The is part of the

Hokkaido Railway Company The is one of the constituent companies of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group), and is often referred to using its official abbreviation of . It operates intercity and local rail services in Hokkaido, Japan. The company introduced Kitaca, a sm ...

network in

Hokkaidō is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. The la ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. It connects Furano Station in the city of Furano and

Asahikawa Station is a railway station in Asahikawa, Hokkaido, Japan, operated by the Hokkaido Railway Company (JR Hokkaido). Asahikawa Station is the central train station for the city of Asahikawa, which is the second largest city in Hokkaido by population af ...

in the city of

Asahikawa is a city in Kamikawa Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. It is the capital of the subprefecture, and the second-largest city in Hokkaido, after Sapporo. It has been a core city since April 1, 2000. The city is currently well known for the Asahiy ...

. Popular with tourists, it has recently come to serve commuters in the bedroom towns that are developing as suburbs of Asahikawa.

History

The Furano Line opened on September 1, 1899, as the , operating between Asahikawa and Biei Stations. In the next month, service extended to Kami-Furano Station, and in the following year it reached Shimo-Furano Station. In 1909 it became part of the

Nemuro Main Line is a railway line in Hokkaido operated by Hokkaido Railway Company (JR Hokkaido), connecting Takikawa Station in Takikawa and Nemuro Station in Nemuro, including Obihiro and Kushiro. Higashi-Nemuro is the most easterly situated station on the J ...

from Asahikawa Station to Kushiro Station, but in 1913 it took its present name and covered the route from Asahikawa Station to Shimo-Furano Station. The eruption of Mount Tokachi on May 24, 1926, caused a protracted interruption of service between Biei and Kami-Furano. In 1942, Shimo-Furano Station changed its name to Furano Station. On April 1, 1987, with the breakup 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 pref ...

, the line became part of the Hokkaido Railways. In 2007, the station-numbering plan took effect. On November 19, 2016, JR Hokkaido's President announced plans to rationalise the network by up to 1,237 km, or ~50% of the current network, including the proposed conversion to Third Sector operation of the Furano Line, but if local governments are not agreeable, the line will face closure.

Former connecting lines

The private Asahikawa Electric Railway line to Higashikawa (15.5 km) branched from the Furano line south of Asahikawa station, operating from 1927-73. A 6.7 km branch to Asahiyama Park operated from 1930-73. Both lines were electrified at 600 V DC.

Operations

All trains are

local train Regional rail, also known as local trains and stopping trains, are passenger rail services that operate between towns and cities. These trains operate with more stops over shorter distances than inter-city rail, but fewer stops and faster servi ...

s within the Furano Line which operate only within the Furano Line, half covering the route between Asahikawa and Biei. Nearly all rolling stock is

KiHa 150 The is a single-car diesel multiple unit operated by Hokkaido Railway Company (JR Hokkaido) in Japan. Variants A total of 27 cars were built, with the class divided into two sub-classes: KiHa 150-0 (17 cars) and KiHa 150-100 (10 cars). * KiHa ...

Diesel Multiple Unit A diesel multiple unit or DMU is a multiple-unit train powered by on-board diesel engines. A DMU requires no separate locomotive, as the engines are incorporated into one or more of the carriages. Diesel-powered single-unit railcars are also ...

Stations

Station numbers, names, other lines serving the stations and line distances from Asahikawa are as follows. Other than seasonal Lavender Farm, trains may also randomly skip stations marked "◌".

References

* This article incorporates material from 富良野線 (''Furano-sen'') in the Japanese Wikipedia, retrieved on June 22, 2019.

External links

Route Map
JR Hokkaido.

The Hokkaido Shimbun Press. {{Hokkaidō transit Rail transport in Hokkaido Lines of Hokkaido Railway Company