IR Ishikawa Railway platforms are elevated above street level, featuring three island platforms with one cut-out platform (for Track 4) on the Up (Toyama) side of the middle island platform, serving seven tracks in total. A large roof covers the station building, in order to prevent train stoppages due to accumulated snow within the station.
The Hokuriku Shinkansen platforms are adjacent to the east exit, between the Motenashi Dome and the IR Ishikawa Railway tracks. The Shinkansen station has two island platforms serving four tracks.
The station opened on 1 April 1898.[2] With the privatizationofJNR on 1 April 1987, the station came under the control of JR West.[3] The platforms for the Hokuriku Shinkansen opened on 14 March 2015.[4]
From 14 March 2015, with the opening of the Hokuriku Shinkansen extension from Nagano, local passenger operations over sections of the Hokuriku Main Line running roughly parallel to the new shinkansen line were reassigned to different third-sector railway operating companies.[5] From this date, Kanazawa Station became the western terminus of the IR Ishikawa Railway Line of Ishikawa Prefecture.[5]
At the timetable revision effective 16 March 2024, the Hokuriku Shinkansen extended between Kanazawa and Tsuruga. All Thunderbird and Shirasagi limited express services were discontinued between Tsuruga and Kanazawa Stations.[6] From the same date, the Hokuriku Main Line between Daishoji Station and Kanazawa Station was reorganized as the IR Ishikawa Railway Line, thus the former Hokuriku Main Line section of the station became exclusively used for the IR Ishikawa Railway Line including some through trains to the Nanao Line.[7]
In fiscal 2016, the JR West portion of the station (including the conventional line section later removed from the JR West operation) was used by an average of 22,668 passengers daily (boarding passengers only).[8]
The bus terminals are located in both east exit(Kenrokuen exit) exit and west exit (Kanazawa Port exit). Almost all buses to central Kanazawa including Kanazawa Loop Bus depart from east gate, however some lines such as City Liner depart from west exit. Most expressway bus stop was in east terminal but moved to west terminal in July 2023.
The gates and lines shown below are as of July 2023.[9]
West Japan JR Bus departs from gate 4 and 5 in east gate terminal. The local buses from other gates are operated by Hokuriku Railroad (Hokutetsu Bus.)
There is a departure information board in front of the station exit which shows the timetable of Kanazawa Loop Bus and Machi-bus and also the first two buses to Kenrokuen Garden, Higashi Chaya District, Nishi Chaya District, Omi-cho Market, Korinbo and 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa. The transportation information center (Hokutetsu Bus ticket counter and West Japan JR Bus ticket center) is located near gate 7.
West Japan JR Bus for Musashigatsuji, Omicho Market; Korinbo; Hirosaka, 21st Century Museum; Kenrokuen Garden, Kanazawa Castle Park and Hashiba-cho, Higashi Chaya District[10]
^北陸新幹線、金沢駅に中田ヤスタカ氏の発車メロディー採用 [Departure melody by Yasutaka Nakata to be used for Hokuriku Shinkansen Kanazawa Station]. Nihon Keizai Shimbun (in Japanese). Japan: Nikkei Inc. 9 December 2014. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
^日本国有鉄道停車場一覧 [JNR Station Directory]. Japan: Japanese National Railways. 1985. p. 44. ISBN4-533-00503-9.
^Ishino, Tetsu, ed. (1998). 停車場変遷大辞典 国鉄・JR編 [Station Transition Directory - JNR/JR]. Vol. II. Japan: JTB. p. 137. ISBN4-533-02980-9.
^"データで見るJR西日本 2022" [JR West Japan 2022 in Data] (PDF). westjr.co.jp (in Japanese). 2022. pp. 88–90. Archived from the original(PDF) on 14 December 2022. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
^ abしなの鉄道（株）、えちごトキめき鉄道（株）、あいの風とやま鉄道（株）及びIRいしかわ鉄道（株）申請の第一種鉄道事業許可について [Details of railway business approval for Shinano Railway, Echigo Tokimeki Railway Company, Ainokaze Toyama Railway, and IR Ishikawa Railway]. News release (in Japanese). Japan: Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. 26 February 2014. Retrieved 22 March 2014.
^"「サンダーバード」「しらさぎ」JR北陸本線敦賀～金沢間ラストラン" [Last run of the "Thunderbird" and "Shirasagi" on the JR Hokuriku Main Line between Tsuruga and Kanazawa]. MyNavi Corporation (in Japanese). 16 March 2024. Archived from the original on 15 March 2024. Retrieved 16 March 2024.
^"福井駅で北陸線ありがとうセレモニー 敦賀～大聖寺、「ハピラインふくい」へ" [Hokuriku Line Thank You Ceremony at Fukui Station, Transfer of track Tsuruga and Daishoji to "Hapi Line Fukui"]. Fukui Keizai Shimbun. 15 March 2024. Retrieved 15 March 2024.
IR Ishikawa Railway
Hokuriku Railroad
Bus terminal
