The Tsugaru Line (津軽線, Tsugaru-sen) is a railway line operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It connected Aomori and Minmaya stations on the Tsugaru Peninsula in western Aomori Prefecture; the section between Kanita and Minmaya has been indefinitely closed due to flood damage in 2022.
| Tsugaru Line | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Tsugaru Line along Mutsu Bay | |||
| Overview | |||
| Owner | JR East | ||
| Termini | |||
| Stations | 18 | ||
| Service | |||
| Type | Heavy rail Passenger | ||
| Rolling stock | KiHa 40, 701 series (electrified section only), HB-E300 series (resort trains only) | ||
| History | |||
| Opened | 1951 | ||
| Technical | |||
| Line length | 55.8 km (34.7 mi) | ||
| Track gauge | 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) | ||
| Electrification | 20 kV AC, 50 Hz (Aomori to Shin Naka-Oguni Signal) | ||
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The section of the line between Aomori Station and Naka-Oguni Station is a part of the Tsugaru-Kaikyō Line connecting Honshu and Hokkaido.
History
editPlans existed to link the prefectural capital of Aomori with the northern tip of the Tsugaru Peninsula from the time of the Meiji period Railway Construction Act. In 1930, the privately held Tsugaru Railway began operations on the western side of Tsugaru Peninsula, and surveying work was completed by the Japanese Government Railways (JGR) to build a government-operated line on the eastern side of Tsugaru Peninsula. These plans were postponed by the outbreak of World War II, and were only resumed in the 1950s under the Japanese National Railways (JNR).
On December 5, 1951, the first segment of the Tsugaru Line was completed from Aomori to Kanita. This was extended by October 21, 1958 to the present northern terminus at Minmaya. Additional intermediate stations were added in 1959 and 1960.
All scheduled freight operations were suspended on December 10, 1984. With the privatization of the JNR on April 1, 1987, the line came under the operational control of JR East. From March 13, 1988, the tracks between Aomori Station and the Shin Naka-Oguni Signal Base are jointly used by JR East, JR Hokkaido's Tsugaru-Kaikyō Line, and Japan Freight Railway Company (JR Freight).
In 1988 the Aomori–Shin Naka-Oguni Signal Base section was electrified in conjunction with the opening of the Seikan Tunnel and associated Tsugaru-Kaikyō Line.
After the section between Kanita and Minmaya was washed away in heavy rainfall in 2022, JR East and the town of Sotogahama closed the section indefinitely. The affected town of Imabetsu agreed to transition access to bus service in May 2024.[1]
Station list
edit| Station | Japanese | Distance (km) | Transfers | Location | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Between stations |
Total | |||||
| Aomori | 青森 | - | 0.0 | Ōu Main Line Aoimori Railway Line |
Aomori | Aomori Prefecture |
| Aburakawa | 油川 | 6.0 | 6.0 | |||
| Tsugaru-Miyata | 津軽宮田 | 3.7 | 9.7 | |||
| Okunai | 奥内 | 1.8 | 11.5 | |||
| Hidariseki | 左堰 | 1.6 | 13.1 | |||
| Ushirogata | 後潟 | 1.6 | 14.7 | |||
| Nakasawa | 中沢 | 2.1 | 16.8 | |||
| Yomogita | 蓬田 | 2.3 | 19.1 | Yomogita | ||
| Gōsawa | 郷沢 | 2.0 | 21.1 | |||
| Seheji | 瀬辺地 | 2.3 | 23.4 | |||
| Kanita | 蟹田 | 3.6 | 27.0 | Sotogahama | ||
Closed section
edit| Station | Japanese | Distance (km) | Transfers | Location | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Between stations |
Total | |||||
| Naka-Oguni | 中小国 | 3.4 | 31.4 | (Kaikyō Line) | Sotogahama | |
| Ōdai | 大平 | 3.6 | 35.0 | |||
| Tsugaru-Futamata | 津軽二股 | 11.6 | 46.6 | Kaikyō Line/Hokkaido Shinkansen (Okutsugaru-Imabetsu Station) | Imabetsu | |
| Ōkawadai | 大川平 | 2.0 | 48.6 | |||
| Imabetsu | 今別 | 2.4 | 51.0 | |||
| Tsugaru-Hamana | 津軽浜名 | 1.7 | 52.7 | |||
| Minmaya | 三厩 | 3.1 | 55.8 | |||
The portion from Aomori and Naka-Oguni is electrified.
Rolling stock
editPresent
editFormer
editSee also
editReferences
edit- ^ 日本放送協会. "ＪＲ津軽線 今別町長が自動車交通への転換受け入れへ｜NHK 青森県のニュース". NHK NEWS WEB. Retrieved 2024-05-31.
This article incorporates material from the corresponding article in the Japanese Wikipedia.
- Harris, Ken and Clarke, Jackie. Jane's World Railways 2008-2009. Jane's Information Group (2008). ISBN 0-7106-2861-7
External links
edit- JR East website (in Japanese)
Media related to Tsugaru Line at Wikimedia Commons