Native name 高森線 Opened 1928 Line length 17.7 km (11.0 mi) Locale Kumamoto Prefecture | Stations 9 Operator(s) Minamiaso Railway Track gauge 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) | |
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Terminis Tateno Station, Takamori Station | ||
minamiaso railway takamori line
The Takamori Line (高森線, Takamori-sen) is Japanese railway line in Kumamoto Prefecture, between Tateno Station, Minamiaso, and Takamori Station, Takamori. This is the only railway line Minamiaso Railway (南阿蘇鉄道, Minamiaso Tetsudō, "South Aso Railway") operates. As the company name suggests, the line traverses the south part of Mount Aso caldera. The line has two stations with very long names, namely Minamiaso Mizu-no-Umareru-Sato Hakusui-Kōgen Station and Aso-Shimodajō-Fureai-Onsen Station, the former being the longest in Japan.
Contents
Basic data
History
The entire line was opened by the then Japanese Government Railways in 1928.
Freight services ceased in 1984. The third-sector company took over the former JNR line in 1986. The MLIT tested a DMV railbus on the line in November, 2007.
Proposed connection
After the Takachiho line opened in 1972, construction of the 23 km section to Takamori continued until 1975, when flooding in the 6,500 m Takamori tunnel (7 km north of Takamori) resulted in work being suspended. Construction was formally abandoned in 1980.