乗Japan Train Trips
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How to ride trains in Japan

Chubu & Hokuriku

How to ride Echizen Railway (Fukui): front door at unstaffed stations, take a numbered ticket or tap your IC card

えちぜん鉄道の乗り方

Echizen Railway runs from Fukui to Eiheiji-guchi and Katsuyama (for the Dinosaur Museum) and to Awara-Yunomachi and Mikuni (for Tojinbo). At unstaffed stations only the very front door opens: take a numbered ticket or tap your IC card as you board, and pay the driver as you get off. Suica, ICOCA and the other nationwide cards work; the weekend day pass is ¥1,200.

  • Board at the front
  • Exit at the front
  • Pay when you get off
  • IC cards OK
  • Fare by distance
↓ IN↑ OUT◀ Front (driver)Rear ▶
Board at the front Exit at the front

Echizen Railway has two lines from Fukui: the Katsuyama Eiheiji line (via Eiheiji-guchi to Katsuyama) and the Mikuni Awara line (via Awara-Yunomachi to Mikuni). Fares depend on distance.

How you get on and off depends on whether the station is staffed at that moment, so it's worth knowing both ways before you set off.

▶

乗り方の流れ

Step by step

  1. 01Staffed station (counter open): all doors

    At staffed stations while the counter is open, every door on the platform side opens. IC-card users tap the entry/exit reader near the counter or on the platform; ticket holders hand their ticket to the station staff.

  2. 02Unstaffed station: board at the very front

    At unstaffed stations — and at staffed stations when nobody is on duty — only the front door of the first car opens; the other doors stay shut.

  3. 03Take a numbered ticket — or tap your IC card

    Paying cash? Take a numbered ticket (整理券) as you board; season- and coupon-ticket holders take one too. Using an IC card? Tap the entry reader inside the train as you board.

  4. 04Pay the driver as you get off

    Get off through the front door. Hand your ticket to the driver, or, without one, give the driver the fare together with your numbered ticket. IC-card users tap the exit reader. On trains with an attendant on board you can also buy a ticket from the attendant — show your numbered ticket and say where you're going.

IC cards

ICOCA, Kitaca, Suica, PASMO, TOICA, manaca, PiTaPa, SUGOCA, nimoca and Hayakaken all work, including mobile ICOCA and ICOCA in Apple Pay. Echizen Railway sells plain ICOCA cards (¥2,000 including a ¥500 deposit, cash only) at its staffed stations. You can top up on board at the charger in the fare box, but only in ¥1,000 steps. Discount fares don't apply when you pay by IC card.

Forgot to tap when you boarded? Tell the driver, crew or station staff before you tap out — otherwise the card shows an error next time.

Day passes

The Echizen Railway one-day pass costs ¥1,200 (child ¥600) and covers every Echizen Railway line, as often as you like, on Saturdays, Sundays, public holidays and 29 December – 3 January only. It's sold at staffed stations, by on-board attendants, at ticket machines and as a mobile ticket, up to one month ahead, and is valid on the date written on it.

Other passes include a combined day pass for Fukui Railway and Echizen Railway, a day pass with Katsuyama city buses (¥1,700, child ¥900), and a 2-day Awara Onsen overnight pass (¥2,500) that also gives ¥1,000 back on your stay at participating inns.

Good to know

  • There are no toilets on the trains — use the station toilets (not every station has one).
  • Pets in a carrier cost ¥330. Items over 250 cm in total of three sides, 30 kg or 2 m long can't be taken on board.
  • Ticket machines and most staffed counters take credit cards and QR payments; ICOCA cards themselves are cash only.
  • The JAPAN RAIL PASS doesn't cover Echizen Railway — it isn't a JR line.

Sources

Rules differ between railways and change from time to time — last checked 12 Nov 2026. Follow signs and staff on the day.