Tadami Line

The is a scenic railway line in Japan operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It connects Aizu-Wakamatsu Station at Aizuwakamatsu in Fukushima Prefecture with Koide Station at Uonuma in Niigata Prefecture.

The line opened in discontinuous stages between 1928 and 1971. Because of trouble financing rainstorm damage repairs, the line had no rail service between and station from July 2011 until October 2022. During this time, a replacement bus operated between Aizu-Kawaguchi and Tadami. Full service on the line resumed on 1 October 2022.

Services

All trains are local (all-stations) services, with approximately eight to nine trains in each direction per day. Only three round-trips operate over the entire line, and some seasonal trains operate through onto the line from the Ban'etsu West and Jōetsu lines. Due to the many curves on the line trains take over four hours to traverse its 135.2 km (84.0 mi) length.

Station list

* All trains stop at every station.
* Trains can pass each other at stations marked "◇", "∨", "∧"; they cannot pass at those marked "｜".

History

Openings

The eastern section of the line from to opened in 1928. The eastern section was extended to in 1941 and to in 1956. At that time, the Tagokura Dam was under construction and a light railway was built to link Aizu-Kawaguchi with the construction site in order to transport construction material. In 1963, after the dam was completed, the construction railway was upgraded and opened to as part of the eastern section.

In the meantime, the western section of the line, from to , had opened in 1942. In 1971, the two sections were connected with the opening of the passenger only line between Oshirakawa and Tadami.

Closures

Freight services ceased between 1980 and 1982.

Damage from heavy rain storms in July 2011 forced the section of the line between and to be closed. The section between and Ōshirakawa was reopened on 1 October 2012, but the restoration of the remaining section between Aizu-Kawaguchi and Tadami proved more problematic. Eventually, JR East reached an agreement with Fukushima Prefecture under which the prefecture would buy the rail infrastructure and land while hiring out its operation to JR East. After 11 years with a replacement bus service, the closed section resumed operations on 1 October 2022.

In 2013, Tagokura Station, between Ōshirakawa and , was closed. And in 2015, Kakinoki Station, between and , was also closed. Both of these closures were due to very low usage.

Rolling stock

* KiHa E120 - Since March 2020
* KiHa 110 series - Since July 2020

Former

* KiHa 40 series - Until July 2020
* KiHa 58 series

Gallery

File:JNR C11 289 on Tadami line 19731103 001.jpg, C11 289 between Aizu-Nishikata and Aizu-Hibara, November 1973
File:JNR C11 289 on Tadami line 19731103 002.jpg, C11 289 between Aizu-Miyashita and Aizu-Nishikata, November 1973
キハE120 1 東北地域本社色.jpg, KiHa E120, Aizu-Bange Station - Wakamiya Station, in March 2020
Kiha40-500 Tadami-line.jpg, KiHa 40, Aizu-Takada Station - Negishi Station, in May 2018
Oshirakawa, Uonuma, Niigata Prefecture 946-0303, Japan - panoramio (2).jpg, KiHa 47 and 40, Oshirakawa Station, September 2012
只見駅 - panoramio (2).jpg, Minibus departure from Tadami Station, June 2014
Tadami-Line-Third-Bridge-Summer.jpg, Tadamigawa Bridge No. 3
只見線.jpg, Tadamigawa Bridge No. 4
JR Tadami Line Tadamigawa No.5 Bridge.jpg, Tadamigawa Bridge No. 5
JR Tadami Line Tadamigawa No.8 Bridge.jpg, Tadamigawa Bridge No. 8
File:Tadami-Line-First-Bridge-Winter.jpg, Tadamigawa Bridge No. 1 in winter

References

External links

;Travel

Pamphlet "Travel by Tadami Line"
(Tadami River Power Source Region Promotion Association)

Video "Travel around Oku Aizu"
(YouTube)

JR Tadami Line
(Tadami Town Tourism Institute Planning Society)

Oku-Aizu Bu-Ra-Ri Journey
(Aizu Bus)

;Timetable


(Tadami Line Portal Website)


(Kaneyama Town Government)

;Station list

Stations of the Tadami Line
(JR East)

{{East Japan Railway Company Lines

Lines of East Japan Railway Company
Rail transport in Fukushima Prefecture
Rail transport in Niigata Prefecture
1067 mm gauge railways in Japan
Railway lines opened in 1928