The is a railway line in southeastern

Tokushima Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Tokushima Prefecture has a population of 728,633 (1 October 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,146 km2 (1,601 sq mi). Tokushima Prefecture borders Kagawa Prefecture to the nort ...

, Japan, owned and operated by

Shikoku Railway Company The , commonly known as , is the smallest of the seven constituent companies of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group). It operates of intercity and local rail services in the four prefectures on the island of Shikoku in Japan. The company has i ...

(JR Shikoku). It connects the prefectural capital of

Tokushima is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Tokushima Prefecture has a population of 728,633 (1 October 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,146 km2 (1,601 sq mi). Tokushima Prefecture borders Kagawa Prefecture to the nort ...

with the town of Kaiyō in Kaifu District. The line's official nickname is , but this is rarely used by local residents as it does not directly service Muroto, the intended destination of the line.

Services

The '' Muroto'' is a limited express service on the Mugi Line, which runs between Tokushima and Kaifu, once a day. In the past, the ''Home Express Anan'' ran between Tokushima and Anan. Between Mugi and Kaifu, all limited express trains are operated as local services. Until 2019, all '' Tsurugisan'' and some ''Muroto'' trains had through service on the

and

Dosan Ahn Changho, sometimes An Chang-ho (; , November 9, 1878 – March 10, 1938) was a Korean independence activist and one of the early leaders of the Korean-American immigrant community in the United States. He is also referred to by his pen na ...

lines to/from . On the New Year's holiday, the seasonal '' Yakuōji-gō'' limited express provides service to/from . Although there are local trains that run the entire length of the Mugi Line, most services are divided at . There are trains that serve the Tokushima – Mugi, Tokushima – Kaifu, and Mugi – Kaifu sections, as well as a single round-trip between Tokushima and Anan. Some local trains have through service onto the Kōtoku, Tokushima, and

Naruto ''Naruto'' is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto. It tells the story of Naruto Uzumaki, a young ninja who seeks recognition from his peers and dreams of becoming the Hokage, the leader of his village. T ...

lines. Driver-only operation is in effect for most daytime trains when there are few passengers.

Station list

* All stations are located in

. * Local trains stop at all stations. For the '' Muroto'' and '' Tsurugisan'' limited express services, see their respective articles. * Trains can pass one another at stations marked "◇" and cannot pass at those marked "｜". * Although the Tokushima and Naruto lines do not officially begin at Tokushima, most trains travel through on the Kōtoku Line to Tokushima.

History

The Awa Steamship Company, which operated a service between Honshu and Shikoku, first built an 11 km line from a port at Komatsushima to Tokushima which opened in 1913. In 1916, the line was extended by 10 km from Nakata to Furusho, resulting in the creation of the 2 km Komatsushima to Nakata branch line. The lines were nationalised the following year. In 1936, the line was extended south from Hanoura 17 km to Kumano, and the 2 km Hanoura to Furusho section became a freight-only branch, which closed in 1961. The line was extended a further 35 km to Mugi in three stages opening between 1937 and 1942. In 1959, it was decided to extend the line to Muroto, where it would connect with the planned extension of the Asa line from Kochi. The first 12 km section to Kaifu opened in 1973, and further construction undertaken until work was suspended in 1980. The Chūden to Komatsushima branch closed in 1985. In 1987, 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 ...

, the line became part of the Shikoku Railway Company (JR Shikoku). In 1988 construction work south of Kaifu was recommenced by a private company underwritten by the Tokushima Prefectural Government, and the next section opened in 1992 as the Asa Kaigan Railway Asato Line.

Other significant dates

*April 1, 1988: '' Muroto'' express service renamed ''Asa'' *November 3, 1990: Bunkanomori Station opens *November 21, 1990: Track upgrade allowing speeds up to 110 km/h completed; Three round-trip '' Uzushio'' limited express trains begin operation; ''Asa'' express service abolished *March 14, 1998: '' Tsurugisan'' limited express begins through operation onto the Mugi Line *March 13, 1999: Portion of ''Uzushio'' limited express operation separated, renamed ''Muroto'' *1 November 2020: JR Shikoku transferred a section in between Kaifu Station and Awa-Kainan Station to Asa Seaside Railway.

References

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

External links