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Ban'etsu West Line
磐越西線 |
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719 series EMU at Kōriyama Station, March 2008 |
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| Overview | |||
| Type | Heavy rail | ||
| Locale | Fukushima, Niigata prefectures | ||
| Termini | Kōriyama Niitsu |
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| Stations | 44 | ||
| Operation | |||
| Opened | 1898 | ||
| Operator(s) | JR East | ||
| Technical | |||
| Line length | 175.6 km (109.1 mi) | ||
| Track gauge | 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) | ||
| Electrification | 20,000 V AC, 50 Hz overhead catenary (Kōriyama – Kitakata) | ||
| Operating speed | 100 km/h (60 mph) | ||
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The Ban'etsu West Line (磐越西線 Ban'etsu-sai-sen) is a rail line in Japan operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It runs between Kōriyama Station in Kōriyama, Fukushima Prefecture and Niitsu Station in Niigata, Niigata Prefecture. The name "Ban'etsu" is taken from the first characters of the names of the ancient provinces of Iwaki (磐城) and Echigo (越後), which the Ban'etsu East and Ban'etsu West lines connect. "Sai" (西) means "west" in Japanese.
The line's nickname is the Mori to Mizu to Roman no Tetsudō (森と水とロマンの鉄道 lit. "the water, forest, and nostalgia railway").
Contents |
| Station | Japanese | Distance (km) | Rapid | Transfers | Location | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Between stations |
Total | * | Aizu Liner | Agano | ||||||
| Kōriyama | 郡山 | - | 0.0 | ● | ● | Tōhoku Shinkansen, Yamagata Shinkansen, Tōhoku Main Line, Ban'etsu East Line, Suigun Line[* 1] | ∨ | Kōriyama | Fukushima | |
| Kikuta | 喜久田 | 7.9 | 7.9 | ● | ▲ | ◇ | ||||
| Akogashima | 安子ヶ島 | 3.9 | 11.8 | ｜ | ｜ | ◇ | ||||
| Bandai-Atami | 磐梯熱海 | 3.6 | 15.4 | ● | ● | ◇ | ||||
| Nakayamajuku | 中山宿 | 5.4 | 20.8 | ｜ | ｜ | ｜ | ||||
| Jōko | 上戸 | 6.5 | 27.3 | ｜ | ｜ | ｜ | Inawashiro, Yama District | |||
| Inawashirokohan (closed) | 猪苗代湖畔 | 2.0 | 29.3 | ｜ | ｜ | ｜ | ||||
| Sekito | 関都 | 1.7 | 31.0 | ｜ | ｜ | ◇ | ||||
| Kawageta | 川桁 | 2.4 | 33.4 | ▲ | ｜ | ◇ | ||||
| Inawashiro | 猪苗代 | 3.3 | 36.7 | ● | ● | ◇ | ||||
| Okinashima | 翁島 | 4.4 | 41.1 | ▲ | ｜ | ◇ | ||||
| Bandaimachi | 磐梯町 | 10.1 | 51.2 | ● | ● | ◇ | Bandai, Yama District | |||
| Higashi-Nagahara | 東長原 | 6.0 | 57.2 | ▲ | ｜ | ◇ | Aizuwakamatsu | |||
| Hirota | 広田 | 2.8 | 60.0 | ▲ | ｜ | ◇ | ||||
| Aizu-Wakamatsu | 会津若松 | 4.6 | 64.6 | ● | ● | ● | Tadami Line Aizu Line[* 2] |
◆ | ||
| Dōjima▽ | 堂島 | 5.5 | 70.1 | ｜ | ｜ | ｜ | ||||
| Oikawa▽ | 笈川 | 3.1 | 73.2 | ｜ | ｜ | ｜ | Yugawa, Kawanuma District | |||
| Shiokawa | 塩川 | 1.9 | 75.1 | ● | ● | ◇ | Kitakata | |||
