The Nayoro Main Line was a rail line which was operated by
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 ...
and later under
JR Hokkaido
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 ...
, which extended from
Nayoro
is a city in Kamikawa Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan.
, the city has an estimated population of 28,373 and a population density of 53 persons per km2 (140 persons per sq. mi.). The total area is .
On March 27, 2006, the town of FÅ«ren was mer ...
to
Engaru, where it connected with the
Sekihoku Main Line
is a railway line in Hokkaido, Japan, operated by Hokkaido Railway Company (JR Hokkaido) between in Asahikawa and Abashiri Station in Abashiri. The name comes from the first Kanji characters of and , names of ancient provinces along the lin ...
. It had a branch line known as the Yubetsu Line which ran between Naka-Yubetsu and Yubetsu, and was originally a light rail line before it was converted in 1916.
The line opened in 1919 as the Nayoro Line , and was designated as a main line in 1923. It was designated as one of the
specified local lines The were the railway lines specified by Japanese National Railways (JNR) under the 1980 to be closed. All of 83 lines were closed and substituted by buses or transferred to other railway operators between 1983 and 1990.
Selection
Article 8 of the ...
under the JNR Reconstruction Act, and the entire line was closed on May 1, 1989. The Nishi-Okoppe and Yubetsu stations are now the site of a hotel and fire station respectively.
Services
In 1962, three services would start using the line - the ''Monbetsu'', which ran between Sapporo and Engaru; the ''Asahikawa'', which was a round trip service that made stops at Engaru and Nayoro before returning to Asahikawa; and the ''Tento'', which ran between Okoppe and Abashiri.
Stations
Main Line
Yubetsu Line
History
In 1915, the Yubetsu Light Rail Line was extended from Nokkeushi (which was renamed to
Kitami
is a Cities of Japan, city in Okhotsk Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. It is the most populous city and the commercial center in the subprefecture, although the subprefecture capital is Abashiri, Hokkaido, Abashiri.
Kitami is physically in th ...
in 1942) to Shanabuchi (later ). The light railroad lines of the national railroads were built with the same gauge of 1067mm as the other lines, but only the Yubetsu Light Rail Line had a gauge of 762mm. In the following year, the gauge was changed to 1067mm.
The section of the line from Nayoro to Naka-Yubetsu, on the other hand, was constructed from both sides as the Nayoro West Line and the Nayoro East Line to avoid the difficult Sekihoku and Kitami Passes, and the entire line was opened to traffic as the Nayoro Line between 1919 and 1921. In 1922, with the repeal of the Light Railways Act, the Yubetsu Light Rail Line was renamed to the Yubetsu Line, and in 1923, the Nayoro Line was designated as a main line, and was renamed to the Nayoro Main Line.
In 1932, after the Kitami Pass was overcome and the Sekihoku Line (later the
Sekihoku Main Line
is a railway line in Hokkaido, Japan, operated by Hokkaido Railway Company (JR Hokkaido) between in Asahikawa and Abashiri Station in Abashiri. The name comes from the first Kanji characters of and , names of ancient provinces along the lin ...
) became fully operational, the section of the Yubetsu Line between Naka-Yubetsu and Nokkeushi would be transferred to other lines - the section between Engaru and Naka-Yubetsu became part of the Nayoro Main Line, whilst the section between Engaru and Nokkeushi became part of the Sekihoku Line.
Closure
When the National Railways Restructuring Act was passed in 1980, the line was designated as a
specified local line, but its abolition was delayed along with that of the
Tempoku,
Chihoku, and lines due to insufficient alternative transportation at that time, especially in winter. However, in 1985, the approval was given for their abolition as the problem had been fixed.
After the privatization of Japan National Railways in April 1987, the towns of Engaru, Monbetsu, and Shimokawa along the line continued to campaign for the continuation of the line by subsidizing the use of the line by their residents. It was proposed that the sections of the line between Nayoro and Shimokawa and between Monbetsu and Engaru be transferred to third-sector operation, as these sections were used most frequently by passengers. However, the idea of continuing the line as a railroad was eventually abandoned, and the entire line was closed to passengers on April 30, 1989.
References
External links
{{Specified local lines, state=collapsed
Rail transport in Japan
Rail transport in Hokkaido
Defunct railroads