The Kurobe Gorge Railway: Open Carriages into Japan’s Alps
Twenty kilometres in small open carriages up a V-shaped gorge in the Northern Alps, over red bridges and through tunnel after tunnel
The Kurobe Gorge Railway was built to carry men and materials to the power stations deep in the mountains of Toyama. Its little trains still look the part: narrow-gauge carriages, most of them open at the sides, pulled at a steady pace up the Kurobe River from the hot-spring town of Unazuki. The line crosses the green river on high bridges, dives into tunnels and comes out above dam lakes, while monkeys watch from the banks. After about 80 minutes it reaches Keyakidaira, deep in the gorge.
Since 1 October 2026 the trains have run the whole way again. An earthquake in January 2024 damaged the line, and for nearly three seasons they turned back halfway, at Nekomata. The season runs from spring to the end of November, and autumn colour is when passengers say it is at its best.
How this page was madeWe have not ridden the Kurobe Gorge Railway, and what we know of Japan is researched, not first-hand. This page is built from the railway’s own website, Japanese and English travel sources, and dated accounts by passengers who rode it between 2016 and 2026. None of them rode the full line after it reopened in October 2026. When we ride it, we will say so here.
Last updated 6 November 2026
The route
The line follows the Kurobe River south from Unazuki into the Northern Alps, in the Chūbu-Sangaku National Park. Nippon.com counts the gorge among Japan’s three great gorges. The railway was begun in the 1920s to haul materials for hydroelectric plants on the river, and it reached Keyakidaira by 1937. It began carrying passengers as a regular service in 1953, and it now belongs to Kansai Electric Power.
There are four stations for passengers: Unazuki, Kuronagi, Kanetsuri and Keyakidaira. The track is single, so trains wait for each other at passing places along the way. Beyond Keyakidaira the railway goes on, for the power company’s staff only, through a tunnel to the Kuro-3 power station. Since October 2026 that route has opened to visitors for the first time, as the Kurobe Unazuki Canyon Route.
Since 2 October 2026, guided tours have gone on from Keyakidaira through the mountain to Kurobe Dam, where the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route begins. The way takes about three hours, by tunnel train, a lift up a 200-metre shaft, a battery train, an underground incline and a tunnel bus. Japanese travel companies sell it only as guided packages, from about ¥130,000 a person. There are about 400 places a week, and we found no tours in English. It is not part of an ordinary ticket, and the 2027 dates have not been announced.
What the rail journey is like
Passengers remember three things: the bridges, the tunnels and the colour of the water. A writer on the Cycling Mum Japan blog, riding in November 2025, counted “an enormous number of tunnels” and red bridges over turquoise water. Her train was held up near Dashidaira Dam, waiting for monkeys to clear the line. Monkeys turn up in almost every account. Helen, on her blog Timely Updates in October 2025, watched them come out of the forest and climb onto a roof.
The open cars are cold. The same Cycling Mum writer started at 13°C and finished at 11°C in a beanie, a parka and a puffer jacket, and found the train packed. Nami, writing for Just One Cookbook, felt the wind chill even in summer and the air grow colder in the tunnels. Helen chose an open car in dry weather and thought rain would have made it “a whole other story”.
A recorded guide plays as the train climbs. A Japanese walker on YAMAP rode in light rain in May 2026 and noted the voice: the Toyama-born actor Muroi Shigeru. The walker listed the monkey bridge, the Atobiki Bridge, Dashidaira Dam and the Nezumigaeshi cliffs. “The scenery kept thrilling; very satisfied,” the walker wrote (our translation). A TripAdvisor reviewer in November 2023 found the announcements only in Japanese and used a translation app.
In an open car, notice how the air turns cold each time the train goes into a tunnel. Then notice the light coming back all at once on the far side, with the green river far below.
Some days disappoint. One reviewer in October 2023 came before the leaves had turned. Matt and Karen, of the M&K Travel Report, came in warm weather and found steam rising from the river and the slopes. The snow bank at Kanetsuri had no snow at all. Nami found trails and the foot bath at Keyakidaira closed after landslides.
The tunnels beyond Keyakidaira have their own story. Yoshimura Akira’s novel High-Heat Tunnel (Kōnetsu zuidō) tells of the men who dug the tunnel to the Kuro-3 power station, through rock at about 160°C. Kansai Electric names the book on its own pages. The 1968 film The Sands of Kurobe, with Mifune Toshirō and Ishihara Yūjirō, told the story of Kurobe Dam, further up the river.
The stages
The whole run takes about 80 minutes; the railway does not publish times between stations, so these are the order of the sights rather than a timetable.
| Stage | From → to | Time | What you see, and which side | Stops and changes | Main constraint |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 · Out of Unazuki | Unazuki → Kuronagi | First part of the 80 minutes | The red Shin-Yamabiko Bridge, the lake behind Unazuki Dam and the monkey suspension bridge. Passengers advise the right side going up | Kuronagi | Open cars are cold from the start; take layers |
| 2 · The middle gorge | Kuronagi → Kanetsuri | Middle of the run | The high Atobiki Bridge, Dashidaira Dam, the sheer Nezumigaeshi cliffs and Nekomata, where trains turned back from 2024 to 2026 | Kanetsuri | Kanetsuri has stairs only, no lift |
| 3 · Into the mountains | Kanetsuri → Keyakidaira | Arrives about 80 minutes after Unazuki | The upper gorge, the stretch that was closed from 2024 until October 2026 | Keyakidaira, the end | Most walks at Keyakidaira are closed for now |
Stops worth breaking the journey for
A round-trip ticket is valid for two days, and you can get off at the stations in between; tell the staff when you buy your ticket, as one passenger advises. With most of Keyakidaira closed for now, the middle stops are where to spend time.
