Suigun Line

Suigun Line
KiHa E130 series DMU on the Suigu Line
Overview
Type	Heavy rail
Locale	Ibaraki, Fukushima prefectures
Termini	Mito Asaka-Nagamori
Stations	45
Services	2
Operation
Opened	1897
Owner	JR East
Technical
Line length	137.5 km (85.4 mi) (main line), 9.5 km (5.9 mi) (Hitachi-Ōta branch)
Track length	147.0 km (91.3 mi)
Number of tracks	1
Track gauge	1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Electrification	None
Operating speed	95 km/h (60 mph)
Route map

The Suigun Line (水郡線, Suigun-sen) is a Japanese railway line operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East), which connects Mito Station in Ibaraki Prefecture and Asaka-Nagamori Station in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. All trains on the line continue onto the Tōhoku Main Line to Kōriyama Station. The name of the line includes one kanji from each of the terminals, Mito (水戸) and Kōriyama (郡山).

A branch line runs from Kami-Sugaya Station to Hitachi-Ōta Station in Ibaraki Prefecture.

History

The Ota Railway Co. opened the Mito - Kami-Sugaya - Hitachi-Ota line between 1897 and 1899, but was declared bankrupt in 1901. The 15 banks owed money formed the Mito Railway Co. to acquire the line and continue its operation. That company opened the Kami-Sugaya - Hitachi-Omiya section in 1918, resulting in the Kami-Sugaya - Hitachi-Ota line becoming the branch. The mainline was extended to Hitachi-Daigo in sections between 1922 and 1927, the year the company was nationalised.

In 1929 JGR opened the Asaka-Nagamori - Yatagawa section, extending it to Kawahighashi in 1931. The Hitachi-Daigo - Iwaki-Tanakura section was opened in stages between 1930 and 1932, and the Kawahigashi - Iwaki-Tanakura section opened in 1934, completing the line.

Freight services ceased between 1982 and 1987. CTC signalling was commissioned on the entire line in 1983.

Former connecting lines

• Iwaki-Tanakura station - A 23 km line to Shirakawa (on the Tohoku Main Line) was opened by the Shirotana Railway Co. in 1916. The line was nationalised in 1941, and closed in 1944. Plans to reopen the line in 1953 resulted in a decision to convert the line to a dedicated busway, which opened in 1957.
• Hitachi-Ota station - An 11 km line to Omika (on the Joban Line) was opened by the Johoku Electric Railway in 1928/29. In 1944 the company merged with the Hitachi Electric Railway, and a 7 km line to Akukawa was opened in 1947. Both lines were electrified at 600 VDC from opening. CTC signalling was commissioned in 1969, and in 1971 the lines became the first electric railway in Japan converted to one-person operation. Both lines closed in 2005.

Basic data

• Track: Single track
• Electrification: None
• Signalling: Automatic Train Control (ATS-Sn)
• CTC: Mito Operations Center

Services

There is generally one train every one to two hours, but between Mito and Kami-Sugaya this increases to one to two trains per hour. Only 13 trains per day run the entire length of the line; most services are from Mito to Hitachi-Ōmiya, to Hitachi-Daigo, and to Hitachi-Ōta. Between Hitachi-Daigo and Kōriyama there are few trains, with a period of 2–3 hours during midday having no services whatsoever.

There are three additional trains between Hitachi-Daigo and Kōriyama (two to Kōriyama, one to Hitachi-Daigo), a single round-trip to Kōriyama from Iwaki-Ishikawa and back, and a single evening trip from Kōriyama to Iwaki-Tanakura that proceeds to Mito the following morning.

Other seasonal trains are added on certain days throughout the year.

Stations

• All stations on the main line and branch line are served by local trains only.

Main Line

Hitachi-Ōta Branch

Passing information

• Double-tracked section: "∥"
• Passing loops: "◇", "∨", "^"
• No passing loops: "｜"

Rolling stock

• KiHa E130 series DMUs (since January 2007)

Past

Suigun Line KiHa 110 series DMU at Kōriyama Station, January 2008

• KiHa 110 series DMUs (from March 1992 until September 2007)
• KiHa 58 DMUs
• KiHa 40 DMUs
• KiHa 28 DMUs
• KiHa 20 DMUs
• JNR Class DE10 diesel-hauled trains

References

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

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Suigun Line.

• Suigun Line travel website (Japanese)
• Ishikawa Town promotional website (Japanese)

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)