Shibetsu line

Shibetsu line
Diesel multiple unit of the KiHa22 series in Nakashibetsu (1986)
Route length:	69.4 km + 47.5 km
Gauge :	1067 mm ( cape track )
Maximum slope :	25  ‰
Minimum radius :	300 m
Dual track :	No
Legend ↑ Shibecha Municipal Light Railroad ↔ Senmō main line 1927– 0.0 Shibecha ( 標 茶 ) 1927– ← Shibecha line ↓ Chanbetsu Line 2.7 Tawa ( 多 和 ) 1961-1989 12.7 Izumikawa ( 泉 川 ) 1944-1989 17.3 Kōshin ( 光 進 ) 1962-1989 → Nijibetsu Line 22.5 Nishi-Shumbetsu ( 西 春 別 ) 1936-1989 ← Nishibetsu Line 27.7 Kami-Shumbetsu ( 光 進 ) 1963-1989 ← Shibecha line → Yōrōushi line 31.9 Kenebetsu ( 計 根 別 ) 1936-1989 36.1 Kaiei ( 開 栄 ) 1961-1989 40.7 Tōhoro ( 当 幌 ) 1937-1989 47.1 0.0 * Nakashibetsu ( 中標 津 ) 1914-1989 Shibetsu Military Air Base 52.6 Avoid Higashi Shibetsu → Nemuro Line 55.2 Kami-Musa ( 上 武 佐 ) 1937-1989 → Chūrui lineage 60.1 Kawakita ( 川北 ) 1937-1989 69.4 Nemuro Shibetsu ( 根 室 標 津 ) 1937-1989 5.4 Kyōwa ( 協和 ) 1957-1989 ← Harubetsu Line 12.1 Shumbetsu ( 春 別 ) 1934-1989 18.2 Hiraito ( 平 糸 ) 1961-1989 ← Nishibetsu Line 23.7 Bekkai ( 別 海 ) 1933-1989 36.0 Okuyukiusu ( 奥 行 臼 ) 1933-1989 ← Hachisu lineage ← ↓ Nemuro main line 1919– 47.5 Attoko ( 厚 床 ) 1919–

The Shibetsu Line ( Japanese 標 津 線 , Shibetsu-sen ) was a railway line in the east of the Japanese island of Hokkaidō . It was opened from 1933 to 1937 and was in operation until 1989.

description

The Shibetsu Line consisted of a 69.4 km long main line and a 47.5 km long branch line. Both were Cape gauge , single-track and not electrified. A total of 19 train stations and stops were developed.

In Shibecha, the Shibetsu line branches off from the Senmō main line and then led in a north-easterly direction through the gently sloping consensus plain , the most striking feature of which is the latticed protective forests. It reached Nakashibetsu in the center of the plain and branched out there. The main route went on the northeast and ended in Nemuro-Shibetsu on the coast of the Pacific Ocean belonging Nemuro Strait . The branch line ran in a south-easterly direction along the shores of Lake Fūren to Attoko , where it met the Nemuro main line . A dozen small railways were connected to the Shibetsu line and mainly served agricultural purposes.

history

Under the supervision of the Ministry of the Interior , the horse-drawn Shibecha small train with a gauge of 762 mm was built to develop the consensus level . The first stage opened on December 12, 1930. After the commissioning of the last stage on October 20, 1932, the small railway reached from Shibecha over a distance of 39.0 km to Kenebetsu. Due to the rapidly growing amount of agricultural products, it soon reached its capacity limit. In several petitions, the farmers in the region demanded their replacement with a full-fledged railway line and were ultimately successful. The small railway was shut down in two stages on July 11 and September 4, 1936.

The Ministry of Railways began to build the Cape-gauge Shibetsu line to replace the small railroad. It took the first section between Attoko and Bekkai (23.8 km) into operation on December 1, 1933 , followed by the 23.7 km section between Bekkai and Nakashibetsu on October 1, 1934. The section opened on October 29, 1936 between Shibecha and Kenebetsu (31.9 km) replaced the previous small train, with the new route being around six kilometers shorter. The conclusion was the opening of the 37.5 km long section from Kenebetsu via Nakashibetsu to Nemuro-Shibetsu on October 30, 1937.

