR East in English, and as in Japanese. The company's headquarters are ...

Shinetsu Line The Shinetsu Main Line ( ja, 信越本線, ) is a railway line, consisting of three geographically separated sections, operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East) in Japan. It was originally one continuous line connecting and via . S ...

: Naoetsu - Niigata

Service pattern

The southbound train originated at Niigata Station at 22:55, arriving in Osaka at 06:49. The northbound service left Osaka at 23:27, terminating at

Niitsu Station is a railway station in Akiha-ku, Niigata, Japan, operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East). Lines Niitsu Station is served by the following three lines. It is the terminus of the Uetsu Main Line and the Banetsu West Line. It is also ...

at 08:10. It then continued as a local train for the final 15-minutes to Niigata. Major stops along the ''Kitaguni'' route included ,

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...

, Maibara,

Tsuruga is a city located in Fukui Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 66,123 in 28,604 households and the population density of 260 persons per km2. The total area of the city was . Geography Tsuruga is located in central ...

Fukui is a Japanese name meaning "fortunate" or sometimes "one who is from the Fukui prefecture". It may refer to: Places * Fukui Domain, a part of the Japanese han system during the Edo period * Fukui Prefecture, a prefecture of Japan located in ...

Kanazawa is the capital city of Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 466,029 in 203,271 households, and a population density of 990 persons per km2. The total area of the city was . Overview Cityscape File:もてな ...

Toyama Toyama may refer to: Places and organizations * Toyama Prefecture, a prefecture of Japan located in the Hokuriku region on the main Honshu island * Toyama, Toyama, the capital city of Toyama Prefecture * Toyama Station, the main station of Toyama, ...

, , and .

Rolling stock

The ''Kitaguni'' used dedicated 581/583 series EMU trains consisting of reserved accommodation only. File:West Japan Railway Company(JR WEST) Night Train Express "KITAGUNI" 4.JPG, The interior of a Saro 581 Green seating car in 2010

Fares

A flat fee was charged for type "A" and "B" reserved sleeping car accommodation, regardless of starting or ending location, while Green Car (first class) reserved accommodation rates were based on distance. In the final days of the train's operations, accommodation rates ranged from about ¥6,000 for a type "B" berth to about ¥10,000 for a type "A" berth. A Green Car seat covering the entire distance from Osaka to Niigata cost ¥5,150. The other fares, the basic fare and express fare, were based on distance. For tourists using the Japan Rail Pass, the basic fare did not have to be paid.

History

The ''Kitaguni'' service first ran on 1 October 1961, as an express between Kanazawa and Niigata. From 1 October 1968, the service was extended to operate between Osaka and Aomori. From the start of the 17 March 2012 timetable revision, regular operations of the ''Kitaguni'' were discontinued, with services operating during busy seasonal periods only. On 31 January 2013, JR West announced that the ''Kitaguni'' service had been formally discontinued following the seasonal runs over the New Year period.

References

External links

* {{JR West trains Named passenger trains of Japan Night trains of Japan West Japan Railway Company Railway services introduced in 1961 Railway services discontinued in 2013 2013 disestablishments in Japan 1961 establishments in Japan