is a

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

Minamiaso, Kumamoto is a village in Aso District, Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan. It was formed on February 13, 2005 from the merger of the villages of Chōyō, Hakusui and Kugino. Neighbouring towns are Takamori, Ōzu, and Nishihara. As of April 30, 2019, the ...

, Japan. It is jointly operated by

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 ...

and the

Minami Aso Railway The is a Japanese railway line in Kumamoto Prefecture, 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 ca ...

and is a transfer station between the JR Kyushu

Hōhi Main Line The is a railway line in Kyushu, southern Japan, operated by the Kyushu Railway Company (JR Kyushu). It connects the west and east coasts of the island. The line originates at Kumamoto Station in Kumamoto and ends at terminal of Ōita Station ...

and the Minami Aso Takamori Line. The station is also noted for the three-stage switchback that trains need to execute in order to proceed to , the next station on the Hōhi Main Line.

Lines

The station is served by the

and is located from the starting point of the line at . It is also the starting point for the Takamori Line.

Layout

The station consists of two island platforms serving three tracks. The station forecourt/parking area is located at a higher level than the platforms. From there, a flight of steps descends to the first island platform. The station buildings for both the Minami Aso Railway and JR Kyushu are located on this platform, which also serves the Takamori Line. From the JR Kyushu station, a level crossing gives access to the other island platform which serves two Hōhi Main Line tracks. Both station buildings are unstaffed and serve as waiting rooms. A souvenir shop is located at the station forecourt. File:Tateno Station square 20110914.jpg, Station forecourt. Note the souvenir shop and the stairs leading to the platform. File:Platform Sign of Tateno Station.JPG, Base of the stairs from forecourt. To the right is the JR station entrance. To the left, the Miniami Aso station. File:Minami Aso Railway in Tateno Station.JPG, The Minami Aso Railway platform. The JR station is to the extreme right, outside the camera view. File:Tateno Station 5.JPG, The rear of the Minami Aso station building. The track in the foreground is JR's. File:JR in Tateno Station.JPG, The second island platform, used exclusively by JR trains. File:Kumamoto Tateno Station Layout 1.svg, Schematic of station layout. Gray is the station forecourt. The narrow blue rectangle is the Miniami Aso platform, the thick blue is the JR Kyushu.

Adjacent stations

Switchback

Tateno station is located at an altitude of while the next station, , (by rail) away, is at . In order to achieve a practical gradient while ascending within this distance, trains need to execute a three-stage switchback (changing directions twice) after leaving the station. Trains approaching from enter Tateno from the west. They then reverse direction and exit the station westward to a point at altitude of where they reverse direction again onto a track heading for the next station. A signboard on the Tateno Station platform gives passengers a detailed guide to this procedure. The tracks of this switchback were severely damaged by the 2016 Kumamoto earthquakes. Blog entry with good photographic coverage of station facilities including about the switchback. Blog entry with good photographic coverage of damage to the switchback. file:Kumamoto Tateno Station Aerial Photo 1.JPG, Aerial photo showing Tateno Station with tracks in a brown colour. The switchback can be clearly seen.

History

On 21 June 1914,

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 ...

(JGR) opened the (later the Miyagi Line) from eastwards to . The line was extended eastward in phases and was opened as the new eastern terminal on 11 November 1916. It became a through-station on 25 January 1918 when the track was extended further to . By 2 December 1928, the track at Miyaji was linked up with the , which had been extended westwards in phases from since 1914. Through-traffic was established between Kumamoto and Ōita. The two lines were merged and the entire stretch redesignated as the

. 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), the successor of JGR, on 1 April 1987, the station came under the control of JR Kyushu. The JR track from to was heavily damaged in the 2016 Kumamoto earthquakes and service between the stations, including to Tateno has been suspended. JR Kyushu has commenced repair work, starting first with the sector from Higo-Ōzu to Tateno but has not announced a targeted completion date. See for details of damaged track locations.

References

External links

Tateno (JR Kyushu)
{in lang, ja Railway stations in Kumamoto Prefecture Railway stations in Japan opened in 1916