Utashinai line

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Utashinai line
KiHa40 diesel railcar in Utashinai (1986)
KiHa40 diesel railcar in Utashinai (1986)
Route length: 14.5 km
Gauge : 1067 mm ( cape track )
Dual track : No
Legend
   
 ↔ Hakodate main line 1891–
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0.0 Sunagawa ( 砂 川 ) 1891–
   
 3.9 Yakeyama ( 焼 山 ) 1961-1988
   
 8.3 Monju ( 文 珠 ) 1946-1988
   
 9.6 Nishiuta ( 西 歌 ) 1961-1988
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Utashinai coal mine
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Kitasumishini coal mine
   
 11.8 Kamoi ( 神威 ) 1896-1988
   
 13.4 Kashin ( 歌 神 ) 1960-1988
   
 14.5 Utashinai ( 歌 志 内 ) 1891-1988
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Utashinai coal mine
   
 Sorachi coal mine

The Utashinai Line ( Japanese 歌 志 内線 , Utashinai-sen ) was a railway line in the center of the Japanese island of Hokkaidō . It was opened in 1891 and was in operation until 1988.

description

The 14.5 km long Utashinai Line was Cape-gauge , single-track and not electrified. It branched off the Hakodate Main Line at Sunagawa Station . Then it led in an easterly direction through the narrow river valley of the Penkeutashinai-gawa to Utashinai . Most of the route between Yakeyama and Utashinai is now used as a bike path .

history

The private mining and railway company Hokkaidō Tankō Tetsudō opened the Utashinai line on July 5, 1891 along its entire length. Their main task was to transport hard coal from the mines in the Penkeutashinai Valley east of Sunagawa . At first there was not a single stopover, the first (Kamoi) was added five years later and remained the only one for five decades. On October 1, 1906, the line was sold to the state on the basis of the Railway Nationalization Act passed by Parliament . The Railway Authority (later the Ministry of Railways ) gave it the official name Utashinai Line on October 12, 1909, after it had previously been considered a branch of the Hakodate Main Line .

In the early 1960s, the Japanese State Railways (JNR) established three new stops. Due to the gradual decline in coal mining, the Utashinai Line has experienced a steady decline in utilization. In the JNR redevelopment concept published in 1984, it was noted as a line to be closed, but remained in place after the privatization of the state railway on April 1, 1987 - albeit only for a short time. JR Hokkaido carried out the passenger traffic, while JR Freight took over the heavily declined freight traffic. Finally, the Utashinai line was shut down on April 25, 1988 and replaced by a bus line of the company Hokkaidō Chūō Bus .

List of train stations

Surname km Connecting lines location place
Sunagawa ( 砂 川 ) 00.0 Hakodate main line Coord. Sunagawa
Yakeyama ( 焼 山 ) 03.9 Coord.
Monju ( 文 珠 ) 08.3 Coord. Utashinai
Nishiuta ( 西 歌 ) 09.6 Coord.
Kamoi ( 神威 ) 11.8 Coord.
Kashin ( 歌 神 ) 13.4 Coord.
Utashinai ( 歌 志 内 ) 14.5 Coord.

Web links

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

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Tetsu Ishino (Ed.): 停車場 変 遷 大 辞典 国 鉄 ・ JR 編 (station change directory JNR / JR) . JTB, Tokyo 1998, ISBN 4-533-02980-9 .
  2. ↑ JNR General Directorate Hokkaidō (ed.): 北海道 鉄 道 百年 史 (100 years of Hokkaidō railway history). Sapporo 1980.
  3. ↑ 歌 志 内線 96 年 の 歴 史 閉 じ る. Hokkaidō Shimbun, April 25, 1987.