Aizu Line

Aizu Line
Aizu Railway AT-150 series DMU at Ashinomaki-Onsen Station, April 2001
Overview
Type Heavy rail
Locale Fukushima Prefecture
Termini Nishi-Wakamatsu
Aizukōgen-Ozeguchi
Stations 21
Operation
Owner Aizu Railway
Technical
Line length 57.4 km (35.7 mi)
Track gauge 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Electrification 1,500 V DC (Aizu-Tajima — Aizukōgen-Ozeguchi)

The Aizu Railway Aizu Line (会津鉄道会津線, Aizu Tetsudō Aizu-sen) is a 57.4 km railway line from Nishi-Wakamatsu Station in Aizuwakamatsu to Aizukōgen-Ozeguchi Station in Minamiaizu, Fukushima, Japan. It is owned and operated by Aizu Railway.

Services

The train operation is divided at Aizu-Tajima Station. The electrified southern part has through service beyond the Aizukōgen-Ozeguchi terminus onto the Yagan Railway Aizu Kinugawa Line, Tobu Railway and JR East all the way to Tokyo. The non-electrified northern part runs diesel service beyond Nishi-Wakamatsu Station to Aizu-Wakamatsu Station on the JR East Tadami Line.

Stations

  • All stations located in Fukushima Prefecture.
  • All trains stop at stations marked "●"; some stop at those marked "▲". Open-car "torokko" trains pass Yōson-Kōen Station in the winter.
  • Rapid, section rapid, and section express trains to/from Asakusa Station stop at all stations on the Aizu Line.
Station Japanese Distance (km) Rapid Trains to/from
Asakusa		 Open-car
"torokko"		 Transfers Location
Between
stations		 Total
through operation to/from Aizu-Wakamatsu on the Tadami Line
Nishi-Wakamatsu 西若松 - 0.0 ●   ● Tadami Line (for Koide) Aizuwakamatsu
Minami-Wakamatsu 南若松 3.0 3.0 ▲   ｜  
Monden 門田 1.9 4.9 ▲   ｜  
Amaya あまや 2.8 7.7 ▲   ｜  
Ashinomaki-Onsen 芦ノ牧温泉 2.8 10.5 ●   ●  
Ōkawadamukōen 大川ダム公園 5.7 16.2 ▲   ｜  
Ashinomaki-Onsen-Minami 芦ノ牧温泉南 1.5 17.7 ▲   ｜  
Yunokami-Onsen 湯野上温泉 5.0 22.7 ●   ●   Shimogō, Minamiaizu District
Tō-no-Hetsuri 塔のへつり 3.8 26.5 ▲   ●  
Yagoshima 弥五島 1.5 28.0 ▲   ｜  
Aizu-Shimogō 会津下郷 3.1 31.1 ●   ●  
Furusato-Kōen ふるさと公園 1.4 32.5 ▲   ｜  
Yōson-Kōen 養鱒公園 2.6 35.1 ▲   *  
Aizu-Nagano 会津長野 2.2 37.3 ▲   ｜   Minamiaizu, Minamiaizu District
Tajimakōkōmae 田島高校前 2.2 39.5 ▲   ｜  
Aizu-Tajima 会津田島 2.5 42.0 ● ● ●  
Nakaarai 中荒井 3.8 45.8 ▲ ●    
Aizu-Arakai 会津荒海 3.4 49.2 ▲ ●    
Aizu-Sanson-Dōjō 会津山村道場 0.9 50.1 ▲ ●    
Nanatsugatake-Tozanguchi 七ヶ岳登山口 3.0 53.1 ▲ ●    
Aizukōgen-Ozeguchi 会津高原尾瀬口 4.3 57.4 ● ●   Yagan Railway Aizu Kinugawa Line (through operation)
through operation to/from Yagan Railway Aizu Kinugawa Line

History

The Aizu Line was constructed between 1927 and 1953 by the Japanese National Railways (JNR) as part of a plan to build a direct line from Aizu-Wakamatsu to Tokyo. The Aizu line was the northern section, whilst the Yagan Railway Aizu Kinugawa Line was to be the southern section. Despite the Kinugawa line connecting to the Aizu line in 1986, the Aizu Line was deemed an unprofitable secondary line and transferred to a company established by local governments in 1987.

The Aizukōgen-Ozeguchi - Aizu-Tajima section was electrified at 1500 VDC in 1990 to facilitate through-running onto the Kinugawa line.

Timeline

  • November 1, 1927: Nishi-Wakamatsu - Ashimomaki-Onsen section (10.5 km) opens
  • December 22, 1932: Ashimomaki-Onsen - Yunokami-Onsen section opens
  • December 27 1934: Yunokami-Onsen - Aizu-Tajima section opens
  • December 12 1947: Aizu-Tajima - Nanatsugatake-Tozanguchi section opens
  • November 8 1953: Nanatsugatake-Tozanguchi - Aizukōgen-Ozeguchi
  • December 1 1980: The 12.2km deviation between Ashimomaki-Onsen and Yunokami-Onsen opens as part of the construction of the Okawa Dam
  • April 1, 1987: Line transferred to East Japan Railway Company (JR East) upon privatization of JNR
  • July 16, 1987: Line transferred to Aizu Railway
  • October 12, 1990: Aizu-Tajima — Aizukōgen-Ozeguchi section electrified (1500 V DC), direct service to the Yagan Railway Aizu Kinugawa Line begins
  • April 1, 1999: Japan Freight Railway Company (JR Freight) ends operations

References

This article incorporates material from the corresponding article in the Japanese Wikipedia.

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