The is a railway line in

Kyushu is the third-largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands ( i.e. excluding Okinawa). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regional name referred to Kyushu and its surroun ...

, Japan, operated by the

Kyushu Railway Company The , also referred to as , is one of the seven constituent companies of Japan Railways Group (JR Group). It operates intercity rail services within Kyushu, Japan and the JR Kyushu Jet Ferry Beetle hydrofoil service across the Tsushima Strait ...

(JR Kyushu). It connects Kōhoku Station in Kōhoku,

Saga Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyushu. Saga Prefecture has a population of 809,248 (1 August 2020) and has a geographic area of 2,440 km2 (942 sq mi). Saga Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the northeast and Nagasak ...

Sasebo Station is the major railway station in the city of Sasebo, Nagasaki Prefecture, in Japan. The Sasebo Line of the Kyushu Railway Company and the Nishi-Kyūshū Line of the Matsuura Railway provide local and regional service and connections to the extens ...

Sasebo is a core city located in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. It is also the second largest city in Nagasaki Prefecture, after its capital, Nagasaki. On 1 June 2019, the city had an estimated population of 247,739 and a population density of 581 persons p ...

Nagasaki Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Nagasaki Prefecture has a population of 1,314,078 (1 June 2020) and has a geographic area of 4,130 Square kilometre, km2 (1,594 sq mi). Nagasaki Prefecture borders ...

. It is part of the route connecting Sasebo with

Saga is a series of science fantasy role-playing video games by Square Enix. The series originated on the Game Boy in 1989 as the creation of Akitoshi Kawazu at Square (video game company), Square. It has since continued across multiple platforms, ...

and

Fukuoka is the sixth-largest city in Japan, the second-largest port city after Yokohama, and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since ancie ...

. Most of the line runs parallel to National Routes 34 and 35. From 1898 to 1934 the Hizen-Yamaguchi - Haiki section was part of the original

Nagasaki Main Line The , or simply Nagasaki Line, is a railway line owned by the Kyushu Railway Company (JR Kyushu) connecting Tosu Station in Saga Prefecture to Nagasaki Station in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. There is a separate branch of this line from Kikitsu S ...

History

The

Kyushu Railway was a company that built and operated railways in Kyushu, one of four main islands of Japan. Most of its lines came under the control of Japanese Government Railways following nationalization in 1907, and many are now operated by Kyushu Railway ...

Co. opened the Yamaguchi (present-day Kōhoku) - Takeo (present-day Takeo-Onsen) section in 1895 as part of the original

. It was extended to Haiki in 1897, and to Sasebo the following year. The company was nationalised in 1907. In 1934 the Hizen-Yamaguchi (present-day Kōhoku) - Isahaya line opened as the new Nagasaki Main line, with the line being renamed the Sasebo Line. The history of the line beyond Sasebo is covered under the

Matsuura Line is a third-sector railway company in Nagasaki and Saga Prefecture in Japan. Lines The railway company operates the 93.8 km Nishi-Kyushu Line from in Saga Prefecture to in Nagasaki Prefecture, with 57 stations. Principal investors * Nag ...

. The entire line was electrified in 1976, and freight service ceased between Haiki - Sasebo in 1985, Arita - Haiki in 1987 and on the balance of the line in 1996. The section between Takahashi station and Omachi station will be double-tracked as the current compromise until the construction of the Kyushu Shinkansen Nagasaki route between Takeo-Onsen and Shin-Tosu can be decided.

Former connecting lines

* Takahashi station - Yutoku Railway Co. opened a 24.2 km 915mm (3') gauge line to Yutoku Inari Shrine between 1904 and 1907, and a 1.5 km branch line to the south of Hyakkan Bridge in 1909. Both lines closed in 1931. The 9.8 km 1067mm gauge Hizen Electric Railway Co. line to Ureshino, electrified at 600 VDC, connected to this line and operated between 1915 and 1931. * Sasebo station - A 5 km line to a US Forces Japan oil storage facility operated between 1950 and 1978.

Route data

* Operators and distances **

JR Kyushu The , also referred to as , is one of the seven constituent companies of Japan Railways Group (JR Group). It operates intercity rail services within Kyushu, Japan and the JR Kyushu Jet Ferry Beetle hydrofoil service across the Tsushima Strait ...

*** From Kōhoku to Sasebo: 48.8 km (30.3 mi) **

JR Freight , or , is one of the seven constituent companies of Japan Railways Group (JR Group). It provides transportation of cargo nationwide throughout Japan. Its headquarters are in Shibuya, Tokyo near Shinjuku Station. The Japan Railways Group was foun ...

*** From Kōhoku to

Arita Arita may refer to: *Arita (surname) *Arita, Saga, a town in Saga Prefecture, Japan :* Arita ware, a kind of Japanese porcelain made in the area around the town * ''Arita'' (skipper), a genus of butterflies in the grass skipper family *Arita, a br ...

: 28.2 km (17.5 mi) *

Track gauge In rail transport, track gauge (in American English, alternatively track gage) is the distance between the two rails of a railway track. All vehicles on a rail network must have wheelsets that are compatible with the track gauge. Since many d ...

: * Stations: 14 * Double-track: Ōmachi - Takahashi * Electrified track: Whole line * Maximum speed: 120 km/h (75 mph)

Rolling stock

* 783 series (whole line,

limited express A limited express is a type of express train service. It refers to an express service that stops at a limited number of stops in comparison to other express services on the same or similar routes. Japan The term "limited express" is a common ...

Midori Midori (みどり, ミドリ, , , ) is the Japanese word for "green" and may refer to: Places * Midori, Gunma * Midori-ku, Chiba * Midori-ku, Nagoya * Midori-ku, Sagamihara * Midori-ku, Saitama * Midori-ku, Yokohama People Given name * M ...

''/''

Huis Ten Bosch Huis ten Bosch ( nl, Paleis Huis ten Bosch, ; English: "House in the Woods") is a royal palace in The Hague, Netherlands. It is one of three official residences of the Dutch monarch; the two others being the Noordeinde Palace in The Hague and ...

'') * 415 series (whole line) * 813 series (between Hizen-Yamaguchi and Haiki) * 817 series (whole line) * KiHa 66/67 DMUs (between

and Haiki) * KiHa 200 DMUs (between Sasebo and Haiki)

Stations

:●： Station stop

References

{{Kyushu Railway Company Lines Lines of Kyushu Railway Company 1067 mm gauge railways in Japan