The is a railway line operated by

East Japan Railway Company The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and is the largest of the seven Japan Railways Group companies. The company name is officially abbreviated as JR-EAST or JR East in English, and as in Japanese. The company's headquarters are ...

(JR East). It connects Noheji Station and Ōminato Station on the

Shimokita Peninsula is the remote northeastern cape of the Japanese island of Honshū, stretching out towards Hokkaidō. Overview It is bordered by the Pacific Ocean to the east, Tsugaru Strait to the north and Mutsu Bay to the west and south. Shaped like an axe ...

in eastern Aomori Prefecture.

Station list

:●: All rapid service trains stop, ○: Some rapid service trains stop

History

On March 20, 1921 the began operations between Noheji Station and Mutsu-Yokohama Station. The line was extended to its present terminus of Ōminato Station by September 25, 1921. In 1922 the line was nationalised, and renamed the Ōminato Line of the Japanese Government Railway (JGR, later JNR). Express ''Natsudomari'' operations began from Aomori Station on a seasonal basis in 1968. The express was later downgraded to rapid service and renamed the ''Usori'', and later the ''Shimokita''. All freight operations ceased on February 1, 1984. With the dissolution and privatization of the JNR on April 1, 1984 the line came under the control of the East Japan Railway Company. On December 4, 1999 a new centralized traffic control (CTC) system became operational. In 2002, seasonal excursion train ''Kirakira Michinoku'' operations commenced and a limited number of ''Shimokita'' trains were extended to terminate at Hachinohe Station instead of Noheji. The ''Shimokita'' service operates a daily round trip to Aomori and 3 round trips to Hachinohe in conjunction with the Aoimori Railway. The Tōhoku Main Line, including Noheji was transferred from JR East to Aoimori Railway on December 4, 2010 following the extension of the Tohoku Shinkansen from Hachinohe to Shin-Aomori. This resulted in the isolation of the Ōminato Line, a branch of the Tōhoku Main Line, from the rest of the JR East network with the exception of the ''Shimokita'' service from Aomori where it connects with the Ōu Main Line and Tsugaru Line.

Former connecting lines

* Akagawa station - The Aomori Prefectural Government operated a 4 km 762mm (2'6") gauge line to Tanabu-Yanagicho between 1921 and 1941. * Shimokita station - The 18 km opened in 1939, and construction continued toward Ōma to service a proposed naval base to protect the Tsugaru Strait, and was well advanced when work was suspended in 1943 due to a shortage of materials. The Seikan Tunnel was originally proposed to utilise the roadbed of the uncompleted (as well as that of the uncompleted near Hakodate) but in 1968 the route was changed to the alignment subsequently built. Freight services ceased on the Ōhata Line in 1979, and operation of it was transferred to in 1985. The line closed in 2001.

References

This article incorporates material from the corresponding article in the Japanese Wikipedia. * ''JTB Timetable'' December 2010 issue

External links

JR East website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ominato Line Rail transport in Aomori Prefecture Lines of East Japan Railway Company Railway lines opened in 1921 1067 mm gauge railways in Japan