Type Heavy rail Opened 1913 Number of tracks 1 Stations 29 | Status Operational Line length 146.5 km (91.0 mi) Track gauge 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) | |
 | ||
The Hidaka Main Line (日高本線, Hidaka-honsen) is a railway line in Hokkaido operated by Hokkaido Railway Company (JR Hokkaido), between Tomakomai Station in Tomakomai and Samani Station in Samani, running through the coast of Hidaka Subprefecture.
Contents
Following storm damage discovered between Atsuga and Okaribe stations on 8 January 2015, rail services have been suspended beyond Mukawa station, with buses providing a substitute service. Further damage was caused to the line by Typhoon 17 on 12 September 2015, and a date for the resumption of rail services beyond Mukawa is not currently known.
On 19 November 2016, JR Hokkaido's President announced plans to rationalise the network by up to 1,237 km, or ~50% of the current network, including the proposed conversion to Third Sector operation of the Mukawa – Samani section of the Line, but if local governments are not agreeable, that section will face closure.
Services
All regular trains stop at all stations.
History
The first section was opened in 1913 by the Tomakomai Light Railway (苫小牧軽便鉄道, Tomakomai Keiben Tetsudō), operating between Tomakomai and Saruta (now Tomikawa), and the line between Saruta and Atsuga was opened in 1924 by the Hidaka Takushoku Railway (日高拓殖鉄道, Hidaka Takushoku Tetsudō), both funded by the Oji Paper Company in Tomakomai. The two lines were light railways with a track gauge of 762 mm (2 ft 6 in).
The lines were nationalized in 1927, and merged into one, becoming the Hidaka Line. The track gauge was widened in 1929 and 1931, and the line was extended to Samani in 1937. There was a plan to link the Hidaka Main Line with the Hiroo Line (広尾線), via Cape Erimo, which would have ultimately connected to the Nemuro Line at Obihiro. The plan was not implemented and the Hiroo Line closed in 1987.
In 1962 the 14 km section between Tomakomai and Yufutsu was relocated in conjunction with the construction of the 10 km Tomakomai Port line, which opened in 1968 and closed in 2001.