Echigo Line
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The is a railway line operated by
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) which connects the cities of Kashiwazaki and Niigata in
Niigata Prefecture is a prefecture in the Chūbu region of Honshu of Japan. Niigata Prefecture has a population of 2,227,496 (1 July 2019) and is the fifth-largest prefecture of Japan by geographic area at . Niigata Prefecture borders Toyama Prefecture and ...
, Japan. The line's name is taken from the name of the ancient
Echigo Province was an old province in north-central Japan, on the shores of the Sea of Japan. It bordered on Uzen, Iwashiro, Kōzuke, Shinano, and Etchū Provinces. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Echigo''" in . It corresponds today to Niig ...
, which corresponds to most of modern-day
Niigata Prefecture is a prefecture in the Chūbu region of Honshu of Japan. Niigata Prefecture has a population of 2,227,496 (1 July 2019) and is the fifth-largest prefecture of Japan by geographic area at . Niigata Prefecture borders Toyama Prefecture and ...
.


History

. The Echigo Railway Co. opened the Hakusan - Kashiwazaki section of the line in 1912, and was nationalised in 1927. In 1951, the Hakusan - Niigata section was opened, CTC signalling was commissioned in 1982, the line was electrified at 1,500 V DC in 1984, and freight services ceased in 1987.


Former connecting lines

* Teradomari Station: The Nagaoka Railway Co. opened a 39 km line to Raikoji (on the
Shin'etsu Line The Shinetsu Main Line ( ja, 信越本線, ) is a railway line, consisting of three geographically separated sections, operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East) in Japan. It was originally one continuous line connecting and via . S ...
) between 1915 and 1921. This company introduced Japan's first diesel railcar in 1928, and in 1951 electrified 31 km of the line at 750 V DC in 70 days, completing the balance the following year. Significant typhoon damage occurred in 1966, and in 1972, passenger services ceased between Raikoji and Nishinagaoka, with the entire line becoming freight-only three years later. The line closed in 1995. * Sekiya Station: The Niigata Kotsu Co. opened a 34 km line, electrified at 1,500 V DC, to Tsubame on the Yahiko Line between 1933 and 1934. Freight services ceased in 1982, and the line closed between 1993 and 1999.


Services

Although most services are operated to and from Niigata Station, operations are divided into two sections: Kashiwazaki – and Yoshida – Niigata. Some services operate over the entire line and through to on the Shinetsu Main Line, on the
Hakushin Line The is a Japanese railway line which runs between and stations in the cities of Niigata and Shibata in Niigata Prefecture. It is part of the East Japan Railway Company (JR East) network. Basic data *Operators, distances: ** East Japan Ra ...
, or on the Yahiko Line. Between Kashiwazaki and Yoshida, there is a period of over three hours where no trains operate. Between Niigata and Uchino there are three trains per hour, with another one to two trains per hour to Yoshida.


Station list

* All stations are located within
Niigata Prefecture is a prefecture in the Chūbu region of Honshu of Japan. Niigata Prefecture has a population of 2,227,496 (1 July 2019) and is the fifth-largest prefecture of Japan by geographic area at . Niigata Prefecture borders Toyama Prefecture and ...
. * Trains can pass each other at stations marked "◇", "∨", and "∧"; they cannot pass at stations marked "|".


Rolling stock

* E129 series 2/4-car EMUs (since December 2014) JRNiigataUsage_Latest.svg, Operations in Niigata area Series115_1000_Echigo-Line.jpg, 115 series EMU ( - , October 2019)


Previous

* 115 series 3-car EMUs (until March 2022) *
165 series The was an express electric multiple unit (EMU) train type introduced in 1963 by Japanese National Railways (JNR). History During the early 1960s, the Chūō Main Line and Shinetsu Line were electrified, requiring new EMUs for the express ser ...
*
E127 series The is a DC electric multiple unit (EMU) train type operated on local services by East Japan Railway Company (JR East) in Japan since 1995, and also by the third-sector railway operator Echigo Tokimeki Railway since March 2015 as the ET127 ser ...
2-car EMUs (Yoshida - Niigata) (until March 2022)


References


External links


Stations of the Echigo Line
(JR East) {{East Japan Railway Company Lines Lines of East Japan Railway Company Rail transport in Niigata Prefecture Railway lines opened in 1912 1067 mm gauge railways in Japan 1912 establishments in Japan