The is a Japanese
railway
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 ...
line connecting
Kiryū Station
is a junction railway station in the city of Kiryū, Gunma, Japan, jointly operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East) and the third-sector railway operating company Watarase Keikoku Railway. Kiryu Station is the easternmost JR stati ...
in
Kiryū,
Gunma and
Matō Station
is a railway station on the Watarase Keikoku Line in the city of Nikkō, Tochigi, Japan, operated by the third-sector railway operator Watarase Keikoku Railway.
Lines
Matō Station is a terminal station on the Watarase Keikoku Line and is 44 ...
in
Nikkō,
Tochigi. This is the only railway line that the
third-sector company operates. The company and line are also known as or . The company acquired the line from the
East Japan Railway Company
The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and is the largest of the seven Japan Railways Group companies. The company name is officially abbreviated as JR-EAST or JR East in English, and as in Japanese. The company's headquarters are ...
(JR East) in 1989. As the name suggests, the line runs along the
Watarase River through a deep valley.
History
The Ashio Railway Co. opened the line to Ashio-Motoyama (2 km beyond Mato) in 1911/12 to service the
Ashio Copper Mine, and leased the line to
JNR in 1913. Passenger services were introduced in 1914, and the line was nationalised in 1918.
The copper mine closed in 1973, the same year the line was deviated for the construction of the
Kusaki Dam, including the 5242m Kusaki Tunnel.
In 1989 the Ashio-Motoyama - Mato section was closed and the operation of the balance of the line was transferred to the Watarase Keikoku Railway Co.
Basic data
*Distance: 44.1 km
*
Gauge
Gauge ( or ) may refer to:
Measurement
* Gauge (instrument), any of a variety of measuring instruments
* Gauge (firearms)
* Wire gauge, a measure of the size of a wire
** American wire gauge, a common measure of nonferrous wire diameter, es ...
: 1,067 mm
*Stations: 17
*Double-tracking: None
*Electrification: None
*
Railway signalling
Railway signalling (), also called railroad signaling (), is a system used to control the movement of railway traffic. Trains move on fixed rails, making them uniquely susceptible to collision. This susceptibility is exacerbated by the enormou ...
:
**Kiryū — Shimo-Shinden: Automatic
**Shimo-Shinden — Matō: Simplified Automatic
Station list
*Trains stop at stations marked "●" and pass those marked "｜".
*Local trains stop at all stations (other than Shimo-Shinden Signal Box).
References
This article incorporates material from the corresponding article in the Japanese Wikipedia.
External links
Watarase Keikoku Railway official website
Railway lines in Japan
Rail transport in Gunma Prefecture
Rail transport in Tochigi Prefecture
1067 mm gauge railways in Japan
Japanese third-sector railway lines
{{Japan-rail-line-stub