Type Heavy rail Opened 1914 Line length 106.9 km (66.4 mi) | Stations 27 Rolling stock KiHa 110 series DMUs Terminis Kōma Station, Odate | |
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Locale Iwate, Akita prefectures Owner East Japan Railway Company | ||
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).
Contents
History
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.