The is a Japanese railway line in

Tottori Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Tottori Prefecture is the least populous prefecture of Japan at 570,569 (2016) and has a geographic area of . Tottori Prefecture borders Shimane Prefecture to the west, Hirosh ...

operated by the third-sector operating company . The line connects Kōge Station in

Yazu is a town located in Yazu District, Tottori Prefecture, Japan. As of October 1, 2015, the town has a population of 16,985 and a density of . The total area is . Yazu was formed on March 31, 2005, by the merger of the towns of Funaoka, Hattō ...

with

Wakasa Station is a passenger railway station located in the town of Wakasa, Yazu District, Tottori Prefecture, Japan. It is operated by the third sector company Wakasa Railway. Lines Wakasa Station is a terminus of the Wakasa Line, and is located 19. ...

in Wakasa. It is the only railway line operated by the Wakasa Railway. The third-sector company took over operations of the former

West Japan Railway Company , also referred to as , is one of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) companies and operates in western Honshu. It has its headquarters in Kita-ku, Osaka. It is listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange, is a constituent of the TOPIX Large70 index, and ...

(JR West) line in 1987.

Owners and operator

Wakasa Railway head office entry 20140905

The line is operated by Wakasa Railway Co., Ltd. Although the company originally owned the railway line, on April 1, 2009, the ownership was transferred to the municipalities (towns) where the line exists and the company became a pure operator of the railway as a Category 2 Railway Operator. The town of Yazu owns 16.5 km of track and the town of Wakasa owns 2.7 km of track as Category 3 Railway Operators.

Stations

* Some trains operate through from the JR West

Imbi Line The is a railway line operated by the West Japan Railway Company (JR West) between Tottori, Tottori Prefecture and Tsuyama, Okayama Prefecture, Japan. Route data *Operating Company: **West Japan Railway Company (Services and tracks) *Distan ...

(Tottori - Kōge).

Rolling stock

Diesel railcars

From the start of third-sector operations in 1987, the line was operated using a fleet of four WT2500 series diesel cars. Three of these were subsequently refurbished, becoming WT3000 series, and a new stainless steel WT3300 series diesel car, WT3301, was also added to the fleet. File:Wakasa Railway WT3000-3003 WT3300-3301 WT3000-3001.jpg, WT3000 series car 3003 ''Sakura 3'' in August 2009 File:Wakasa Railway WT3300-3301 WT3000-3001.jpg, WT3300 series car 3301 in August 2009

Locomotives

The railway owns a former

JNR Class DD16 The is a four-axle Bo-Bo wheel arrangement diesel-hydraulic locomotive type operated in Japan since 1972. A total of 65 locomotives were built between 1971 and 1975, and , one locomotive remains in service, operated by East Japan Railway Compa ...

diesel locomotive, number DD16 7, previously used at the

Railway Technical Research Institute , or , is the technical research company under the Japan Railways group of companies. Overview RTRI was established in its current form in 1986 just before Japanese National Railways (JNR) was privatised and split into separate JR group compani ...

Kokubunji, Tokyo file:Kondoato.JPG, 250px, Ruins of Musashi Kokubun-ji temple is a Cities of Japan, city located in the western portion of Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 126,791, and a population density of 11,000 persons per km ...

, and former

JNR Class C12 The Class C12 is a type of 2-6-2T steam locomotive built by the Japanese Government Railways and the Japanese National Railways from 1932 to 1947. A total of 282 Class C12 locomotives were built and designed by Hideo Shima . Service outside J ...

2-6-2T steam locomotive number C12 167. File:DD16 wakasa.jpg, Class DD16 diesel locomotive DD16 7 in April 2013 File:C12 167.jpg, Class C12 steam locomotive C12 167 in April 2013

History

The line opened on 20 January 1930 as the 4.5 km Wakasa Line from Kōge to Hayabusa. The entire line to Wakasa opened on 1 December 1930. The original plan was to extend the line beyond Wakasa to the

Sanin Main Line The is a railway line in western Japan, which connects Kyoto and Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi, operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR West). It is the major railway line of the San'in region, approximately paralleling the Japan Sea, crossing Kyot ...

, near Yōka Station, but this was never realized. Freight services were discontinued from 1 October 1974. With the privatization of

JNR 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 pre ...

in April 1987, the Wakasa Line was transferred to the ownership of

(JR West). However, JR West ceased operations on the line on 13 October 1987, with operations taken over by the third-sector Wakasa Railway Company from 14 October.

References

External links

* {{Specified local lines, state=collapsed Railway lines in Japan Rail transport in Tottori Prefecture 1067 mm gauge railways in Japan Japanese third-sector railway lines