The is a third-sector operator of four railway lines in

Fukuoka Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Fukuoka Prefecture has a population of 5,109,323 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,986 Square kilometre, km2 (1,925 sq mi). Fukuoka Prefecture borders S ...

, Japan. The railway's nickname is ''Heichiku.''

Principal investors

Fukuoka Prefecture holds 27.5% of the stock in the railway. The cities of Tagawa, Nōgata, and Yukuhashi hold 14.8%, 6.6%, and 6.6% each.

Lines

Ita Line The is a 16.1 km railway line owned by the third-sector company Heisei Chikuhō Railway. The line runs north from Tagawa to Nōgata, all within Fukuoka Prefecture. History The line was first built by the Chikuhō Kōgyō Railway, later ...

(16.1 km) - The Nogata to Kaneda section opened in 1893, and the Kaneda to Tagawa-Ita section in 1899. The line was double-tracked in 1911, and freight services ceased in 2004. *

Itoda Line The is a 6.8 km railway line owned by the Heisei Chikuhō Railway. The line runs north from Tagawa to Kanada Station, all within Fukuoka Prefecture. History The Itoda Line was built in two parts. The first part was built in 1897 as a bran ...

(6.8 km) - The Tagawa-Gotoji to Itoda section opened in 1897 to haul coal and the Itoda to Kaneda section opened in 1929 to service a cement plant. *

Tagawa Line The is a 26.3 km railway line owned by the Heisei Chikuhō Railway. The line runs west along the Ima River from Yukuhashi to Tagawa, all within Fukuoka Prefecture. History The line was first built in 1895 by the , which was merged in 190 ...

(26.3 km) - The entire Tagawa-Ita to Yukuhashi line opened in 1895. * Mojikō Retro Kankō Line (2.1 km) - The Mojiko to Moji Harbour line opened in 1929, and freight services ceased in 2004. Despite a significant landslide in 2006, the line was reopened as a tourist line in 2009. The Mojikō Retro Kankō Line is classified as a under the Railway Business Act of Japan as it does not purport to transport daily passengers or freight. Heisei Chikuhō Railway operates trains as Category 2 operator (as defined in the Act, see "

Rail transport in Japan Rail transport in Japan is a major means of passenger transport, especially for mass and high-speed travel between major cities and for commuter transport in urban areas. It is used relatively little for freight transport, accounting for ju ...

" for details) on the track owned by the city of Kitakyūshū as Category 3 operator.

Rolling stock

, the railway operates a fleet of 12 single-car 400 series diesel railcars (numbered 401 to 412) and one 500 series diesel railcar (numbered 501). File:Heichiku 401.jpg, 400 series DMU car 401 in August 2007 File:Heisei Chikuho 401-402 COTO COTO Train 20201009.jpg, 400 type diesel train 401 + 402 "

Coto Coto Train The Coto Coto Train is a touristic train service in the Fukuoka Prefecture region of Kyushu, southern Japan. The service started in 2019. The train is run by the Heisei Chikuhō Railway Company. It was designed by Eiji Mitooka and is based on ...

" File:Heichiku 501.jpg, 500 series DMU car 501 in March 2008 File:Heisei chikuho railway kiha 2004.jpg, Former Hitachinaka Seaside Railway KiHa 2004 in December 2016 In 2016, the railway purchased former KiHa 2000 series diesel rail car KiHa 2004 from the

Hitachinaka Seaside Railway 250px, Hitachinaka city hall is a city located in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 154,663 in 64,900 households and a population density of 1547 persons per km2. The percentage of the population aged over 65 w ...

Ibaraki Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Ibaraki Prefecture has a population of 2,871,199 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Ibaraki Prefecture borders Fukushima Prefecture to the north, Tochigi Prefecture ...

, which was withdrawn from service in December 2015. In 2019, the

started as a new touristic service in the

Former rolling stock

File:HCR DMU 106.jpg, 100 series DMU car 106 in December 2007 File:Heisei Chikuho DMU 202.jpg, 200 series DMU car in December 2007 File:Heichiku 304.jpg, 300 series DMU car 304 in March 2008 The former 300 series DMU cars operated by the railway were withdrawn December 2010. Car 303 was shipped to

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

, and car 304 is retained in operating condition for use on special driving days by members of the general public.

History

The company was founded on April 26, 1989. On October 1, 1989 it assumed the operations of its three lines, which were formerly part of the

JR Kyushu The , also referred to as , is one of the seven constituent companies of Japan Railways Group (JR Group). It operates intercity rail services within Kyushu, Japan and the JR Kyushu Jet Ferry Beetle hydrofoil service across the Tsushima St ...

network. On April 26, 2009 the company started the operation of the Mojikō Retro Kankō Line, a short railway for tourists in Moji-ku, Kitakyūshū.

References

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

External links

Heichiku Net
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heisei Chikuho Railway Railway companies of Japan Japanese third-sector railway lines 1989 establishments in Japan