The is a Japanese railway line in

Kumamoto Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Kumamoto Prefecture has a population of 1,748,134 () and has a geographic area of . Kumamoto Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the north, Ōita Prefecture to ...

, between Tateno Station, Minamiaso, and Takamori Station, Takamori. This is the only railway line operates. As the company name suggests, the line traverses the south part of Mount Aso caldera. Following the damage from severe earthquakes in April 2016, the entire Takamori Line was shut down. A section of the line between

Nakamatsu Nakamatsu (written: 中松) is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Jon Nakamatsu Jon Yasuhiro Nakamatsu (born 1968, San Jose, California) is an American classical pianist who resides in San Jose. About He is the so ...

and Takamori resumed service in July of the same year. As of September 2019, the section between Tateno and Nakamatsu are still closed. The

Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism The , abbreviated MLIT, is a ministry of the Japanese government.国土交通省設置法 ...

estimates that a complete restoration will cost between 6.5 to 7 billion

yen The is the official currency of Japan. It is the third-most traded currency in the foreign exchange market, after the United States dollar (US$) and the euro. It is also widely used as a third reserve currency after the US dollar and the e ...

. A station on the line, Minamiaso Mizu-no-Umareru-Sato Hakusui-Kōgen Station, is tied with Chōjagahamashiosaihamanasukōenmae Station in

Ibaraki Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Ibaraki Prefecture has a population of 2,871,199 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Ibaraki Prefecture borders Fukushima Prefecture to the north, ...

as the longest station name in Japan, with 22 kana.

Basic data

*Double-track line: None *Electric supply: Not electrified *

Railway signalling Railway signalling (), also called railroad signaling (), is a system used to control the movement of railway traffic. Trains move on fixed rails, making them uniquely susceptible to collision. This susceptibility is exacerbated by the enormou ...

: Simplified automatic *Stations with

passing loop A passing loop (UK usage) or passing siding (North America) (also called a crossing loop, crossing place, refuge loop or, colloquially, a hole) is a place on a single line railway or tramway, often located at or near a station, where trains or ...

s: 1 (Nakamatsu Station)

History

The entire line was opened by the then

Japanese Government Railways The Japanese Government Railways (JGR) was the national railway system directly operated by the Japanese Ministry of Railways ( ja, 鉄道省, Tetsudō-shō, ) until 1949. It was a predecessor of Japanese National Railways and the later Japan Rai ...

in 1928. Freight services ceased in 1984. The third-sector company took over the former JNR line in 1986. The

MLIT The , abbreviated MLIT, is a ministry of the Japanese government.国土交通省設置法

tested a DMV railbus on the line in November, 2007.

Proposed connection

After the Takachiho line opened in 1972, construction of the 23 km section to Takamori continued until 1975, when flooding in the 6,500 m Takamori tunnel (7 km north of Takamori) resulted in work being suspended. Construction was formally abandoned in 1980.

Stations

All stations are within

. Stations with a gray background are damaged from the 2016 Kumamoto earthquakes and are not in operation.

References

External links