Changing from trains at Tsuruga

Has anyone changed from the Thunderbird to the Shinkansen at the new Tsuruga station?

https://www.westjr.co.jp/global/en/howto/tsuruga_change/

This link is helpful, but I am interested in how easy/difficult it would be with a suitcase? (senior people here)

Wondering whether to sed our luggage to Kanazawa from Kyoto rather than travelling with it.

Many thanks

It takes two long elevators and about 100-200 meters of walking, incl. the passing of one ticket gate. Some connections give you only 8 minutes to do the transfer (others are longer). If you can bring your suitcases onto the escalators and don't have troubles walking a few hundred meters, it should be no problem to do the transfer in 8 minutes. Just keep your ticket and car number ready so that you take the correct escalators which lead you to your car number. If you need to take elevators, you may be looking at additional delays, because there are often a lot of inconsiderate people filling up elevators despite having no mobility issues or luggage.

Thank you Uji
As always, that is very helpful
We have 2 options, on with 8 minutes, the other 15 minutes change over....think we will go for the 15 minutes!

I will report back tomorrow - doing this transfer with a group. We have 13 minutes (I think) which seems like a lot. My staff are also doing the same change - I'll ask their opinion as well.

Did the transfer yesterday with a group of eight people. We were in the end car of the train and the escalator was positioned near the middle of the train (car 6). The two escalators were both set to "up" which meant by the time we walked to it, we could go straight up. The transfer gates are close (not sure why so many people were having trouble with their tickets), and then up another escalator.
Doable in five minutes, we probably took a little longer - perhaps eight. Certainly when I checked the time, we were all happily seated and luggage on the racks within ten minutes.

Thank you Japan Custom tours. That is very helpful

We did this change a week or so ago but in the other direction (shinkansen to thunderbird express). There were 4 of us all over 60 and we each had a suitcase as we found out our hotel in Kyoto did not accept luggage forwarding. We opted for the 14 minute layover instead of the 8 minutes and I'm glad we did mainly because there were so many people also making the change. It was impossible to get ahead of the crowds, and there was a wait to access the 2 escalators. Apart from the crowds it was a straight forward change and there were plenty of station employees lined up directing people to the correct platform.

We were luckily in carriage 3 and able to exit quickly at TSURUGA, but had a ticket problem. Note, to enter in Kyoto, you need the seat reservation ticket and the Kyoto city zone to Kanazawa ticket - put them into the ticket gate together (one on top of the other). At Ttsuruga, for the Shinkansen, put in all 4 tickets together. It was not obvious to us, so I hope that helps someone else. We still made the 9 minute transfer with large luggage, but were first off the train…

"but had a ticket problem. Note, to enter in Kyoto, you need the seat reservation ticket and the Kyoto city zone to Kanazawa ticket - put them into the ticket gate together (one on top of the other). At Ttsuruga, for the Shinkansen, put in all 4 tickets together"

Oh my!
That sounds unbelievably complicated! " put in all 4 tickets together"
Not sure what the 4 tickets are?

We plan to purchase the "One way Thunderbird Shinkansen" ticket before we leave home, and then purchase the reserved seat tickets when we arrive in Kyoto.
I was assuming when we exchanged the voucher we would be given just one ticket, valid from Kyoto to Kanzawa, and then the reserved seat ticket ???

We will definitely opt for the 15 minute change over, and are considering forwarding our luggage from Kyoto to Kanazawa

@AusT
It is actually quite common that you have 2 “tickets” in Japan. The actual ticket and a seat reservation / express surcharge.

But yes, 15 min seems to be way more relaxed for changing trains if you need to change platform and have luggage.

@LikeBike
There you go
My JR Pass hangover. lol.
Keep forgetting we need tickets as well as seat tickets lol.