Hanawa Line

Hanawa Line
花輪線

Overview
Type Heavy rail
Locale Iwate, Akita prefectures
Termini Koma
Ōdate
Stations 27
Operation
Opened 1914
Owner JR East
Rolling stock KiHa 110 series DMUs
Technical
Line length 106.9 km (66.4 mi)
Track gauge 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Electrification None
Route map

The Hanawa Line (花輪線 Hanawa-sen) is a railway line in Japan linking Koma Station in Morioka, Iwate Prefecture and Ōdate Station in Ōdate, Akita Prefecture, Japan. The line extends 106.9 km with a total of 27 stations. Also known as the Towada-Hachimantai Shikisai Line (十和田八幡平四季彩ライン), the Hanawa Line is operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East).

History

Kosaka Railway Co. sulphuric acid train in its final year of operation

The Akita Railway Co. opened the first section from Odate to Suehiro in 1914/15, and extended the line to Rikuchu-Osato in 1923.

The Japanese Government Railway (JGR) opened the Koma - Tairadate section in 1922, and extended the line in sections from 1926, reaching Rikuchu-Osato in 1931. The Akita Railway Co. was nationalised in 1934 and the JGR then operated the entire line.

Freight services ceased in 1984, and CTC signalling was commissioned in 1999.

Former connecting lines

The Kosaka Railway Co. opened a 23 km 762mm gauge line to its Kosaka Refinery in 1908, together with a 4 km branch from Shigenai to Kizawa the following year. Passenger services ceased on the Kizawa branch in 1926, and it closed in 1951. The 10 km Kosaka - Shigenai section was electrified in 1928, and extended 6 km in 1949, but was decommissioned when the line was converted to 1067mm gauge in 1962. Passenger services ended in 1994, and the remaining traffic was sulphuric acid, but following two major derailments the line closed in 2009.

The company also opened a 5 km 762mm gauge line to the Hanaoka mine in 1914 including a bridge over the Ou Main Line at Odate, which was converted to 1067mm gauge in 1951 to enable ore wagons to be forwarded via JNR trains. Freight services ceased in 1983 and the line closed in 1985.

Basic data

Stations

Station Japanese Distance (km) Rapid Transfers   Location
Between
Stations
Total
Koma 好摩駅 - 0.0 IGR Iwate Galaxy Railway: Iwate Galaxy Railway Line (all trains through to Morioka) Morioka Iwate
Higashi-Ōbuke 東大更駅 4.9 4.9   Hachimantai
Ōbuke 大更駅 4.1 9.0  
Tairadate 平館駅 4.7 13.7  
Kitamori 北森駅 1.9 15.6  
Matsuo-Hachimantai 松尾八幡平駅 2.2 17.8  
Appi-Kōgen 安比高原駅 7.2 25.0  
Akasakata 赤坂田駅 5.0 30.0  
Koyanohata 小屋の畑駅 3.6 33.6  
Araya-Shinmachi 荒屋新町駅 4.0 37.6  
Yokoma 横間駅▽ 2.7 40.3  
Tayama 田山駅 8.8 49.1  
Anihata 兄畑駅▽ 6.7 55.8  
Yuze-Onsen 湯瀬温泉駅 4.1 59.9   Kazuno Akita
Hachimantai 八幡平駅 4.3 64.2  
Rikuchū-Ōsato 陸中大里駅 1.9 66.1  
Kazuno-Hanawa 鹿角花輪駅 3.6 69.7  
Shibahira 柴平駅 4.7 74.4  
Towada-Minami 十和田南駅 3.3 77.7  
Suehiro 末広駅 4.5 82.2  
Dobukai 土深井駅 2.4 84.6  
Sawajiri 沢尻駅 2.0 86.6   Ōdate
Jūnisho 十二所駅 3.0 89.6  
Ōtaki-Onsen 大滝温泉駅 2.5 92.1  
Ōgita 扇田駅 6.5 98.6  
Higashi-Ōdate 東大館駅 4.7 103.3  
Ōdate 大館駅 3.6 106.9 JR East: Ōu Main Line
Legend
Rapid - Hachimantai Rapid (八幡平快速 Hachimantai-kaisoku)
● - Stop
▲ - Koma-bound trains only stop
| - Pass
◇, ∨, ∧ - Trains can pass each other at this station
◆ - Trains can pass each other at this switchback
| - Trains cannot pass

References

This article incorporates material from the corresponding article in the Japanese Wikipedia

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hanawa Line.

    See also


    This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 4/1/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.