| Ubadō▽ | 姥堂 | 2.4 | 77.5 | ｜ | ｜ | ｜ | ||||
| Aizu-Toyokawa▽ | 会津豊川 | 2.0 | 79.5 | ｜ | ｜ | ｜ | ||||
| Kitakata | 喜多方 | 1.7 | 81.2 | ● | ● | ◇ | ||||
| Electrified section ends | ||||||||||
| Yamato | 山都 | 9.9 | 91.1 | ● | ◇ | Kitakata | Fukushima | |||
| Ogino | 荻野 | 6.1 | 97.2 | ● | ｜ | |||||
| Onobori | 尾登 | 3.8 | 101.0 | ｜ | ｜ | Nishiaizu, Yama District | ||||
| Nozawa | 野沢 | 5.2 | 106.2 | ● | ◇ | |||||
| Kami-Nojiri | 上野尻 | 5.1 | 111.3 | ｜ | ｜ | |||||
| Tokusawa | 徳沢 | 6.7 | 118.0 | ｜ | ◇ | |||||
| Toyomi | 豊実 | 3.3 | 121.3 | ｜ | ｜ | Aga, Higashikanbara District | Niigata | |||
| Hideya | 日出谷 | 7.1 | 128.4 | ｜ | ｜ | |||||
| Kanose | 鹿瀬 | 5.2 | 133.6 | ● | ｜ | |||||
| Tsugawa | 津川 | 3.4 | 137.0 | ● | ◇ | |||||
| Mikawa | 三川 | 7.4 | 144.4 | ● | ｜ | |||||
| Igashima | 五十島 | 4.2 | 148.6 | ｜ | ◇ | |||||
| Higashi-Gejō | 東下条 | 3.9 | 152.5 | ｜ | ｜ | |||||
| Sakihana | 咲花 | 3.1 | 155.6 | ● | ｜ | Gosen | ||||
| Maoroshi | 馬下 | 2.8 | 158.4 | ▲ | ◇ | |||||
| Saruwada | 猿和田 | 3.5 | 161.9 | ｜ | ｜ | |||||
| Gosen | 五泉 | 3.8 | 165.7 | ● | ◇ | |||||
| Kita-Gosen | 北五泉 | 1.8 | 167.5 | ｜ | ｜ | |||||
| Shinseki | 新関 | 2.5 | 170.0 | ｜ | ◇ | Akiha-ku, Niigata | ||||
| Higashi-Niitsu | 東新津 | 2.8 | 172.8 | ｜ | ｜ | |||||
| Niitsu | 新津 | 2.8 | 175.6 | ● | Uetsu Main Line, Shin'etsu Main Line[* 3] | ∧ | ||||
As of February 2009, the following rolling stock is used on the Ban'etsu West Line.
The Ban'etsu West Line was planned under the Railway Construction Act in 1892, and the private Gan'etsu Railway opened the initial section from Kōriyama to Nakayamajuku on July 26, 1898. In 1906, when the line was extended to Kitakata, the Japanese Government Railways under the nationalized the Gan'etsu Railway and renamed the line the Gan'etsu Line. The remaining sections were constructed in 1914, and the line was renamed the Ban'etsu West Line in 1917.
Japan National Railways (JNR) started to modernize the line in the 1960s, introducing the line's first limited express service (as a part of the Yamagata-bound Yamabata) in 1965 between Ueno Station in Tokyo and Aizu-Wakamatsu via the Tōhoku Main Line. In 1968 the train was renamed Aizu Yamabata, but from 1993 onward it was renamed Viva Aizu and ran only between Koriyama and Aizu-Wakamatsu. The train was finally discontinued as a limited express service in 2003, though it remains in use as a rapid service train.
In 1967, JNR electrified the section between Kōriyama and Kitakata. The non-electrified portion of the line between Kitakata and Niitsu is served by diesel multiple units and steam locomotives.
Media related to [//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Ban%27etsu_West_Line Ban'etsu West Line] at Wikimedia Commons
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