Shinmei line
| Shinmei line | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Diesel multiple unit type KiHa 53 in Shumarinai (February 1994)
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Route length: | 121.8 km | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gauge : | 1067 mm ( cape track ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Maximum slope : | 25 ‰ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Minimum radius : | 250 m | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dual track : | No | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Shinmei Line ( Japanese 深 名 線 , Shinmei-sen ) was a railway line in the north of the Japanese island of Hokkaidō . It was opened between 1924 and 1941 and was in operation until 1995.
description
The 121.8 km long Shimei Line connected the cities of Fukagawa and Nayoro in the north of Hokkaidō . It was Cape gauge , single-track and not electrified. It formed an alternative route leading through a very sparsely populated area to the Hakodate main line and the Sōya main line . A total of 28 train stations and demand stops were developed.
In Fukagawa station, the Shinmei line branched off in a northerly direction from the Hakodate main line and reached the Uryū-gawa valley after the Tadoshi tunnel. Between Takadomari and Numaushi, the 772 m long Horokanai tunnel crossed a range of hills, as the river there extends far to the west. From Horokanai, the route again largely ran along the river and crossed it several times. At Kohan she reached the Shuraminai reservoir , the only reservoir in Hokkaidō. It circled this on its west and north side, while it crossed the 1005 m long 2nd Uryū tunnel. Through the 1530 m long Meiame Tunnel, she finally reached the Teshio Valley and came across the Sōya main line in Nayoro station .
history
In 1911, the residents of Horokanai petitioned for the first time for a railway line in the Uryū Valley, and five years later a support committee was formed. There was great potential for forestry and hydropower generation ; in addition, minable platinum deposits were suspected in the region . For these reasons, the government supported the project and in 1918 instructed the Ministry of Railways to start planning. Construction work began four years later.
The first section of the Uryū Line ( 雨 龍 線 , Uryū-sen ) from Fukagawa to Tadoshi was opened on October 25, 1924, and Takadomari was reached on November 10, 1926. Due to geological difficulties in the construction of the Horokanai tunnel, the opening of the following section to Horokanai was delayed by a whole year and did not take place until November 8, 1929. The next section to Soeushinai was added on September 15, 1931. Four weeks later, on October 10, 1931, it was renamed the Horokanai line ( 幌 加 内線 , Horokanai-sen ). On October 25, 1932, it reached Shumarinai.
In 1935 construction began on the Meiu Line ( 名 雨 線 , Meiu-sen ), a connection between the Sōya main line and the Horokanai line. The first short section between Nayoro and Teshio-Yayoi was in operation from November 10, 1937. From 1938, the Horokanai Line played an important role in the construction of the Uryū Dam and the hydroelectric power station connected to it. Before the reservoir was flooded, the forests below what would later be the lake level were cleared and the wood was transported by rail. Thousands of Korean forced laborers were used in this work under inhumane conditions.
On October 10, 1941, the missing section of the Meiu Line between Shumarinai and Teshio-Yayoi was opened. It was merged with the Horokanai Lineage to form the Shinmei Lineage on the same day. In the post-war period, the Shuraminai reservoir developed into a tourist destination and forestry continued to be of great importance. From April 1, 1955, the Japanese State Railways began using diesel rail buses for passenger transport , but replaced them with railcars three years later due to high demand . In 1955 and 1956 it opened several new stops.
The 1960s saw a massive decline in population: while in 1960 there were 12,000 inhabitants in the Horokanai community, 30 years later the figure was less than a quarter. The mass motorization favored by better roads and a crisis in the forestry sector led to a constant decline in passenger numbers and goods volumes. In 1962 the construction of a branch line from Shumarinai began, but the work progressed slowly and was stopped in 1970. In 1968 the state railway considered closing the Shinmei line for the first time, which provoked protests from the residents.
The last freight train pulled by a steam locomotive ran in February 1975, and on November 1, 1982, the state railway stopped the unprofitable freight transport entirely. The cost recovery rate of the Shinmei line was one of the lowest in all of Japan, which is why the state railroad strove to shut down the line as soon as possible. Based on the law for the restructuring of the state railway finances passed in 1980, the state railway submitted a corresponding application in November 1982. The Ministry of Transport rejected it because there was no thoroughfare on which a bus replacement service could have been carried out. On April 1, 1987, the Shinmei Line became the property of JR Hokkaido as part of the privatization of the state railway .
