The is a local railway line in

Iwate Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. It is the second-largest Japanese prefecture at , with a population of 1,210,534 (as of October 1, 2020). Iwate Prefecture borders Aomori Prefecture to the north, Akita Prefectu ...

, Japan, operated by 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 ar ...

(JR East). It originally connected Ichinoseki Station in

Ichinoseki is a city located in Iwate Prefecture, in the Tōhoku region of northern Japan. , the city had a population of 114,476 and a population density of 91 persons per km² in 46,375 households. It is currently the second largest city by population in ...

Sakari Station is a railway station in the city of Ōfunato in Iwate Prefecture, Japan, jointly operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East), the third-sector operator Sanriku Railway, and the freight operator Iwate Development Railway. Lines Sakari Sta ...

Ōfunato is a city located in Iwate Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 35,452, and a population density of 110 persons per km2 in 14,895 households. The total area of the city is . Geography Ōfunato is located in southeaster ...

, on the Tohoku coast. The eastern section of the line was significantly damaged by the

2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami The occurred at 14:46 Japan Standard Time, JST (05:46 UTC) on 11 March. The Moment magnitude scale, magnitude 9.0–9.1 (M) Submarine earthquake, undersea megathrust earthquake had an epicenter in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Oshika Peni ...

on 11 March 2011. In January 2012, services resumed on the western 62.0 km (38.5 mi) portion of the route between

and

Kesennuma is a city in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 59,803 and a population density of in 26,390 households. The total area of the city is . Large sections of the city were destroyed by the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake a ...

. The eastern section between Kesennuma and Sakari remains closed, and in February 2012, JR East officially proposed that this section of the line be scrapped and the right-of-way used as a

bus rapid transit Bus rapid transit (BRT), also called a busway or transitway, is a bus-based public transport system designed to have much more capacity, reliability and other quality features than a conventional bus system. Typically, a BRT system includes ...

(BRT) route. The section was routinely replaced by BRT, and this section of the line was formally closed as a railway on 1 April 2020. The line connects with the

Kesennuma Line The is a local railway line in Japan, operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It connected Maeyachi Station in the city of Ishinomaki, Miyagi to Kesennuma Station in the city of Kesennuma, Miyagi. The route links the north-easte ...

at Kesennuma Station and formerly connected with the privately owned Sanriku Railway's Minami-Riasu Line at Sakari Station in

History

The Ichinoseki – Kesennuma section opened in stages between 1925 and 1929, with the Kesennuma – Sakari section opening between 1932 and 1935. Freight services ceased in 1983/4. Following the 2011 disaster, services resumed on the Ichinoseki – Kesennuma section on 1 April, but were suspended again between 7–18 April due to aftershocks. The first section of the busway replacing the Kesennuma – Sakari section opened in March 2013.

Operations

In April 2005, there were 27 services daily using this line (14 eastbound, 13 westbound). Following the 2011 disaster, operations were reduced to ten eastbound local trains and one ''Super Dragon'' rapid service, with westbound services consisting of nine local trains and one rapid. In March 2013 the rapid services were withdrawn. On 22 December 2012, a special ''

Pokémon (an abbreviation for in Japan) is a Japanese media franchise managed by The Pokémon Company, founded by Nintendo, Game Freak, and Creatures, the owners of the trademark and copyright of the franchise. In terms of what each of thos ...

With You'' train began running on the line. The train operates on selected days, departing eastbound at 11:01am and returning westbound at 2:37pm. The train stops at most stations on the way for between six and thirteen minutes. All seats are reserved and a seat fee is payable in addition to the basic fare. file:DC @ Rikuzen-Takata (2862527607).jpg, KiHa 100 series diesel multiple unit file:JR-East "Pokemon With You Train" Kiha100.jpg, ''Pokémon With You'' Train file:BRT-Sakari-stn01.jpg, Hino Blue Ribbon City bus used on BRT services file:JR-East-Ofunato-line-BRT-1824.jpg, Isuzu Erga bus used on BRT services

Station list

Stations in greyed out cells have been closed since the

References

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

External links

Article on Tohoku railways
Link is broken {{DEFAULTSORT:Ofunato Line Lines of East Japan Railway Company Rail transport in Iwate Prefecture Rail transport in Miyagi Prefecture 1067 mm gauge railways in Japan Railway lines opened in 1925 1925 establishments in Japan Bus rapid transit in Japan