The is a 6.8 km

railway line Rail terminology is a form of technical terminology. The difference between the American term ''railroad'' and the international term ''railway'' (used by the International Union of Railways and English-speaking countries outside the United Sta ...

owned by the

Heisei Chikuhō Railway The is a third-sector operator of four railway lines in Fukuoka Prefecture, 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 Y ...

. The line runs north from Tagawa to Kanada Station, all within

Fukuoka Prefecture is a 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 km2 (1,925 sq mi). Fukuoka Prefecture borders Saga Prefecture to the southwest, Kumamo ...

History

The Itoda Line was built in two parts. The first part was built in 1897 as a branch line by the , a third-sector railway to transport coal from the Chikuhō Coal Mine. It ran north from Gotōji Station (now

Tagawa-Gotōji Station is a railway station in Tagawa, Fukuoka, Japan, operated by Kyushu Railway Company (JR Kyushu) and Heisei Chikuho Railway. Lines Tagawa-Gotōji Station is served by the Hitahikosan Line, Gotōji Line and Heisei Chikuho Railway Itoda Line. Adja ...

) to Miyatoko Station (now

Itoda Station is a railway station in Itoda, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea ...

). Hōshū Railway was acquired by

Kyushu Railway was a company that built and operated railways in Kyushu, one of four main islands of Japan. Most of its lines came under the control of Japanese Government Railways following nationalization in 1907, and many are now operated by Kyushu Railway C ...

in 1901, which was then nationalized in 1907 into

Japanese Government Railways The Japanese Government Railways (JGR) was the national railway system directly operated by the Japanese Ministry of Railways ( ja, 鉄道省, Tetsudō-shō, ) until 1949. It was a predecessor of Japanese National Railways and the later Japan Rai ...

(JGR) under the Railway Nationalization Act. After being nationalized, the line was known as the . In 1927, another third-sector railway company, , built the section between Miyatoko and Kanada Station. Within the same year, the line was transferred to the , who then changed their name to in 1933. The line was sold in 1943 during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

to JGR, who operated the entire line as the Itoda Line. With the privatization of the

Japanese National Railways The abbreviated JNR or , was the business entity that operated Japan's national railway network from 1949 to 1987. Network Railways As of June 1, 1949, the date of establishment of JNR, it operated of narrow gauge () railways in all 46 pref ...

(successor of the JGR) in 1987, the Itoda Line fell under the control of

Kyushu Railway Company 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 S ...

(JR Kyushu). Then, in 1989, the Itoda Line was transferred to the

, along with the Ita Line and Tagawa Line.

Operations

The line is not

electrified Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source. The broad meaning of the term, such as in the history of technology, economic histor ...

and is single-tracked for the entire line. There is generally an hourly service in each direction. All trains run as local services and stop at all stations. A few services continue past Kanada Station on the Ita Line to

Nōgata Station is a railway station on the Chikuhō Main Line operated by JR Kyushu in Nōgata, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The station also hosts the northern terminus of the Heisei Chikuho Railway Ita Line. Lines The station is served by the Chikuhō Main ...

Stations

All stations are within

References

{{Specified local lines, state=collapsed Railway lines in Japan Rail transport in Fukuoka Prefecture Railway lines opened in 1897 Japanese third-sector railway lines