The was a 23.5 km railway line in Japan operated by

Tobu Railway is a Japanese commuter railway and ''keiretsu'' holding company in the Greater Tokyo Area as well as an intercity and regional operator in the Kantō region. Excluding the Japan Railways Group companies, Tobu's rail system is the second longes ...

, which connected on the

Tōbu Kinugawa Line The is a long Japanese railway line from Shimo-Imaichi Station to Shin-Fujiwara Station in Nikkō, Tochigi. It is owned and operated by the private railway operator Tobu Railway. At Shimo-Imaichi Station it connects with the Tobu Nikko Line. ...

to on the

Tōhoku Main Line The Tōhoku Main Line () is a railway line in Japan operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). The line starts from Tokyo Station in Chiyoda, Tokyo and passes through such cities as Saitama, Saitama, Saitama, Utsunomiya, Tochigi, Uts ...

Tochigi Prefecture is a landlocked Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Tochigi Prefecture has a population of 1,897,649 (1 June 2023) and has a geographic area of 6,408 Square kilometre, km2 (2,474 Square mile, sq mi ...

. The line opened on 1 March 1924, and closed on 30 June 1959.

Operations

In its final years, there were just five trains in each direction daily, with only three in each direction running over the entire length of the line. Trains were mixed passenger and freight services hauled by 4-4-0 steam locomotives built by

Beyer, Peacock & Company Beyer, Peacock and Company was an English general engineering company and railway locomotive manufacturer with a factory in Openshaw, Manchester. Charles Beyer, Richard Peacock and Henry Robertson founded the company in 1854. The company close ...

in England, with passenger cars converted from former Tobu

electric multiple units An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple-unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a number ...

History

The line first opened on 1 March 1924 by the , as a

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with Minimum railw ...

branch line which extended 9.9 km from Takatoku Station (later Shin-Takatoku Station) to . The line was re-gauged to and extended from Tenchō to Yaita on the Tōhoku Main Line, with the 23.5 km line completed in October 1929. On 1 May 1943, the line was bought by the Tobu Railway, becoming the Yaita Line. The line closed on 30 June 1959.

References

This article incorporates material from the corresponding article in the Japanese Wikipedia {{DEFAULTSORT:Tobu Yaita Line Yaita Line Rail transport in Tochigi Prefecture Railway lines opened in 1924 Railway lines closed in 1959 1067 mm gauge railways in Japan 2 ft 6 in gauge railways in Japan 1924 establishments in Japan 1959 disestablishments in Japan

Operations

History

See also

References