The is a railway line in

Kumamoto Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Kumamoto Prefecture has a population of 1,748,134 () and has a geographic area of . Kumamoto Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the north, Ōita Prefecture to ...

, Japan, connecting Hitoyoshi-Onsen Station in Hitoyoshi and Yunomae Station in Yunomae. It is the only railway line operated by the third sector . As the company name suggests, the line parallels the Kuma River. The company is also called . The company took over the former

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 ...

line in 1989.

History

The entire line was opened by the then

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 ...

in 1924. Freight services ceased beyond Taragi in 1974, and completely in 1980. The third sector company took over the former JNR line in 1989. On 6 July 2020, all services were suspended until further notice, due to severe damage caused by the rainfall, including the complete destruction of a large bridge over the Kuma River. In May 2021, it was officially announced that the line would be restored as a railway. Restoration work is estimated to cost around 4.6 billion yen, with the national government paying 97.5% of it, with the remaining 2.5% being paid by local governments. Kumagawa Railway announced on 9 November 2021 the planned resumption of services starting from 28 November 2021 between Yunomae Station and Higo-Nishinomura Station. Trial runs will be conducted between 19–21 November, and training runs will be conducted between 22–27 November. Services resumed between Yunomae Station and Higo-Nishinomura Station on 28 November 2021.

Basic data

*Distance: 24.8 km / 15.4 mi. *

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 ...

: *Stations: 14 *Double-track line: None *Electric supply: Not electrified *

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 ...

**Hitoyoshi-Onsen – Asagiri:

Tablet Tablet may refer to: Medicine * Tablet (pharmacy), a mixture of pharmacological substances pressed into a small cake or bar, colloquially called a "pill" Computing * Tablet computer, a mobile computer that is primarily operated by touching the s ...

token **Asagiri – Yunomae: Staff token *Stations with

passing loop A passing loop (UK usage) or passing siding (North America) (also called a crossing loop, crossing place, refuge loop or, colloquially, a hole) is a place on a single line railway or tramway, often located at or near a station, where trains or ...

s: 1 (Asagiri Station)

Stations

Financial situation

The company's railway operations have not produced an operating profit since its creation in 1989, and in fiscal 2011, it had operating profit losses of 120.76 million yen.

Rolling stock

As of June 2012, the company operates a fleet of eight diesel cars. With the exception of two tourist trains, these were scheduled to be replaced by five new diesel cars between fiscal 2013 and 2014. The new trains were designed by industrial designer

Eiji Mitooka is a Japanese industrial designer, illustrator, and managing director of the industrial design company . He also works as a design consultant for Kyushu Railway Company (JR Kyushu). Biography Mitooka graduated from Okayama Technical High Sch ...

. The new trains are now in service. All five diesel cars were inundated at Hitoyoshi Onsen Station during torrential rains on 4 July 2020.

References

This article incorporates material from the corresponding article in the Japanese Wikipedia

External links

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