Flower Nagai Line

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フラワー長井線
Flower Nagai Line
A Nagai Flower Line train at its terminus at Akayu Station.
Company	Yamagata Tetsudō Company
Total Distance	30.5km (Akayu — Nanyo City, Arato — Shirataka)
Rail Gauge
Stations	16
Tracks
Electrification
Block System

The Flower Nagai Line (フラワー長井線) is a rail line in Yamagata Prefecture, Japan. The only line operated by the Yamagata Tetsudō Company, it runs from Akayu Station in Nanyō City to Arato Station in Shirataka Town.

[edit] History

Initially part of the national rail network the line was started in 1912 and opened in phases;

1913-10-26 Akayu Station (赤湯駅, Akayu-eki^?) to Ringō Station (梨郷駅, Ringo-eki^?)
1914-11-15 extended to Nagai Station (長井駅, Nagai eki^?)
1922-12-11 extended to Ayukai Station (鮎貝駅, Ayukai eki^?)
1923-04-22 comlpleted to Arato Station (荒砥駅, Arato eki^?)

Until 1954-11-15 the line ran trams but was then converted to trains.

In 1959-06-01 Miyauchi Station was opened. A year later (1960-05-22) the Minami-Nagai Station opened. 1989-12-15 saw the opening of Shirousagi Station.

The Yamagata Tetsudō Rail company was founded in 1962 but did not become independent until 1988.

In the 1990s there were several major improvements made with several stations renovated and a sharing of stations with other lines for easier transfers.

One change was the introduction of unmanned stations, specifically Uzen-Narita Station, in 1997. A year later a court case approved the use of unmanned stations.

The emblem of the railway is a skyline of the local mountains.

[edit] Station List

Station	Japanese	Distance from Akayu	Transfers	Location
Akayu Station	赤湯駅	0.0	Yamagata Shinkansen, Ōu Main Line	Nanyō	Yamagata Prefecture
Nanyō Shiyakusho Station	南陽市役所駅	0.9
Miyauchi Station	宮内駅	3.0
Orihata Station	おりはた駅	4.4
Ringō Station	梨郷駅	6.8
Nishi-Ōtsuka Station	西大塚駅	10.3		Kawanishi
Imaizumi Station	今泉駅	12.2	Yonesaka Line	Nagai
Tokiniwa Station	時庭駅	14.9
Minami-Nagai Station	南長井駅	17.3
Nagai Station	長井駅	18.3
Ayame Kōen Station	あやめ公園駅	19.1
Uzen-Narita Station	羽前成田駅	21.0
Shirousagi Station	白兎駅	23.2
Koguwa Station	蚕桑駅	24.6		Shirataka
Ayukai Station	鮎貝駅	27.9
Arato Station	荒砥駅	30.5