JR East Shin'etsu Line, one section badly damaged by the recent Chu'etsu quake,
has resumed operation between Kashiwazaki and Nagaoka on November 29th.

Night trains between Osaka and northern Honshu and Hokkaido, as well as the
Hokuetsu Ltd. between Nagaoka and Kanazawa are running again.

However, some trains including night runs between Tokyo Ueno and Niigata,
Kanazawa are not running as of Dec. 2.

The sure way to find out if a train runs or not is to get a reservation.

Trains are running somewhat slower for repair is not yet complete.  Added to
this is the risk of snowstorms.  Avoid tight schedules.

There are no reports of railroad facility damages from the earthquake that shook
eastern Hokkaido on November 28.

JR East announcement in English:
"About the difficulties in the transportation due to the influences of <the 2004
Niigata Prefecture Chuetsu Earthquake>"
http://www.jreast.co.jp/e/caution/20041027_earthquake.html
(no practical information here as of this posting Nov 20.)

JR East information counter locations, infoline phone number (English):
http://www.jreast.co.jp/e-info/index.htm

Douso, The Prophet of the Way