The is a
freight railway company in
Ōfunato
is a city located in Iwate Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 35,452, and a population density of 110 persons per km2 in 14,895 households. The total area of the city is .
Geography
Ōfunato is located in southeastern ...
,
Iwate,
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 ...
. This is one of the oldest
third sector (half public, half
private
Private or privates may refer to:
Music
* " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation''
* Private (band), a Denmark-based band
* "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...
) railway operator in the country, founded in 1932. Its group also operates
bus
A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...
lines. It also had a passenger service until 1992. The line mainly transports
limestones from the mine to
Taiheiyō Cement Ōfunato Factory.
History
The Iwate Development Railway started construction of a 6km line to Hikoroichi (
日頃市線) in 1941, but work was suspended as a result of the
Pacific War
The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vast ...
. Work recommenced after the war and the line opened in 1950, and was extended 4km to Iwate-Ishibashi in 1960. A 2km freight-only line to Akasaki (
赤崎線) opened in 1957. The passenger service ceased in 1992, and the lines are now freight-only.
See also
*
List of railway companies in Japan
External links
Official website
Railway companies of Japan
Rail transport in Iwate Prefecture
{{Japan-rail-company-stub