Sassho line

Sassho line
Type 733 electric multiple unit at Ishikari-Futomi
Route length:	28.9 km
Gauge :	1067 mm ( cape track )
Power system :	20 kV 50 Hz  ~
Maximum slope :	14  ‰
Minimum radius :	300 m
Top speed:	85 km / h
Dual track :	Hachiken - Ainosato-Kōen
Society:	JR Hokkaido
Legend −1.6 Sapporo (札幌) 1880– 0.0 Sōen (桑園) 1924– → Hakodate main line 1880– 2.2 Hachiken (八 軒) 1988– 3.7 Shinkawa (新 川) 1986– Sasson Highway 5.6 Shin-Kotoni (新 琴 似) 1934– 7.3 Taihei (太平) 1986– 8.6 Yurigahara (百合 が 原) 1986– 10.2 Shinoro (篠 路) 1934– Fusego-gawa 12.2 Takuhoku (拓 北) 1967– 13.6 Ainosato-kyōikudai (あ い の 里 教育 大) 1986– 15.1 Ainosato-Kōen (あ い の 里 公園) 1958– Ishikari-gawa 19.3 Ishikari-Futomi (石 狩 太 美) 1934– 25.9 Ishikari-Tōbetsu (石 狩 当 別) 1934– → Tōbetsu urban railway 1949-1954 ← Kōtō small train 1927-1936 Tōbetsu-gawa 28.9 Hokkaidō-Iryōdaigaku (北海道 医療 大学) 1981– 31.1 Ishikari-Kanazawa (石 狩 金 沢) 1935-2020 35.6 Moto-Nakagoya (本 中 小屋) 1935-2020 38.8 Nakagoya (中 小屋) 1935-2020 41.6 Tsugigaoka (月 ヶ 岡) 1958-2020 44.2 Chiraiotsu (知 来 乙) 1958-2020 46.3 Ishikari-Tsukigata (石 狩 月形) 1935-2020 51.0 Toyogaoka (豊 ヶ 岡) 1960-2020 53.5 Sappinai (札 比 内) 1935-2020 58.0 Osokinai (晩 生 内) 1935-2020 60.9 Satteki (札 的) 1960-2020 62.7 Urausu (浦 臼) 1934-2020 66.1 Tsurunuma (鶴 沼) 1956-2020 67.9 Osatsunai (於 札 内) 1959-2020 69.4 Minami-Shimotoppu (南下 徳 富) 1956-2020 71.5 Shimotoppu (下 徳 富) 1934-2020 73.9 Nakatoppu (中 徳 富) 1956-2006 76.5 Shin-Totsukawa (新 十津川) 1931-2020 79.2 Ishikari Hashimoto (石 狩 橋本) 1931-1972 82.0 Kamitoppu (上 徳 富) 1931-1972 83.7 Kita-Kamitoppu (北上 徳 富) 1956-1972 86.5 Minami-Uryū (南 雨 竜) 1956-1972 88.8 Uryū (雨 竜) 1931-1972 89.8 Chū-Uryū (中雨 竜) 1956-1972 92.1 Ishikari Oiwake (石 狩 追 分) 1931-1972 94.5 Inotsu (渭 ノ 津) 1956-1972 97.9 Yawara (和) 1931-1972 101.0 Nakanotai (中 ノ 岱) 1956-1972 102.8 Hekisui (碧水) 1931-1972 106.0 Hokuryu (北 竜) 1931-1972 108.6 Gokayama (五 ヶ 山) 1956-1972 ↓ ← Rumoi main line 1910– 111.4 Ishikari Numata (石 狩 沼 田) 1910–

The Sasshō Line ( Japanese 札 沼 線 , Sasshō-sen ) is a railway line on the Japanese island of Hokkaidō , which is operated by the Hokkaido Railway Company (JR Hokkaido). It leads from Sapporo in a northerly direction to the suburb of Tōbetsu . By 2020 it also opened up sparsely populated areas on the western edge of the Ishikari plain .

description

The name is made up of two Kanji characters from Sapporo ( 札幌 ) and the former terminus Ishikari-Numata ( 石 狩 沼 田 ). The term Gakuentoshi Line ( 学園 都市 線 , Gakuentoshi-sen ), which means “university city line” and refers to the universities that the line has developed , is also widespread .

