Karatsu Line

Karatsu Line
Overview
Type Regional rail
Locale Saga Prefecture
Termini Kubota
Nishi-Karatsu
Stations 13
Operation
Owner JR Kyushu
Technical
Line length 42.5 km (26.4 mi)
Number of tracks Single
Track gauge 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Electrification 1,500 V DC, overhead catenary (Karatsu to Nishi-Karatsu)
Route map
Map of Japan with the Karatsu Line highlighted in red

The Karatsu Line (唐津線 Karatsu-sen) is a regional railway line in Saga Prefecture, Japan, owned and operated by Kyushu Railway Company (JR Kyushu). It connects Kubota Station in Saga to Nishi-Karatsu Station in Karatsu. It was originally constructed to carry coal from the Karatsu coal field to the Port of Karatsu.

Stations

Station Japanese Distance
(km)		 Connecting lines Location
Kubota 久保田 0.0 Nagasaki Main Line Saga Saga Prefecture
Ogi 小城 5.1   Ogi
Higashi-Taku 東多久 10.6   Taku
Naka-Taku 中多久 13.6  
Taku 多久 15.2  
Kyūragi 厳木 20.8   Karatsu
Iwaya 岩屋 23.3  
Ōchi 相知 26.0  
Honmutabe 本牟田部 30.1  
Yamamoto 山本 32.9 Chikuhi Line
Onizuka 鬼塚 36.6  
Karatsu 唐津 40.3 Chikuhi Line
Nishi-Karatsu 西唐津 42.5  

Rolling stock

History

The Karatsu Kogyo Railway Co. opened a line from the port of Oshima (at Karatsu) to Yamamoto in 1898, on an alignment paralleling the west bank of the Matsuura River, and extended the line to Taku the following year. in 1902, the company merged with the Kyushu Railway Co., which extended the line to Kubota in 1903. In 1907, the company was nationalised.

The Chikuhi Line from Higashi-Karatsu was extended to Yamamoto in 1929 on an alignment paralleling the east bank of the Matsuura River.

The 2 km section from Oshima to Nishi-Karatsu was closed in 1982, and in 1983, the Chikuhi line was rebuilt so it branched at Karatsu, with the Karatsu - Nishi-Karatsu section being electrified at 1,500 V DC at the same time in conjunction with the electrification of the Chikuhi line, together with CTC signalling from Nishi-Karatsu to Kubota.

Freight services ceased in 1986.

Former connecting lines

Honmutabe station - The 6 km line to the Ouchi coal mine operated from 1905 until 1978.

Yamamoto station -

References

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

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 3/25/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.