With the construction of the Nakashibetsu Air Force Base (later Nakashibetsu Airport ) and other military installations in its vicinity, the Shibetsu line experienced an upswing, which began to wane again in the mid-1960s, as the now well-developed road network facilitated mass motorization . The two-day express train pair between Nemuro-Shibetsu and Kushiro, introduced in 1962, was unable to change this. The Japanese State Railways had also planned to continue the railway line beyond Nemuro-Shibetsu in the direction of the Shiretoko Peninsula and to link it with the Konpoku line to Shiretoko-Shari, which opened in 1957, but finally abandoned this project in 1970.

After rail buses were introduced in passenger transport in the mid-1950s , the last freight train pulled by a steam locomotive ran on April 24, 1975. For cost reasons, the state railway stopped freight traffic between Nakashibetsu and Nemuro-Shibetsu on April 30, 1980, and on February 1, 1984 also on the rest of the route. The express train service ended on November 1, 1986. As part of the state railroad privatization , the Shibetsu line went into the possession of JR Hokkaido on April 1, 1987 . This was completely shut down on April 30, 1989. It was replaced by bus lines operated by Akan Bus and Nemuro Kōtsū .

List of train stations

former Nishi-Shumbetsu station (July 2009)

Surname	km	Connecting lines	location	place
Main line
Shibecha ( 標 茶 )	00.0	Senmō main line	Coord.	Shibecha
Tawa ( 多 和 )	02.7		Coord.
Izumikawa ( 泉 川 )	12.7		Coord.	Betsukai
Kōshin ( 光 進 )	17.3		Coord.
Nishi-Shumbetsu ( 西 春 別 )	22.5		Coord.
Kami-Shumbetsu ( 上 春 別 )	27.7		Coord.
Kenebetsu ( 計 根 別 )	31.9		Coord.	Nakashibetsu
Kaiei ( 開 栄 )	36.1		Coord.
Tōhoro ( 当 幌 )	40.7		Coord.
Nakashibetsu ( 中標 津 )	47.1		Coord.
Kami-Musa ( 上 武 佐 )	55.2		Coord.
Kawakita ( 川北 )	60.1		Coord.	Shibetsu
Nemuro Shibetsu ( 根 室 標 津 )	69.4		Coord.
Branch line
Nakashibetsu ( 中標 津 )	00.0			Nakashibetsu
Kyōwa ( 協和 )	05.4		Coord.
Shumbetsu ( 春 別 )	12.1		Coord.	Betsukai
Hiraito ( 平 糸 )	18.2		Coord.
Bekkai ( 別 海 )	23.7		Coord.
Okuyukiusu ( 奥 行 臼 )	36.0		Coord.
Attoko ( 厚 床 )	47.5	Nemuro main line	Coord.	Nemuro

Web links

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

Individual evidence

1. ↑ 標 茶 (し べ ち ゃ) 線 (I) . 簡易 軌道 歴 史館 , March 7, 2000, accessed July 28, 2017 (Japanese). 
2. ↑ ^{a b} Keisuke Imao: 日本 鉄 道 旅行 地 図 帳 (Japan Rail Travel Atlas ) . tape 1 Hokkaidō. Shinchosha, Tokyo 2008, ISBN 978-4-10-790019-7 , pp. 44 .
3. ↑ ^{a b} Keisuke Imao, Takeshi Hara (ed.): 日本 鉄 道 旅行 歴 史 地 図 帳 (Historical Rail Travel Atlas Japan) . tape 1 Hokkaidō. Shinchosha, Tokyo 2010, ISBN 978-4-10-790035-7 , pp. 48 .
4. ↑ Keisuke Imao: 日本 鉄 道 旅行 地 図 帳. P. 43.
5. ↑ Shunzō Miyawaki: 鉄 道 廃 線 跡 を 歩 く (hiking along disused railway lines) . tape 4 . JTB Publishing, Tokyo 1997, ISBN 978-4-533-02857-1 , pp. 200 .

 Map with all coordinates: OSM | WikiMap