The is a railway line in Japan operated by

East Japan Railway Company The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and is 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 ar ...

(JR East). It connects Oiwake Station in Akita,

Akita Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Provinces and prefectures" in ; "Tōhoku" in . Its population is approximately 966,000 (as of 1 October 2019) and its geographic area is 1 ...

Oga Station is a railway station in the city of Oga, Akita Prefecture, Japan, operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East). Lines Oga Station is a terminus of the Oga Line and is located 26.6 rail kilometers from the opposing terminal of the line at ...

in Oga,

. It is nicknamed the .

Stations

Rolling stock

* KiHa 40 series * EV-E801 series

History

The line first opened on 9 November 1913 as the from Oiwake to Futada. This was extended to Wakimoto on 8 November 1914, to Hadachi on 1 December 1915, and to Funakawa (present-day Oga Station) on 16 December 1916. On 2 September 1922, the line was renamed the . A freight-only branch from Funakawa to Funakawaminato was opened on 10 June 1937. On 1 April 1968, the line was renamed the Oga Line, coinciding with the renaming of Funakawa Station to Oga Station. With the privatization of

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 ...

(JNR) on 1 April 1987, the line came under the control of JR East.

Recent developments

JR East EV-E801 G1 train set at Oga Station 20180818a

In spring 2017, a new EV-E801 series battery electric multiple unit train was introduced on the Oga Line service from Akita. A special recharging facility was built at Oga Station. So far, there is only one battery electric trainset operated on this line, but in December 2019

JR East The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and is 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 ar ...

announced the plan to introduce additional such trainsets on this route after the fiscal year 2020, completely replacing KiHa 40 and 48

diesel multiple units A diesel multiple unit or DMU is a multiple-unit train powered by on-board diesel engines. A DMU requires no separate locomotive, as the engines are incorporated into one or more of the carriages. Diesel-powered single-unit railcars are als ...

. This would make the Oga Line another non-electrified railway line in Japan where battery electric trains completely replaced diesel trains; this has already happened, for example, on the Kashii Line and the Karasuyama Line.

References

{{Akita transit Lines of East Japan Railway Company 1067 mm gauge railways in Japan Railway lines opened in 1913 1913 establishments in Japan