Hanawa Line

Hanawa Line 花輪線
Koyanohata Station
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

• Higashi-Obuke station - The Matsuo Mining Co. opened a 12 km line to Higashi Hachimantai in 1914 to transport sulphur ore. The line was electrified at 1500 VDC in 1951, and closed in 1972.
• Odate station -

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

• Operator: East Japan Railway Company (Services and tracks)
  • Koma — Ōdate: 106.9 km (66.4 mi)
• Gauge: 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
• Stations: 27
• Double-tracked section: None
• Electrification: None
• Railway signalling:
  • Kobuchizawa — Komoro: Special Automatic, a simplified automatic system.
• CTC center: Morioka Operations Control Center

Stations

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

• List of railway lines in Japan

JR East lines
Shinkansen	Hokuriku Jōetsu Tōhoku Akita Yamagata
Main	Chūō Ōu Shin'etsu Sōbu Tōhoku Tōkaidō Uetsu
Local	Agatsuma Aterazawa Ban'etsu East Ban'etsu West Echigo Gonō Hachikō Hachinohe Hakushin Hanawa Iiyama Ishinomaki Itō Itsukaichi Jōban Jōetsu Kamaishi Karasuyama Kashima Kawagoe Keiyō Kesennuma Kitakami Koumi Kururi Mito Musashino Nambu Narita Negishi Nikkō Ōfunato Oga Ōito Ōme Ōminato Rikuu East Rikuu West Ryōmō Sagami Senseki Senzan Shinonoi Sotobō Suigun Tadami Takasaki Tazawako Tōgane Tsugaru Tsurumi Uchibō Utsunomiya Yahiko Yamada Yamanote Yokohama Yokosuka Yonesaka
Others	Chūō Rapid Chūō-Sōbu Gala-Yuzawa Keihin-Tōhoku Saikyō (incl. Akabane) Senseki-Tōhoku Shōnan-Shinjuku Sōbu Rapid Ueno-Tōkyō
Past	Aizu Ashio Iwaizumi Kihara Marumori Mōka Nagai Shin'etsu Main (Shinano / Echigo Tokimeki) Tōhoku Main (Aoimori / Iwate Galaxy)