In 1990, JR Hokkaido closed five particularly low-traffic stations to save money. In the early 1990s, only around 100 passengers were using the Shinmei line every day. The situation had become so untenable that JR Hokkaido pushed for an shutdown. After three months of negotiations with the affected communities, the company agreed in March 1995 to operate the bus in the Uryū Valley itself and to offer a more dense timetable than before. No other company had been interested. The shutdown finally took place on September 4, 1995.
List of train stations
| Surname | km | Connecting lines | location | place |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fukagawa ( 深 川 ) | 0.0 |
Hakodate main line Rumoi main line |
Coord. | Fukagawa |
| Maruyama ( 円 山 ) | 4.7 | Coord. | ||
| Kami-Tadoshi ( 上 多 度 志 ) | 10.8 | Coord. | ||
| Tadoshi ( 多 度 志 ) | 14.0 | Coord. | ||
| Uma ( 宇 摩 ) | 19.4 | Coord. | ||
| Horonari ( 幌 成 ) | 22.3 | Coord. | ||
| Shimo-Horonari ( 下 幌 成 ) | 24.1 | Coord. | ||
| Takadomari ( 鷹 泊 ) | 27.3 | Coord. | ||
| Numaushi ( 沼 牛 ) | 37.9 | Coord. | Horokanai | |
| Shin-Nariu ( 新 成 生 ) | 39.9 | Coord. | ||
| Horokanai ( 幌 加 内 ) | 43.7 | Coord. | ||
| Kami-Horokanai ( 上 幌 加 内 ) | 46.8 | Coord. | ||
| Uembetsu ( 雨 煙 別 ) | 51.1 | Coord. | ||
| Seiwa Onsen ( 政和 温泉 ) | 56.2 | Coord. | ||
| Seiwa ( 政和 ) | 58.7 | Coord. | ||
| Shintomi ( 新 富 ) | 64.2 | Coord. | ||
| Soeushinai ( 添 牛 内 ) | 68.6 | Coord. | ||
| Omagari ( 大曲 ) | 72.2 | Coord. | ||
| Kyōei ( 共 栄 ) | 75.5 | Coord. | ||
| Shumarinai ( 朱 鞠 内 ) | 78.8 | Coord. | ||
| Kohan ( 湖畔 ) | 80.7 | Coord. | ||
| Utsunai ( 宇 津 内 ) | 85.0 | Coord. | ||
| Fukinodai ( 蕗 ノ 台 ) | 89.5 | Coord. | ||
| Shirakaba ( 白樺 ) | 93.6 | Coord. | ||
| Kita-Moshiri ( 北 母子 里 ) | 99.0 | Coord. | ||
| Teshio-Yayoi ( 天 塩 弥 生 ) | 114.6 | Coord. | Nayoro | |
| Nishi-Nayoro ( 西 名 寄 ) | 117.8 | Coord. | ||
| Nayoro ( 名 寄 ) | 121.8 | Sōya main line | Coord. |
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Eiichi Aoki: 特定 地方 交通線 の 実 態 と 問題 を 現 地 に 見 る: 10 深 名 線 . In: Railway Journal . No. 183 . Seibido Shuppan, Tokyo 1982, p. 122-131 .
- ↑ a b c Fumihiko Suzuki: 存亡 の 淵 に 立 つ 深 名 線 . In: Railway Journal . No. 330 . Seibido Shuppan, Tokyo 1994, p. 68-77 .
- ↑ a b c d 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. 252-253 .
- ^ Michael Lewis: 'History Wars' and Reconciliation in Japan and Korea . tape 1 . Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke 2016, ISBN 978-1-137-54102-4 , pp. 23 .
- ↑ Fumihiko Suzuki: 深 名 線 転 換 バ ス 発 進！ In: Railway Journal . No. 350 . Seibido Shuppan, Tokyo 1995, p. 87-89 .
Map with all coordinates: .svg){kind=logo}
Current lines: Hokkaidō-Shinkansen | Chitose line | Furano line | Hakodate main line | Hidaka main line | Kaikyō Line | Muroran main line | Nemuro main line | Rumoi main line | Sasshō Line | Sekihoku main line | Sekishō Line | Senmō main line | Sōya main line
Released Lines: Chihoku Line | Esashi line
Disused Lines: Horonai Line | Kamisunagawa branch line | Matsumae line | Nayoro main line | Shibetsu line | Shinmei line | Tenpoku Line | Utashinai line