The is a local railway line in Japan, operated by the

East Japan Railway Company The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and the largest of the seven Japan Railways Group companies. The company name is officially abbreviated as JR-EAST or JR East in English, and as in Japanese. The company's headquarters are in ...

(JR East). It connected

Maeyachi Station is a junction railway station located in the city of Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan, operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East). Lines Maeyachi Station is served by both the Kesennuma Line and the Ishinomaki Line. It is the souther ...

in the city of

Ishinomaki, Miyagi is a city located in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. , the city has an estimated population of 138,538, and a population density of 250 persons per km2 in 61,919 households. The total area of the city is . Geography Ishinomaki is in northeastern Miya ...

to Kesennuma Station in the city of

Kesennuma is a city in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 59,803 and a population density of in 26,390 households. The total area of the city is . Large sections of the city were destroyed by the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake an ...

, Miyagi. The route links the north-eastern coast of

Miyagi Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. Miyagi Prefecture has a population of 2,265,724 (1 August 2023) and has a geographic area of . Miyagi Prefecture borders Iwate Prefecture to the north, Akit ...

, with the

Ishinomaki Line The is a railway line in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan, operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It connects Kogota Station in Misato, Miyagi, Misato with Onagawa Station in Onagawa, Miyagi, Onagawa, acting as a spur line from the Tōhoku M ...

(and the Tohoku Main Line a few stops farther) available for transfer in the south, and the

Ōfunato Line The is a local railway line in Iwate Prefecture, Japan, operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It originally connected Ichinoseki Station in Ichinoseki to Sakari Station in Ōfunato, Iwate, Ōfunato, on the Tohoku coast. The eas ...

in the north. A large section of the railway infrastructure between Minami-Kesennuma Station and Rikuzen-Togura Station, including tracks, stations, and railway bridges, were badly damaged or destroyed by the

2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami On 11 March 2011, at 14:46:24 Japan Standard Time, JST (05:46:24 UTC), a 9.0–9.1 Submarine earthquake, undersea megathrust earthquake occurred in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region. It lasted approx ...

. Destroyed stations include Minami-Kesennuma (except for the platform) and Shizugawa Station, as well as various others. As a result of the catastrophic damage to the line and prohibitive costs of restoration as a railway, JR East officially proposed the line's conversion into a dedicated bus rapid transit (BRT) route on 27 December 2011. At present only the Maeyachi to Yanaizu section is operated as a railway, with services on the balance of the route provided by buses. An autonomous driving system has been being tested on the BRT line since 2018 and has been fully implemented since 5 December 2022.

Service

Although the Kesennuma Line's south end is Maeyachi, its operational south end should be considered

Kogota Station is a junction railway station in the town of Misato, Miyagi, Japan, operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East). Lines Kogota Station is served by three lines: the Tōhoku Main Line, the Ishinomaki Line, and the Rikuu East Line. It is loca ...

in Misato, as the majority of Kesennuma Line trains either have Kogota as their south terminus or go through it on the way to Sendai. Trains going this far also stop at Kami-Wakuya (local only) and Wakuya Stations in

Wakuya, Miyagi is a towns of Japan, town located in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 15,763 in 6028 households, and a population density of 190 persons per km2. The total area of the town is . The area is noted for its rice p ...

on the

. file:JRE DC110 100.jpg, KiHa 110 series diesel multiple unit file:JR-East-Kesennuma-line-BRT-2220.jpg,

Hino Blue Ribbon City The Hino Blue Ribbon (kana:日野・ブルーリボン) is a heavy-duty single-decker bus produced by Hino Motors through the J-Bus joint-venture. The range is primarily available as city bus and tourist coach. It is built by J-Bus as either a ...

bus used on the Kesennuma BRT

Station list

Greyed-out stations have been closed since the

, and operate only as bus stops for the JR East

BRT BRT may refer to: Businesses and organizations * Bayrak Radio Television, a Turkish Cypriot broadcaster * Belgische Radio- en Televisieomroep (now ''VRT''), a Flemish broadcaster * Business Research and Training Center (BR&T), Ho Chi Minh Cit ...

route.

History

*April 11, 1956: Ōfunato Line begins operation as a freight line between Kesennuma and Kesennuma-Minato stations *February 11, 1957: Kesennuma Line operates as a passenger line between Minami-Kesennuma and Motoyoshi stations. Ōfunato Freight Line is merged into the Kesennuma Line. Kesennuma to Minami-Kesennuma is open to the public. Minami-Kesennuma, Matsuiwa, Rikuzen-Hashikami, Ōya, Oganezawa, Motoyoshi stations begin operation *November 10, 1960: Fudōnosawa station begins operation *July 20, 1967: Saichi station begins operation *October 24, 1968: Yanaizu Line begins operation between Maeyachi and Yanaizu stations. Wabuchi, Nonodake, Rikuzen-Toyosato, Mitakedō, and Yanaizu stations begin operation *December 11, 1977: Kesennuma Line connects Motoyoshi and Yanaizu stations. Rikuzen-Yokoyama, Rikuzen-Togura, Shizugawa, Shizuhama, Utatsu, Rikuzen-Minato, Kurauchi and Rikuzen-Koizumi stations begin operation. The freight line between Motoyoshi and Minami-Kesennuma is abolished. Kesennuma Line merges with the Yanaizu Line and runs from Maeyachi to Kesennuma. The freight line runs from Minami-Kesennuma to Kesennuma-Minato. *November 1, 1979: The remaining freight line is abolished and Kesennuma-Minato station ceases operation. *April 1, 1987: Kesennuma Line becomes part of JR East. *March 22, 1997: Ōya station is renamed Ōya-Kaigan station *March 11, 2011: Line closed following major damage in

. *April 29, 2011: Rail service restored on Maeyachi - Yanaizu segment. *May 7, 2012: Local authorities agree to BRT service to Kesennuma. *August 20, 2012: BRT roadway completed between Rikuzen-Hashikami and Saichi. *December 22, 2012: BRT service commences between Yanaizu and Kesennuma.

References

External links

A set of 11 videos showing a train trip along the entire Kesennuma Line, in 2009
Much of the track and scenery seen here were destroyed by the 2011 tsunami. {{East Japan Railway Company Lines Lines of East Japan Railway Company Rail transport in Miyagi Prefecture 1067 mm gauge railways in Japan Railway lines opened in 1956 1956 establishments in Japan Bus rapid transit in Japan