The is a Japanese railway line in
Hokkaido
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 ...
operated by
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 ...
(JR Hokkaido) which connects
Fukagawa Station in
Fukagawa and
Rumoi Station in
Rumoi. Until the section of the
Hidaka Main Line
The is a railway line in Hokkaido, Japan, operated by Hokkaido Railway Company (JR Hokkaido), between Tomakomai Station in Tomakomai and Samani Station in Samani, running along the coast of Hidaka Subprefecture. Services on the 116.0 km ...
from to was closed on 1 April 2021, following storm damage in January 2015, the Rumoi Main Line was the shortest railway line in Japan, to be classified as a 'main line'.
On 19 November 2016, JR Hokkaido's President announced plans to further rationalise the network by up to , or approximately 50% of the network, including closure of the remaining section of the Rumoi Main Line (the Rumoi to Mashike section closed on 5 December 2016).
Stations
Stops legend: ●: All trains stop, ◆: some trains stop, ▼: some down trains pass, ▲: some up trains pass
Closed section
History
The initial section of the line, between Fukagawa and Rumoi opened on 23 October 1910, and was extended to Mashike on 5 November 1921.
The line was reclassified as a "main line" from 10 October 1931.
With the privatization of
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 ...
(JNR) on 1 April 1987, the line came under the control of
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 ...
.
Partial closure and closure plans
On 10 August 2015, JR Hokkaido informed the mayors of Rumoi and Mashike of its plans to close the section of the line from Rumoi and Mashike in 2016.
In April 2016, it was officially announced that the section from Rumoi to Mashike would close, and the last service operated on 4 December of that year.
The remaining section is also at very serious risk of closure, due to extremely poor passenger numbers. The 4 towns and cities along the line. Rumoi, Numata, Chippubetsu and Fukagawa were in discussion with JR Hokkaido regarding the line's future, but Rumoi left the group as the city was already well-equipped so they didn't see keeping the railway open as necessary. For this reason, the section of the line running from Ishikari Numata - Rumoi will likely be closed in the distant future. The 3 remaining municipalities are still in discussion with JR Hokkaido and it has been clarified that they are working to keep the Fukagawa–Ishikari-Numata section open for the benefit of students who use the railway to travel to and from their schools. in September 2022, JR Hokkaido submitted a proposal to the
to close an additional between Ishikari-Numata and Rumoi.
If approved, the last day of operations in that section will be on 31 March 2023. The remaining section to Fukagawa is slated to be closed in March 2026.
The proposal to close the section between Ishikari-Numata and Rumoi was approved on 9 December 2022.
As a result, the line will be shortened to (Fukagawa to Ishikari-Numata). In addition, the scheduled March 2026 closure of the final section to Fukugawa remains as planned.
References
{{Hokkaidō transit
Lines of Hokkaido Railway Company
Rail transport in Hokkaido
Railway lines opened in 1910
1910 establishments in Japan
1067 mm gauge railways in Japan