The Sasshō Line, laid in Cape Gauge (1067 mm), is 28.9 km long and serves 14 passenger transport stations (up to 2020 it was 76.5 km and 29 stations). It begins at Sōen station near downtown Sapporo, where it branches off the Hakodate main line. For the first seven kilometers to Taihei train station, the route runs entirely on a viaduct , after which it is largely at ground level. Another important engineering structure is the 1074 m long bridge over the Ishikari River between the Ainosato-Kōen and Ishikari-Futomi stations. Since April 17, 2020, Hokkaidō-Iryōdaigaku station has been the northern terminus next to the medical university. Previously, the route led through sparsely populated areas to Shin-Totsukawa near Takikawa .

The 12.9 km long section from Hachiken to Ainosato-Kōen has two tracks. Between Sōen and Hokkaidō-Iryōdaigaku, the Sasshō line is electrified with 20 kV 50 Hz alternating voltage (the disused part was not electrified). The maximum gradient is 14 ‰ , the minimum radius 300 m.

Trains

All local trains on the Sasshō Line depart from Sapporo Station , which is 1.6 km from Sōen Station. During rush hour , trains run every 15 minutes, otherwise trains run every 30 to 60 minutes. They stop at all train stations.

By 2020, over two-thirds of the route had not been electrified, which is why the Sasshō Line was operationally split in two and no train traveled the entire length of the route. The Ishikari-Tōbetsu station in the suburb of Tōbetsu served as the system change station , but the contact wire extended one station further to the campus of the medical university (Hokkaidō-Iryōdaigaku) ​​on the outermost edge of the agglomeration. Thus, both types of operation overlapped over a length of about three kilometers. On the disused section of the route, the offer was significantly smaller: between Ishikari-Tōbetsu and Urausu six pairs of trains with diesel multiple units ran daily ; only one pair of trains a day ran to Shin-Totsukawa.

history

The Sasshō Line was built in several stages, with two non-connected routes at times due to the different construction progress. On October 10, 1931, the Ministry of Railways opened the northernmost section between Ishikari-Numata and Nakatoppu (today Shin-Totsukawa ). It received the provisional name Sasshō-Nordlinie ( 札 沼 北 線 , Sasshō-hoku-sen ). The Nakatoppu – Urausu section followed on October 10, 1934. A few weeks later, on November 20, 1934, the Sasshō-Südlinie ( 札 沼 南 線 , Sasshō-nan-sen ) was opened, which led from Sōen to Ishikari-Tōbetsu . The gap between Ishikari-Tōbetsu and Urausu took place on October 3, 1935, after which the line was called the Sasshō Line.

In order to support rationing measures during the Pacific War , the Ministry of Railways declared various branch lines as "non-urgent" and temporarily closed them. The rural part of the Sasshō Line was also affected by this measure: the rail traffic on the section between Ishikari-Tsukigata and Ishikari-Oiwake was stopped on October 1, 1943, and on July 21, 1944 between Ishikari-Tōbetsu and Ishikari-Tsukigata as well between Ishikari-Oiwake and Ishikari-Numata. The reopening dragged on over several years: Ishikari-Tōbetsu-Urausu on December 10, 1946, Urausu-Uryū on November 3, 1953 and Uryū-Ishikari-Numata on November 16, 1956. The use of mixed trains ended on June 1, 1957 .

The Japanese National Railways laid on 19 June 1972, the section between Shin-Totsukawa and Ishikari-Numata finally closed, taught instead a one bus line and built the route back later. On October 1, 1979, it stopped freight traffic on the remaining route. As part of the state railroad privatization , the Sasshō line went into the possession of the newly founded company JR Hokkaido on April 1, 1987 . Due to the strong growth of the northern districts of Sapporo and the adjacent suburbs, it began in October 1993 with the expansion of the suburban stretch. This included in particular the double-track expansion of the section between Hachiken and Ainosato-Kōen; In addition, the majority of it was moved to a viaduct, which meant that numerous level crossings in Sapporo could be repealed. The dual track sections went into operation as follows: Taihei – Shinoro on March 16, 1995, Shinoro – Ainosato-Kōen on March 22, 1997 and Hachiken – Taihei on March 11, 2000.

The groundbreaking ceremony for the electrification of the 28.9 km long section between Sōen and Hokkaidō-Iryōdaigaku took place on December 10, 2009 in Shinoro station. The work was completed in March 2012 and the first electric multiple unit ran on June 1, 2012. Finally, the last diesel multiple unit was withdrawn from the suburban part of the route on October 27, 2012. In November 2016, JR Hokkaido announced that it would shut down the barely used and highly deficit section between Hokkaidō-Iryōdaigaku and Shin-Totsukawa by 2019 at the latest. Implementation was delayed due to lengthy negotiations with the affected communities. JR Hokkaidō undertook to finance two bus routes. May 7, 2020 was agreed as the shutdown date. The state of emergency declared by the government in view of the COVID-19 pandemic meant that the last train ran on April 17th.