Unazuki
The hot-spring town at the start, with baths since 1923, the red Shin-Yamabiko Bridge and the free Kurobe River Electric Memorial Museum. The place to stay the night before.
Kuronagi
The stop below the high Atobiki Bridge. Kuronagi Onsen, a riverside inn with an outdoor bath, is about 20 minutes’ walk away and closes from late November to early May.
Kanetsuri
A paved path leads down to a free open-air pool in the riverbed, and a viewpoint looks at the Mannen-yuki, a snow bank that usually lasts all year. We could not confirm whether the pool is open since the reopening.
Keyakidaira
The end of the line. For now only the station forecourt, the rooftop viewpoint and the visitor centre are open; the railway suggests about an hour here. The bridges and walks beyond are closed for earthquake repairs.
Planning the journey
Where to sit
Two passengers advise the right-hand side going up, for the dams and the lake. The railway reserves a car, not a seat, so seats within the car go to whoever gets there first. Board early at Unazuki if you want the right side.
Classes and what they include
Ordinary car: open at the sides with no windows, bench seats for four, no heating, and rain can blow in. This is how most passengers ride. Relax car: enclosed, with windows and forward-facing seats, heated in the cold seasons, ¥600 extra each way. From 24 to 30 November almost every train runs with Relax cars. No passenger account we found had tried one.
Booking, passes and fares
Unazuki to Keyakidaira ¥2,480 (children 6 to 11 ¥1,240); to Kanetsuri ¥1,780; to Kuronagi ¥830. Relax car ¥600 extra each way. A round trip is valid for two days.
Booking opens three months ahead, online until two days before, and the railway warns of crowds in the autumn-colour season. The railway’s own pages disagree on whether you can book seats to Keyakidaira online or only by phone. Check its booking site, or call 0765-62-1011, in Japanese. Same-day tickets are sold at Unazuki. The Japan Rail Pass does not cover the fare. It gives 10% off one same-day round trip bought at the Unazuki counter, and our page on the Japan Rail Pass sets out what the pass does cover.
One way or there and back?
There and back, in a day, with time at the stops in between. In autumn 2026 the first train left Unazuki at 8:17 and the last left Keyakidaira at 16:43, earlier in the last week of November. The railway gives about three hours from Tokyo to Unazuki, by the Hokuriku Shinkansen to Kurobe-Unazukionsen and the Toyama Chihō Railway on to Unazuki Onsen; allow 20 minutes to change at Unazuki. Kanazawa, on the same Shinkansen line, makes a good base on the way.
Travelling with a mobility need, and luggage
The railway carries wheelchairs and recommends the Relax car, whose doorway is 59 cm wide; the open cars mean stepping over the side. Tell the staff at the ticket gate. Unazuki has a lift, and Keyakidaira is step-free with an accessible toilet; Kanetsuri has stairs only, and neither Kuronagi nor Kanetsuri has an accessible toilet. There are no toilets on the train. Lockers cost ¥500 at Unazuki and Keyakidaira, and oversized bags ¥1,000. Pets are not allowed, apart from guide dogs.
If the journey breaks down
This is a mountain railway in a steep gorge:
- An earthquake closed the upper line from January 2024 to October 2026, and repairs at Keyakidaira continue. Check the railway’s site for what is open before you go.
- Landslides have closed trails and stops before, and bad weather can stop the trains. If the line is cut, Unazuki Onsen is the place to wait.
- The season ends on 30 November. Late in the month the last train down leaves Keyakidaira at about 16:00, so plan your day around it.
A final word on the Kurobe Gorge Railway
Eighty minutes in a little open carriage, up a gorge that power-station builders tunnelled into a century ago, over red bridges and past monkeys on the line. Go in the autumn colour, wrap up for the cold, and sit on the right on the way up.
Andrew + Margaret
- Rail journeys Journeys
- The Resort Shirakami Journeys
- Kanazawa Overview
- Getting around Japan Practical
- Is the Japan Rail Pass worth it? Practical
- Kurobe Gorge Railway: timetable, fares and booking Official
- japan-guide: the Kurobe Unazuki Canyon Route Practical
- Yoshimura Akira, High-Heat Tunnel (Kōnetsu zuidō), a novel of the Kuro-3 tunnel Novel
- The Sands of Kurobe, dir. Kumai Kei, 1968 Film
Does the train run in winter?
No. The season runs from about late April to 30 November, and in 2026 a short run to Sasadaira followed in early December. The railway had not announced its 2027 dates when we checked.
Can I reach the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route from the gorge?
Only on a guided Canyon Route tour from Keyakidaira to Kurobe Dam, sold as a package through Japanese travel companies. An ordinary ticket ends at Keyakidaira.