is a junction passenger

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

located in the city of

Yatsushiro 270px, Yatsushiro City Hall 270px, ruins of Yatsushiro Castle is a city located in Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 120,389 in 57,953 households, and a population density of 300 persons per km2. The total are ...

Kumamoto Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Kumamoto Prefecture has a population of 1,748,134 () and has a geographic area of . Kumamoto Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the north, Ōita Prefecture t ...

, Japan. It is operated by

JR Kyushu The , also referred to as , is one of the seven constituent companies of Japan Railways Group (JR Group). It operates intercity rail services within Kyushu, Japan. It formerly operated the Beetle hydrofoil service across the Tsushima Strait be ...

and the third-sector railway company

Hisatsu Orange Railway is a third-sector railway company which operates Hisatsu Orange Railway Line in Kumamoto and Kagoshima prefectures. The line follows the former part of the JR Kyushu Kagoshima Main Line that connected Yatsushiro and Sendai in Kumamoto and K ...

. It is also a freight depot for the

Japan Freight Railway Company , or , is one of the seven constituent companies of Japan Railways Group (JR Group). It provides transportation of cargo nationwide throughout Japan. Its headquarters are in Shibuya, Tokyo near Shinjuku Station. The Japan Railways Group was foun ...

(JR Freight).

Lines

The station is served by the

Kagoshima Main Line The is a major railway line operated by the Kyushu Railway Company (JR Kyushu) between Mojiko Station, Mojikō in Kitakyushu, and Kagoshima Station in Kagoshima, Kagoshima, Kagoshima City, at the southern end of Kyushu. Until March 13, 2004, it ...

and is located 232.3 km from the starting point of the line at , and is also the western terminus of the124.2 kilometer

Hisatsu Line The is a railway line in Kyushu, Japan, operated by the Kyushu Railway Company (JR Kyushu). It connects Yatsushiro, Kumamoto, Yatsushiro on the Kagoshima Main Line to Hayato station, Kirishima, Kagoshima , Kirishima on the Nippo Main Line. Fro ...

to , although since 4 July 2020, no trains have operated on the 86.8 km section of the line between Yatsushiro and , due to catastrophic damage caused by the 2020 Kyushu floods, including much of the track being completely destroyed, especially in areas where the line runs directly parallel to the Kuma River. JR Kyushu has not announced a set date for resumption of rail service on this section, apart from stating that services would be suspended for an indefinite period. . The station is also the northern terminus of the 116.9 kilometer Hisatsu Orange Railway Line to .

Layout

The station consists of one

island platform An island platform (also center platform (American English) or centre platform (British English)) is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway inte ...

with two tracks, one

side platform A side platform (also known as a marginal platform or a single-face platform) is a platform positioned to the side of one or more railway tracks or guideways at a railway station, tram stop, or transitway. A station having dual side platforms, ...

with one track, and one additional cut-out platform. Between platforms 1 and 2 there is a center track for inbound trains, a siding next to platform 3, and next to that is a platform for JR Freight freight trains (departing and arriving at JR Freight Yatsushiro Station Freight Depot). On the JR Kyushu side platform, there are two elevators connecting platform 1 with platforms 2 and 3. The Kagoshima side single platform and the cut-out platform are used by Hisatsu Orange Railway. The center track and siding are mainly used by freight trains. The JR Kyushu and Hisatsu Orange Railway station buildings are separate, but the tracks are connected, and in the middle of platform 1 there is a partition and connecting ticket gate where transfers are handled. The JR station has a ''

Midori no Madoguchi , short for ''Magnetic-electronic Automatic'' ''Reservation System,'' is a train ticket reservation system used by the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) companies and travel agencies in Japan. It was developed jointly by Hitachi and the former Ja ...

'' staffed ticket office

Platforms

Adjacent stations

History

Yatsushiro Station was opened on 21 November 1896 as a station on the Kyushu Railway, which was nationalized in 1907. After the privatization of the

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 pre ...

(JNR) on 1 April 1987, the station came under JR Kyushu.

Passenger statistics

In fiscal 2020, the JR station was used by an average of 1,515 passengers daily (boarding passengers only), and it ranked 96th among the busiest stations of JR Kyushu. During the same period, the Hisatsu Orange Railway portion of the station was used by 587 passengers daily.National Land Numerical Information (passenger traffic by station data)
- Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, accessed September 6, 2021.

Surrounding area

* Yatsushiro City Hall * Yatsushiro Castle

References

External links

*
Hisatsu Orange Railway website
{{Hisatsu Orange Railway Line Railway stations in Kumamoto Prefecture Railway stations in Japan opened in 1896 Stations of Hisatsu Orange Railway Stations of Japan Freight Railway Company Yatsushiro, Kumamoto