List of train stations

Section with rail traffic

Winter impressions

Diesel multiple unit type KiHa 40 in Shin-Totsukawa (April 2016)

Surname		km	Connecting lines	location	place
01	Sapporo ( 札幌 )	−1.6	Hakodate Main Line Chitose Line Subway Sapporo	Coord.	Chūō-ku , Sapporo
S02	Sōen ( 桑園 )	00.0	Hakodate main line	Coord.
G03	Hachiken ( 八 軒 )	02.2		Coord.	Nishi-ku , Sapporo
G04	Shinkawa ( 新 川 )	03.7		Coord.	Kita-ku , Sapporo
G05	Shin-Kotoni ( 新 琴 似 )	05.6		Coord.
G06	Taihei ( 太平 )	07.3		Coord.
G07	Yurigahara ( 百合 が 原 )	08.6		Coord.
G08	Shinoro ( 篠 路 )	10.2		Coord.
G09	Takuhoku ( 拓 北 )	12.2		Coord.
G10	Ainosato-Kyōikudai ( あ い の 里 教育 大 )	13.6		Coord.
G11	Ainosato-Kōen ( あ い の 里 公園 )	15.1		Coord.
G12	Ishikari-Futomi ( 石 狩 太 美 )	19.3		Coord.	Tōbetsu
G13	Ishikari-Tōbetsu ( 石 狩 当 別 )	25.9		Coord.
G14	Hokkaidō-Iryōdaigaku ( 北海道 医療 大学 )	28.9		Coord.

Disused section

Surname	km	Connecting lines	location	place
Ishikari-Kanazawa ( 石 狩 金 沢 )	31.1		Coord.	Tōbetsu
Moto-Nakagoya ( 本 中 小屋 )	35.6		Coord.
Nakagoya ( 中 小屋 )	38.8		Coord.
Tsukigaoka ( 月 ヶ 岡 )	41.6		Coord.	Tsukigata
Chiraiotsu ( 知 来 乙 )	44.2		Coord.
Ishikari-Tsukigata ( 石 狩 月形 )	46.3		Coord.
Toyogaoka ( 豊 ヶ 岡 )	51.0		Coord.
Sappinai ( 札 比 内 )	53.5		Coord.
Osokinai ( 晩 生 内 )	58.0		Coord.	Urausu
Satteki ( 札 的 )	60.9		Coord.
Urausu ( 浦 臼 )	62.7		Coord.
Tsurunuma ( 鶴 沼 )	66.1		Coord.
Osatsunai ( 於 札 内 )	67.9		Coord.
Minami-Shimotoppu ( 南下 徳 富 )	69.4		Coord.	Shintotsukawa
Shimotoppu ( 南下 徳 富 )	71.5		Coord.
Shin-Totsukawa ( 新 十津川 )	76.5	Rumoi main line	Coord.

Web links

Commons : Sasshō Line  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Kazuo Tanaka: 写真 で 見 る 北海道 の 鉄 道 (Hokkaidō's railroad in photos) . tape 1 . Hokkaidō Shinbunsha, Sapporo 2002, ISBN 978-4-89453-220-5 , pp. 130-131 .
2. ↑ Shigeru Sugiyama: 電 化 目前 の 学園 都市 線 と 専 用 気 動 車 の こ と . In: Japan Railfan Magazine . No. 615 . Kōyūsha, Nagoya May 2012, pp. 27 .
3. ↑ 学園 都市 線 電 化 カ ウ ン ト ダ ウ ン. Blog Hokkaido, May 30, 2012, accessed July 18, 2016 (Japanese). 
4. ↑ 札幌 圏 の 電車 運用 と 札 沼 線 用 気 動 車 の 去就 . In: Japan Railfan Magazine . No. 652 . Kōyūsha, Nagoya February 2013, p. 76-81 .
5. ↑ JR Hokkaido says it can't maintain half of its railways. The Japan Times , November 19, 2016, accessed January 16, 2017 . 
6. ↑ 札 沼 線 （北海道 医療 大学 ・ 新 十津川 間） の 鉄 道 事業 廃 止 届 の 提出 に つ い て. (PDF, 33 kB) JR Hokkaidō , December 21, 2018, archived from the original on December 22, 2018 ; Retrieved April 18, 2020 (Japanese). 
7. ↑ 札 沼 線 （北海道 医療 大学 ・ 新 十津川 間） 最終 運行 に つ い て. (PDF, 89 kB) JR Hokkaidō, April 16, 2020, accessed on April 18, 2020 (Japanese). 

 Map with all coordinates: OSM | WikiMap