Sanriku Railway

The Sanriku Railway (三陸鉄道, Sanriku Tetsudō) is a railway company in Iwate Prefecture in northern Japan. The company and its lines are also known as Santetsu (三鉄). The company was founded in 1981, as the first "third sector" (half public, half private) railway line in the country, excluding special cases such as freight railways in seaports. Its lines are former Japanese National Railways (JNR) lines, that were going to be closed. Santetsu acquired these lines in 1984. The company also operates a travel agency and other businesses.

Santetsu 36-700 series DMU

Lines

Rias Line
Rias Line
A train crossing the Ōsawa Viaduct,September 2015
Overview
Native nameリアス線
LocaleIwate Prefecture
TerminiSakari
Kuji
Stations40
Operation
OwnerSanriku Railway
Technical
Line length163.0 km (101.3 mi)
Number of tracksSingle track
Track gauge1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Electrificationnone
Line map
Red:Kita-Riasu Line
Blue:Minami-Riasu Line

Station list
Station Japanese Distance
(km)		 Transfers Location
Sakari 盛 0.0 ■ Ōfunato Line BRT service Ōfunato, Iwate
Rikuzen-Akasaki 陸前赤崎 3.7
Ryōri 綾里 9.1
Koishihama 恋し浜 12.0
Horei 甫嶺 14.3
Sanriku 三陸 17.0
Yoshihama 吉浜 21.6
Tōni 唐丹 27.7 Kamaishi, Iwate
Heita 平田 33.1
Kamaishi 釜石 36.6 ■ Kamaishi Line
Ryōishi 両石 42.7
Unosumai 鵜住居 44.9
Ōtsuchi 大槌 48.9 Ōtsuchi, Iwate
Kirikiri 吉里吉里 52.3
Namiita-Kaigan 浪板海岸 54.1
Iwate-Funakoshi 岩手船越 60.5 Yamada, Iwate
Orikasa 織笠 63.3
Rikuchū-Yamada 陸中山田 65.5
Toyomane 豊間根 76.6
Haraigawa 払川 80.7 Miyako, Iwate
Tsugaruishi 津軽石 82.8
Yagisawa Miyakotandai 八木沢・宮古短大駅 88.2
Sokei 磯鶏 90.0
Miyako 宮古 92.0 ■ Yamada Line
Yamaguchi Danchi 山口団地 93.6
Ichinowatari 一の渡 98.2
Sabane 佐羽根 101.1
Tarō 田老 104.7
Shin-Tarō 新田老 105.2
Settai 摂待 113.5
Iwaizumi-Omoto 岩泉小本 117.1 Iwaizumi, Iwate
Shimanokoshi 島越 125.6 Tanohata, Iwate
Tanohata 田野畑 127.6
Fudai 普代 136.9 Fudai, Iwate
Shiraikaigan 白井海岸 140.3
Horinai 堀内 143.4
Noda-Tamagawa 野田玉川 147.9 Noda, Iwate
Tofugaura-Kaigan 十府ヶ浦海岸 149.6
Rikuchū-Noda 陸中野田 151.9
Rikuchū-Ube 陸中宇部 155.3 Kuji, Iwate
Kuji 久慈 163.0 ■ Hachinohe Line

History

Kita-Rias Line

The Japanese National Railways (JNR) opened the Miyako to Taro section in 1972 and the Kuji to Fudai section in 1975. It constructed the Taro to Fudai section, and transferred the entire line to Sanriku on the day it opened in 1984. The line features 42 tunnels, including the Masaki (6,532 m) and Omoto (5,174 m) tunnels, both opened in 1984.

Minami-Rias Line

JNR opened the Sakari to Ryori section in 1970, extending the line to Yoshihama in 1973. It constructed the section to Kamaishi and transferred the entire line to Sanriku on the day it opened in 1984. The line features 20 tunnels.

2011 earthquake and tsunami damage

Both lines were heavily damaged by the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.[1] The two lines suffered damage at 300 locations, including damage to station buildings and bridges. The tsunami washed away 5.8 km of railway tracks on the lines. Full restoration of service on the lines was completed in April 2014.[2]

Diesel railcars damaged by the earthquake and tsunami were replaced by three new diesel railcars funded by Kuwait. The new cars were introduced in January 2014.[3]

The two sections of the Sanriku Railway were for a long time separated by a destroyed segment of the Yamada Line.

On 23 March 2019, the Yamada Line section from Miyako to Kamaishi was reopened and transferred to Sanriku Railway. This joined up with the Kita-Rias Line on one side and the Minami-Rias Line on the other, which together constitutes the entire Rias Line restored. The result is a resumption of continuous rail service between Kuji and Sakari Station where it links with the Ōfunato Line.[4][5]

See also

References

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

  2. "Tsunami-hit Sanriku line fully operational". The Japan Times. 5 April 2014. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
  3. 三陸鉄道、新車両3両投入へ [Sanriku Railway to introduce 3 new cars]. Tetsudo.com (in Japanese). Japan: Asahi Interactive. 22 June 2019. Retrieved 22 June 2012.
  4. 三陸鉄道はいま、ひとつにつながるリアス線 (in Japanese). Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  5. 東日本大震災 復興鉄路つながった　８年ぶり宮古－釜石、三陸鉄道に [Great East Japan Earthquake Railway have been rebuilt and connected after 8 years reconstruction between Miyako-Kamaishi, Sanriku Railway]. mainichi.jp (in Japanese). Japan: The Mainichi Newspapers Co., Ltd. 23 March 2019. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
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