Muroran Main Line

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The Muroran Main Line (室蘭本線, Muroran Honsen^?) is a railway line in Hokkaidō operated by JR Hokkaidō, between Oshamambe Station, Oshamanbe Town and Iwamizawa Station, Iwamizawa City, running through the coast of Iburi Subprefecture. There also is a branch line within Muroran City, between Higashi-muroran and Muroran Station.

The 28.7 km (17.8 mi.) section between Shiraoi and Numanohata is known to be the longest straight railway section in Japan.

Contents 1 Basic Data 2 History 3 Services 4 Stations 5 See Also 6 External links

[edit] Basic Data

• Operators, distances
  • Hokkaidō Railway Company (Services and tracks)
    • From Oshamambe to Iwamizawa: 211.0 km / Approx. 131.1mi.
    • From Higahsi-muroran to Muroran: 7.0 km / Approx. 4.3 mi.
  • Japan Freight Railway Company (Services)
    • From Oshamambe to Iwamizawa: 211.0 km / Approx. 131.1 mi.
• Stations: 47, including 1 freight station and 1 signal box
• Gauge: 1067 mm / 3 ft. 6 in.
• Double-track line: 176.7 km / Approx. 109.8 mi.
  • From Osamambe to Tōya: 41.5 km / Approx. 25.8 mi.
  • From Usu to Nagawa: 4.9 km / Approx. 3.0 mi.
  • From Mareppu to Mikawa: 118.2 km / Approx. 73.4 mi.
  • From Muroran to Higashi-muroran: 7.0 km / Approx. 4.3 mi.
  • Other sections are single-tracked.
• Electric supply:
  • From Muroran to Numanohata: 74.9 km / Approx. 46.5 mi. (20,000 V AC)
  • Other sections are not electrified.
• Block system: Automatic

[edit] History

In 1892, Hokkaidō Colliery Railway (北海道炭砿鉄道, Hokkaidō Tankō Tetsudō^?) opened the line from Muroran (now Higashi-muroran) to Iwamizawa. The line was built to link coal mines in inland and Muroran Port. The line extended to the current Muroran in 1897.

The section between Oshamambe and Higashi-muroan, on the other hand, was built as Osawa Line (長輪線, Osawa-sen^?) by Imperial Japanese Government Railways (官設鉄道, Kansetsu Tetsudō^?), which later becomes Japanese National Railways (日本国有鉄道, Nihon Kokuyū Tetsudō^?). The line was built to bypass the mountainous section of Hakodate Main Line, as well as to link the inland Iburi and Muroran Port. Osawa line completed in 1928. The two lines were merged into one in 1931, renamed as Muroran Main Line.

Historically, the line mainly functioned as a freight line. However, from 1960s, the line's primal function shifted to a passenger service. Currently, all the intercity express trains between Sapporo and Hakodate run this "bypass" route, not the northbound Hakodate Main Line route.

[edit] Services

The section between Oshamambe and Numanohata is the part of the main link route between Sapporo and Hakodate. As such, the limited express trains Super Hokuto (スーパー北斗, Sūpā Hokuto^?) and Hokuto (北斗, Hokuto^?) run between two cities once per 1 to 2 hours, as well as Suzuran (すずらん, Suzuran^?) between Sapporo and Muroran.

There also are sleeper trains between Honshū and Hokkaidō, such as Hokutosei (北斗星, Hokutosei^?), Cassiopeia (カシオペア, Kashiopea^?), Twilight Express (トワイライトエクスプレス, Towairaito Ekusupuresu^?), or Hamanasu (はまなす, Hamanasu^?).

As for the local service, the line is roughly devided into four sections, namely the section between Oshamambe and Higashi-muroran, between Higashi-muroran and Muroran, between Higashi-muroran and Tomakomai, and between Tomakomai and Iwamizawa. The last section was once an important freight route, but became a quiet local line after coal mines closed.

[edit] Stations

Station name	Japanese	Total distance	Transfers	Location (all in Hokkaido)
Main Line
Oshamambe	長万部	0 km	JR Hakodate Main Line	Oshamanbe, Yamakoshi
Shizukari	静狩	10.6 km
Koboro	小幌	17.5 km		Toyoura, Abuta
Rebun	礼文	23.6 km
Ōkishi	大岸	27.7 km
Toyoura	豊浦	36.1 km
Tōya	洞爺	41.5 km		Tōyako, Abuta
Kita-irie S.B.	北入江(信)	44.5 km
Usu	有珠	46.6 km		Date
Nagawa	長和	51.5 km
Datemombetsu	伊達紋別	54.5 km
Kita-funaoka	北舟岡	57.4 km
Mareppu	稀府	60.6 km
Kogane	黄金	65.1 km
Sakimori	崎守	67.3 km		Muroran
Jinyamachi (freight)	陣屋町(貨)	69.7 km
Moto-wanishi	本輪西	72.7 km
Higashi-muroran	東室蘭	77.2 km	JR Muroran Main Line (Branch Line)
Higashi-muroran (freight)	東室蘭(貨)	78.2 km
Washibetsu	鷲別	79.1 km		Noboribetsu
Horobetsu	幌別	86.8 km
Tomiura	富浦	92.3 km
Noboribetsu	登別	94.7 km
Kojōhama	虎杖浜	98.1 km		Shiraoi, Shiraoi
Takeura	竹浦	102.9 km
Kita-yoshihara	北吉原	105.7 km
Hagino	萩野	107.8 km
Shiraoi	白老	113.6 km
Shadai	社台	119.1 km
Nishikioka	錦岡	125.4 km		Tomakomai
Itoi	糸井	130.6 km
Aoba	青葉	132.8 km
Tomakomai	苫小牧	135.2 km	JR Hidaka Main Line
Tomakomai (freight)	苫小牧(貨)	138.6 km
Numanohata	沼ノ端	144 km	JR Chitose Line
Toasa	遠浅	152.9 km		Abira, Yūfutsu
Hayakita	早来	158.3 km
Abira	安平	164 km
Oiwake	追分	170.8 km	JR Sekishō Line
Mikawa	三川	178.8 km		Yuni, Yūbari
Furusan	古山	182.2 km
Yuni	由仁	186.4 km
Kuriyama	栗山	191.5 km		Kuriyama, Yūbari
Kurioka	栗丘	195.7 km		Iwamizawa
Kurisawa	栗沢	199.6 km
Shibun	志文	203.9 km
Iwamizawa	岩見沢	211 km	JR Hakodate Main Line
Branch Line
Higashi-muroran	東室蘭	0 km		Muroran
Wanishi	輪西	2.3 km
Misaki	御崎	4.2 km
Bokoi	母恋	5.9 km
Muroran	室蘭	7 km

[edit] See Also

• List of railway lines in Japan

[edit] External links

• (Japanese) JR Hokkaidō official website
• (English) JR Hokkaidō official website