Has anyone travelled the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Trail and can give me a few details about cost, time etc? I have heard it is not covered by the JR Pass. Can you purchase a ticket which covers all the modes of transport on the route on a "hop on hop off" basis. Any information would be most appreciated. My husband and I will be in Japan next April. Is this a good time to travel this route or still too cold?

http://www.alpen-route.com/english/index.html and http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e7550.html should be very helpful. The fare is not covered by the JR Pass. The route is not open until April 10. It is very expensive, with each leg of the journey having its own fare. It is over ¥10,000 per person one-way.

If you read Japanese, the Japanese language site has far more information. http://www.alpen-route.com/index.html

Thanks for that. What a pity it is so expensive and not covered by a JR Pass.

None of the transportation on that route is JR operated. It's all private company, so a JR Pass is not valid.

FWIW, here is another link:
http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/location/rtg/pdf/pg-402.pdf