The is a railway line in

Hokkaido is Japan, Japan's Japanese archipelago, second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost Prefectures of Japan, prefecture, making up its own List of regions of Japan, region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; th ...

, Japan, operated by

Hokkaido Railway Company The is one of the constituent companies of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group), and is often referred to using its official abbreviation of . It operates intercity and local rail services in Hokkaido, Japan. The company introduced Kitaca, a sm ...

(JR Hokkaido), between

Tomakomai Station is a railway station in Tomakomai, Hokkaido, Japan, operated by the Hokkaido Railway Company (JR Hokkaido). Lines Tomakomai Station is served by the following lines. * Muroran Main Line ** Chitose Line * Hidaka Main Line The is a railway ...

Tomakomai is a city and port in Iburi Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. It is the largest city in the Iburi Subprefecture, and the fourth largest city in Hokkaido. As of 29 February 2012, it had an estimated population of 174,216, with 83,836 households ...

and Samani Station in

Samani Germinated wheat ( fa, جوانه‌ گندم) or sprouted wheat, wheat sprout is a product of germinating wheat seeds in a wet and relatively warm environment in a process called sprouting. It is sometimes used instead of barley in the form of ma ...

, running along the coast of Hidaka Subprefecture. Services on the 116.0 km (72.1 mi) section of the line beyond

Mukawa Station is a railway station on the Hidaka Main Line in Mukawa, Hokkaido, Japan, operated by the Hokkaido Railway Company (JR Hokkaido). Services on the section of the line between Mukawa and have been suspended indefinitely since January 2015 due t ...

were suspended indefinitely since January 2015 due to storm damage. This section was closed on 1 April 2021 and replaced by a bus service. The closure of this section made the line the shortest in Japan to be classified as a 'main line', at just 30.5 km (19.0 mi), beating the

Rumoi Main Line The is a Japanese railway line in Hokkaido operated by Hokkaido Railway Company (JR Hokkaido) which connects Fukagawa Station in Fukagawa and Rumoi Station in Rumoi. Until the section of the Hidaka Main Line from to was closed on 1 April 2 ...

's length of 50.1 km (31.1 mi), which was previously the shortest.

Services

Hidaka Main Line at Hidaka-Mombetsu coast

All regular trains are local trains, which stop at all stations, except Hama-Taura that may be skipped by some trains.

Stations

History

The first section was opened in October 1913 by the , operating between and (present-day ). The section between Sarufuto and was operated by the . Both lines were

light railway A light railway is a railway built at lower costs and to lower standards than typical "heavy rail": it uses lighter-weight track, and may have more steep gradients and tight curves to reduce civil engineering costs. These lighter standards allow ...

s with a

track gauge In rail transport, track gauge (in American English, alternatively track gage) is the distance between the two rails of a railway track. All vehicles on a rail network must have wheelsets that are compatible with the track gauge. Since many ...

of . The lines were nationalized on 1 August 1927, and merged into one, becoming the Hidaka Line. The track gauge was widened to between Tomakomai and Sarufuto on 26 November 1929, and between Sarafuto and Shizunai on 10 November 1931. The line was extended from Shizunai to on 15 December 1933, to on 24 October 1935, and to Samani on 10 August 1937. With the privatization of

JNR 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 ...

on 1 April 1987, the line came under the control of

JR Hokkaido The is one of the constituent companies of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group), and is often referred to using its official abbreviation of . It operates intercity and local rail services in Hokkaido, Japan. The company introduced Kitaca, a sm ...

Service suspension

Following storm damage between Atsuga and Ōkaribe stations on 8 January 2015, rail services had been suspended on the 116.0 km (72.1 mi) section beyond Mukawa station, with buses providing a substitute service. Further damage was caused to the line by Typhoon 17 on 12 September 2015, and no date had been set for the resumption of rail services beyond Mukawa. In December 2016, JR Hokkaido announced that it had abandoned plans to reopen the suspended section of the line, and was in discussion with the local governments involved. Due to low ridership and very high maintenance costs, including coastal defences between Atsuga and Ōkaribe, JR Hokkaido held several meetings and conferences with the 7 towns along the suspended segment of the line, suggesting that repair of the line be abandoned and replaced by a bus service. In November 2019, 6 out of the 7 towns agreed that the damaged section be replaced by a bus service. However, the town of

Urakawa is a town located in Hidaka Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. As of September 2016, the town has an estimated population of 12,800 and a density of 18 persons per km2. The total area is 694.24 km2. Climate Urakawa has a humid continental cl ...

still strongly requested for the whole line to be repaired; Urakawa's mayor reasoned that it would still take a while for the 'developing'

Hidaka Expressway The is a partially tolled expressway in Iburi Subprefecture and Hidaka Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. The expressway connects Hidaka to the Dō-Ō Expressway. It is owned and operated by partially by the East Nippon Expressway Company and th ...

to reach the town, therefore it being necessary for the line to remain in service. In September 2020, after 5 years of various meetings and discussions, many of which involved extensive arguments and disagreements, all 7 towns eventually came to the decision, along with JR Hokkaido, that the damaged section be abandoned and replaced with a bus service. The 116.0 km (72.1 mi) section was formally closed on 1 April 2021.

References

External links