Shimabara Railway Line

Shimabara Railway Line
A train on the Shimabara line at Shirahama beach in 2008
Overview
Locale	Shimabara Peninsula, Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan
Termini	Isahaya Kazusa (until 2008) Shimabara-gaikō
Stations	44
Operation
Opened	1911
Rolling stock	Kiha 20 type
Technical
Line length	78.5 km (48.8 mi)
Number of tracks	single
Track gauge	1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Route map Legend ↑ Ōmura Line for Haiki 0.0 Isahaya↔ Nagasaki Main Line 16 m 0.7 Tunnel42 m 1.5 Honisahaya 8 m 2.9 Saiwai 4 m 3.6 44 m 4.8 Onohonmachi 5 m 5.5 Kantakunosato 4 m 7.5 Moriyama 4 m 9.6 Kamanohana 3 m 11.4 Isahaya-higashi-kōkōmae 3 m 11.7 42 m ← old Unzentetsu Lineuntil 1938 12.4 Aino 4 m 14.4 Abozaki 6 m 16.6 Azuma 6 m 19.6 Kobe 5 m 20.8 Taishō 5 m 21.7 29 m 23.0 Saigō 8 m Route 57 25.5 Kōjiromachi 5 m 29.0 41 m 29.4 TairamachiAriake Ferry for Nagasu 5 m 31.6 26 m 31.8 Shimatetsu-yue 8 m Route 57 34.1 Ōmisaki 5 m 35.2 Matsuomachi 7 m 37.5 Mie 6 m 40.5 Shimabara 4 m 41.5 Shimatetsu-honshamae 5 m 42.3 Minami-shimabara 4 m Route 57 Kyūshū and Kumamoto Ferry for Kumamoto 43.2 Shimabara-gaikōShimatetsu Ferry for Miike 8 m Route 57 44.3 Chichibu-ga-ura 12 m 45.4 Antoku 31 m 45.4 225 m 46.3 68 m 47.5 Seno-fukae 33 m 49.6 Fukae 25 m 50.0 23 m Route 251 52.0 Futsu-shinden 3 m 53.9 Futsu 6 m Route 251 56.9 Dōzaki 6 m 58.4 Kamaga 8 m 59.9 Arie 20 m 60.2 30 m Route 251 61.2 Nishi-arie 9 m 63.4 Tatsuishi 5 m 63.5 20 m Route 251 65.3 Kita-arie 5 m 65.5 61 m 66.1 Jōkōjimae 10 m 67.1 Uratakannon 6 m 68.2 Harajō 5 m 70.6 Arimayoshikawa 8 m 73.5 272 m 74.6 Higashi-ōya 7 m 75.8 KuchinotsuShimatetsu Ferry for Oniike 3 m Route 251 76.8 Shirahama-kaisui-yokujōmae 11 m 78.5 Kazusa 7 m

The Shimabara Railway Line (島原鉄道線, Shimabara Tetsudō-sen) is a Japanese railway line connecting Isahaya Station, Isahaya and Shimabara-gaiko. The line parallels the coast of Shimabara Peninsula, Nagasaki Prefecture. This is the only railway line of Shimabara Railway (島原鉄道, Shimabara Tetsudō) (Shimatetsu (島鉄) for short), while the company also operates buses and ships. The first section of the line opened in 1911. The former line between Shimabara-Gaikō and Kazusa had few passengers and closed on April 1, 2008. The line utilizes the older diesel-powered Kiha 20 type train which was developed in the mid-1950s. Because of the line's vintage trains which maintain the old Japanese National Railways colors of red and beige, it remains popular among train enthusiasts. This is the only railway on Kyushu outside the Fukuoka area that has remained privately owned its entire history.

History

The Shimabara Railway Co. opened the Isahaya - Aino section in 1911, extending the line to Kojiromachi in 1912 and Minami-Shimabara the following year.

The Kuchinotsu Railway Co. opened the Minami-Shimabara - Dozaki section in 1922, extending the line to Harajo in 1926 and Kazusa two years later.

Diesel power was introduced by the Kuchinotsu Railway Co. in 1930, and by the Shimabara Railway Co. in 1934. In 1943 the two companies merged under the name Shimabara Railway Co.

In 1958 direct services to/from Nagasaki were introduced, operating until 1980.

Former connecting lines

• Aino station - The Hizen Obama Railway Co. opened a 17 km line to Unzen Obama between 1923 and 1927. Direct services from the Shimabara line operated from 1927 until 1932. The line closed in 1938.

Volcanic disruptions

Services were disrupted for 6 months in 1991 due to lava flows from Mount Unzen, which also caused a one-month service disruption the following year.

In 1993 a major lava flow forced the closure of the line between Shimabara-gaiko and Fukae, and services didn't resume on that section until 1997.

The Shimabara-gaiko - Kazusa section was closed due to declining patronage in 2008.

Stations

Shimatetsu Kiha 2500 Series train.

●：Always stops   ▲：Sometimes stops  ｜：Does not stop

See also

• List of railway companies in Japan
• List of railway lines in Japan

References

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

• Route diagram: にっぽん列島 - 鉄道紀元. 27. JTB Publishing Inc. May 10, 2007. pp. 16–17. 

External links

• (Japanese) Shimatetsu official website