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 Hokkaido Railway Company (JR Hokkaidō), between Oshamambe Station in Oshamanbe and Iwamizawa Station in Iwamizawa, running through the coast of Iburi Subprefecture. There also is a branch line within Muroran, between Higashi-muroran and Muroran Station.
The 28.7 km (ca. 17.8 mi.) section between Shiraoi and Numanohata is known to be the longest straight railway section in Japan.
Contents |
[edit] Basic Data
- Operators, distances
- Hokkaidō Railway Company (Services and tracks)
- From Oshamambe to Iwamizawa: 211.0 km
- From Higahsi-muroran to Muroran: 7.0 km
- Japan Freight Railway Company (Services)
- From Oshamambe to Iwamizawa: 211.0 km
- Hokkaidō Railway Company (Services and tracks)
- Stations: 47, including 1 freight station and 1 signal box
- Gauge: 1067 mm
- Track:
- Double: 176.7 km
- From Osamambe to Tōya: 41.5 km
- From Usu to Nagawa: 4.9 km
- From Mareppu to Mikawa: 118.2 km
- From Muroran to Higashi-muroran: 7.0 km
- Single: the remainder
- Double: 176.7 km
- Electric supply:
- 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. 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" and "Hokuto" run between two cities once per 1 to 2 hours, as well as "Suzuran" (すずらん?) between Sapporo and Muroran.
There also are sleeper trains between Honshū and Hokkaidō, such as "Hokutosei", "Cassiopeia", "Twilight Express", and "Hamanasu" (はまなす?).
As for the local service, the line is roughly divided 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 | Distance | Transfers | Location | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| main line | |||||
| H47 | Oshamambe | 長万部 | 0.0 | Hokkaido Railway Company (JR): ■ Hakodate Main Line | Oshamanbe, Yamakoshi |
| H46 | Shizukari | 静狩 | 10.6 | ||
| H45 | Koboro | 小幌 | 17.5 | Toyoura, Abuta | |
| H44 | Rebun | 礼文 | 23.6 | ||
| H43 | Ōkishi | 大岸 | 27.7 | ||
| H42 | Toyoura | 豊浦 | 36.1 | ||
| H41 | Tōya | 洞爺 | 41.5 | Tōyako, Abuta | |
| Kita-Irie S.B. | 北入江(信) | 44.5 | |||
| H40 | Usu | 有珠 | 46.6 | Date | |
| H39 | Nagawa | 長和 | 51.5 | ||
| H38 | Datemombetsu | 伊達紋別 | 54.5 | ||
| H37 | Kita-funaoka | 北舟岡 | 57.4 | ||
| H36 | Mareppu | 稀府 | 60.6 | ||
| H35 | Kogane | 黄金 | 65.1 | ||
| H34 | Sakimori | 崎守 | 67.3 | Muroran | |
| Jin'yamachi (freight) | 陣屋町(貨) | 69.7 | |||
| H33 | Moto-wanishi | 本輪西 | 72.7 | ||
| H32 | Higashi-Muroran | 東室蘭 | 77.2 | JR: ■ Muroran Main Line (Branch Line) | |
| Higashi-Muroran (freight) | 東室蘭(貨) | 78.2 | |||
| H31 | Washibetsu | 鷲別 | 79.1 | Noboribetsu | |
| H30 | Horobetsu | 幌別 | 86.8 | ||
| H29 | Tomiura | 富浦 | 92.3 | ||
| H28 | Noboribetsu | 登別 | 94.7 | ||
| H27 | Kojōhama | 虎杖浜 | 98.1 | Shiraoi, Shiraoi | |
| H26 | Takeura | 竹浦 | 102.9 | ||
| H25 | Kita-yoshihara | 北吉原 | 105.7 | ||
| H24 | Hagino | 萩野 | 107.8 | ||
| H23 | Shiraoi | 白老 | 113.6 | ||
| H22 | Shadai | 社台 | 119.1 | ||
| H21 | Nishikioka | 錦岡 | 125.4 | Tomakomai | |
| H20 | Itoi | 糸井 | 130.6 | ||
| H19 | Aoba | 青葉 | 132.8 | ||
| H18 | Tomakomai | 苫小牧 | 135.2 | JR Hidaka Main Line | |
| Tomakomai (freight) | 苫小牧(貨) | 138.6 | |||
| H17 | Numanohata | 沼ノ端 | 144.0 | JR: ■ Chitose Line | |
| Toasa | 遠浅 | 152.9 | Abira, Yūfutsu | ||
| Hayakita | 早来 | 158.3 | |||
| Abira | 安平 | 164.0 | |||
| K15 | Oiwake | 追分 | 170.8 | JR: ■ Sekishō Line | |
| Mikawa | 三川 | 178.8 | Yuni, Yūbari | ||
| Furusan | 古山 | 182.2 | |||
| Yuni | 由仁 | 186.4 | |||
| Kuriyama | 栗山 | 191.5 | Kuriyama, Yūbari | ||
| Kurioka | 栗丘 | 195.7 | Iwamizawa | ||
| Kurisawa | 栗沢 | 199.6 | |||
| Shibun | 志文 | 203.9 | |||
| A13 | Iwamizawa | 岩見沢 | 211.0 | JR: ■ Hakodate Main Line | |
| H32 | Higashi-Muroran | 東室蘭 | 0.0 | JR: ■ Muroran Main Line (Main Line) | Muroran |
| M33 | Wanishi | 輪西 | 2.3 | ||
| M34 | Misaki | 御崎 | 4.2 | ||
| M35 | Bokoi | 母恋 | 5.9 | ||
| M36 | Muroran | 室蘭 | 7.0 | ||
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- (Japanese) JR Hokkaidō official website
- (English) JR Hokkaidō official website
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