Takachiho Railway (高千穂鉄道 Takachiho Tetsudō) was a Japanese railway company. The company in Miyazaki Prefecture had suspended operation of the railway since a typhoon disaster in 2005 and was liquidated in 2009.
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The company operated one line named the Takachiho Line connecting Nobeoka Station in Nobeoka, Miyazaki and Takachiho Station in Takachiho, Miyazaki. The government authorization of the railway business was abolished for a half of the line in 2007 and for the remaining half in 2008.
The Takachiho Line, originally named the Hinokage Line (日ノ影線 Hinokage sen) of Japanese Government Railways, opened on February 20, 1935, in the section between Nobeoka Station and Hyūga-Okamoto Station. Following some extensions, the line reached Takachiho Station on July 22, 1972, and was renamed the Takachiho Line same day.[1]
When the national railway was privatized in 1987, the line belonged to JR Kyushu, which withdrew from the operation of the Takachiho Line and transferred it to Takachiho Railway, a new company established by local funds, on April 28, 1989.[1]
On September 6, 2005, flooding triggered by Typhoon Nabi washed away two bridges on the line, halting all operations. By December, it was clear that no government funding for rebuilding was available, and some attempts by local communities to rebuilt the railway went for nothing. A shareholders' resolution made on January 6, 2009, started the company's liquidation procedures which ended in March 2009 with no distribution to shareholders.[2]
| Station | Japanese | Distance (km) |
Opened on | Transfers | Location | Coordinates | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nobeoka | 延岡 | 0.0 | 1922-05-01 | JR Kyushu: Nippo Main Line | Nobeoka | Miyazaki Prefecture |
||
| Nishinobeoka | 西延岡 | 4.1 | 1935-02-20 | |||||
| Mukabaki | 行縢 | 6.8 | 1935-02-20 | |||||
| Hosomi | 細見 | 10.4 | 1957-02-01 | |||||
| Hyūga-Okamoto | 日向岡元 | 11.6 | 1935-02-20 | |||||
| Hakiai | 吐合 | 13.3 | 1957-02-01 | |||||
| Soki | 曽木 | 14.6 | 1936-04-12 | |||||
| Kawazuru | 川水流 | 17.1 | 1936-04-12 | |||||
| Kamizaki | 上崎 | 19.9 | 1957-02-01 | |||||
| Hayahito | 早日渡 | 24.9 | 1937-09-03 | |||||
| Kamegasaki | 亀ヶ崎 | 26.4 | 1957-02-01 | |||||
| Makimine | 槇峰 | 29.1 | 1937-09-03 | Hinokage | Nishiusuki District |
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| Hyūga-Yato | 日向八戸 | 31.5 | 1939-10-11 | |||||
| Gomi | 吾味 | 32.9 | 1957-02-01 | |||||
| Hinokageonsen | 日之影温泉 | 37.6 | 1939-10-11 | |||||
| Kagemachi | 影待 | 40.4 | 1972-07-22 | |||||
| Fukasumi | 深角 | 44.0 | 1972-07-22 | |||||
| Amanoiwato | 天岩戸 | 47.9 | 1972-07-22 | Takachiho | ||||
| Takachiho | 高千穂駅 | 50.0 | 1972-07-22 | |||||
Following the closure of the line, two truck-style sightseeing cars TR401 and TR402 were purchased by JR Kyushu upon an offer from Takachiho Railway.[3] They will be refurbished and used on the new Umisachi Yamasachi limited express service on the Nichinan Line from October 2009.[4]
Among ordinary railcars, TR201 was given to Asa Kaigan Railway without compensation. It will go into service in autumn 2009. Other ordinary cars were disused. TR104 and TR105 were given to the town of Hinokage and are preserved at Hinokage-Onsen Station. TR101 and TR202 were given to the town of Takachiho and are preserved at Takachiho Station. Others were scrapped.[5]
Takachiho-Amaterasu Railway Co. (高千穂あまてらす鉄道 Takachiho-Amaterasu-Tetsudō) has a plan to operate the line between Takachiho and Amanoiwato as a heritage railway.