Niigata
Niigata joined the rail network in 1904, when Niigata Station opened. The city has no subway, and the Niigata Kotsu electric line that once ran through its streets ended street running in 1992 and closed entirely in 1999, leaving the JR lines as the backbone of rail in the city. The Joetsu Shinkansen opened in 1982, and the fastest trains now reach Tokyo in about 90 minutes. From 2018 Niigata Station was raised onto a viaduct in stages, letting riders change across the same platform between the Shinkansen and the Inaho limited express, and the work was finished in 2022.
