Hachinohe Line

Hachinohe Line
Umineko local train at Hachinohe Station
Overview
Type	Heavy rail
Locale	Aomori, Iwate prefectures
Termini	Hachinohe Kuji
Stations	25
Operation
Opening	1894
Owner	JR East
Rolling stock	KiHa 40 series, KiHa 48 series DMUs
Technical
Line length	64.9 km (40.3 mi)
Track gauge	1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Electrification	None
Route map

Route map

Legend Nanbu Railway (defunct) Tōhoku Shinkansen ←Aoimori Railway Line 0.0 HachinoheAoimori Railway Line→ 1.7 Hachinohe Freight Terminal Hachinohe Rinkai Railway Line 2.7 Kita-Hachinohe Signal 3.4 Naganawashiro Mabechi River Hon-Hachinohe Freight Depot 5.5 0.0 Hon-Hachinohe 7.3 Konakano 2.7 Minato Station (defunct) 9.0 Mutsu-Minato Hachinohe Cement 10.3 Shirogane 11.8 Same 16.2 Purepai Shirahama Station (defunct) 17.5 Mutsu-Shirahama 19.6 Tanesashi-Kaigan 21.8 Ōkuki 24.8 Kanehama 25.8 Ōja 27.5 Hashikami Aomori-Iwate border 29.5 Kadonohama 32.1 Hiranai 34.2 Taneichi 38.1 Tamagawa 40.0 Shukunohe 43.1 Rikuchū-Yagi 45.8 Uge 48.4 Rikuchū-Nakano 54.4 Samuraihama 61.7 Rikuchū-Natsui 64.9 Kuji Sanriku Railway Kita Riasu Line

The Hachinohe Line (八戸線, Hachinohe-sen) is a railway line in the Tohoku Region of Japan, operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It links Hachinohe Station in Hachinohe, Aomori with Kuji Station in Kuji, Iwate. The line stretches 106.9 km along the Pacific Ocean coast with a total of 25 stations. The section between Hachinohe and Same stations is also known as the Umineko Rail Hachinohe-Shinai Line (うみねこレール八戸市内線). The Hachinohe Line is operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East).

Basic data

• Operators, services:
  • East Japan Railway Company (Services and tracks)
    • Hachinohe — Kuji: 64.9 km (40.3 mi)
  • Japan Freight Railway Company (Services)
    • Hachinohe — Hon-Hachinohe: 5.5 km (3.4 mi)
• Stations: 25
• Double-tracked section: None
• Electrification: None
• Railway signalling:
  • Hachinohe — Hachinohe (freight): Single-track automatic
  • Hachinohe (freight) — Hon-Hachinohe: Special Automatic, a simplified automatic system.
  • Hon-Hachinohe — Kuji: Special Automatic, a simplified automatic system.
• CTC center: Morioka Operations Control Center

Stations

Legend

◇, ∨, ∧ - Trains can pass each other at this station

｜ - Trains cannot pass

History

The Hachinohe Line opened in 1891 as the Nippon Railway, which connected Ueno in Tokyo with Aomori in Aomori Prefecture. This line later became the Tōhoku Main Line. However, the route bypassed the center of Hachinohe.

In 1894, a spur line connecting Shiriuchi (now Hachinohe) on the Tōhoku Main Line with Hachinohe (now Hon-Hachinohe was completed. This line was soon extended south to the now-defunct Minato Station. After the nationalization of Nippon Railway in 1907, the spur line was renamed the Hachinohe Line in 1909. From 1924, the line's name was written with its current characters, and the southern terminus of the line was extended to Taneichi in Iwate Prefecture. The following year it reached Rikuchū-Yagi, and in 1930 it reached its present southern terminus of Kuji where it connected to the Sanriku Railway Kita-Riasu Line, which links Kuji with Miyako in southern Iwate. Freight operations were phased out at most stations between 1982 and 1986.

With the privatization of the Japanese National Railways (JNR) on April 1, 1987, the Hachinohe Line came under the control of the East Japan Railway Company (JR East), with remaining freight operations transferred to the Japan Freight Railway Company (JR Freight) at Hachinohe Freight Terminal.

2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami

The line was damaged by the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011, and services were suspended on the section between Taneichi and Kuji, with a number of vehicles trapped at Kuji Station. Services over the entire line resumed from March 17, 2012.^[1]

See also

• List of railway lines in Japan

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hachinohe Line.

• JR East website(Japanese)

v t e JR East lines Shinkansen Hokuriku Jōetsu Nagano Tōhoku Akita Yamagata Main Chūō Ōu Shin'etsu Sōbu Tōhoku Tōkaidō Uetsu Local Agatsuma Aterazawa Ban'etsu East Ban'etsu West Echigo Gonō Hachikō Hachinohe Hakushin Hanawa Iiyama Ishinomaki Itō Itsukaichi Jōban Jōetsu Kamaishi Karasuyama Kashima Kawagoe Keiyō Kesennuma Kitakami Koumi Kururi Mito Musashino Nambu Narita Negishi Nikkō Ōfunato Oga Ōito Ōme Ōminato Rikuu East Rikuu West Ryōmō Sagami Senseki Senzan Shinonoi Sotobō Suigun Tadami Takasaki Tazawako Tōgane Tsugaru Tsurumi Uchibō Utsunomiya Yahiko Yamada Yamanote Yokohama Yokosuka Yonesaka Others Chūō Rapid Chūō-Sōbu Gala-Yuzawa Keihin-Tōhoku Saikyō (incl. Akabane) Shōnan-Shinjuku Sōbu Rapid (Ueno-Tokyo - under construction) Past Aizu Ashio Iwaizumi Kihara Marumori Mōka Nagai Shin'etsu Main (Shinano) Tōhoku Main (Aoimori / Iwate Galaxy)