is a railway line in

Hokkaido is Japan, Japan's Japanese archipelago, second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost Prefectures of Japan, prefecture, making up its own List of regions of Japan, region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; th ...

, Japan, operated by

Hokkaido Railway Company The is one of the constituent companies of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group), and is often referred to using its official abbreviation of . It operates intercity and local rail services in Hokkaido, Japan. The company introduced Kitaca, a s ...

(JR Hokkaido) between in

Asahikawa is a city in Kamikawa Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. It is the capital of the subprefecture, and the second-largest city in Hokkaido, after Sapporo. It has been a core city since April 1, 2000. The city is currently well known for the Asahiy ...

and

Abashiri Station is a railway station in Abashiri, Hokkaido, Japan, operated by the Hokkaido Railway Company (JR Hokkaido), located. It is the main railway station in the city. Abashiri Station comes first in an alphabetical list of Japanese railway stations ( ...

Abashiri is a city located in Okhotsk Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. Abashiri is known as the site of the Abashiri Prison, a Meiji-era facility used for the incarceration of political prisoners. The old prison has been turned into a museum, but the cit ...

. The name comes from the first Kanji characters of and , names of ancient

provinces A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

along the line. On 19 November 2016, JR Hokkaido's President announced plans to rationalise the network by up to , or ~50% of the current network, including the proposed conversion to Third Sector operation of the Sekihoku Main Line, but if local governments are not agreeable, the line will face closure.

Basic data

*Operators, distances **

(Services and tracks) ***Whole line, from Shin-Asahikawa to Abashiri: **

Japan Freight Railway Company , or , is one of the seven constituent companies of Japan Railways Group (JR Group). It provides transportation of cargo nationwide throughout Japan. Its headquarters are in Shibuya, Tokyo near Shinjuku Station. The Japan Railways Group was fou ...

(Services) ***From Shin-Asahikawa to Kitami: *

Signal box In signal processing, a signal is a function that conveys information about a phenomenon. Any quantity that can vary over space or time can be used as a signal to share messages between observers. The '' IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing' ...

es: 4 *Track: single *Block system: Automatic

Services

The ''

Okhotsk Okhotsk ( rus, Охотск, p=ɐˈxotsk) is an urban locality (a work settlement) and the administrative center of Okhotsky District of Khabarovsk Krai, Russia, located at the mouth of the Okhota River on the Sea of Okhotsk. Population: ...

'' limited express train, named after the

Sea of Okhotsk The Sea of Okhotsk ( rus, Охо́тское мо́ре, Ohótskoye móre ; ja, オホーツク海, Ohōtsuku-kai) is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean. It is located between Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula on the east, the Kuril Islands ...

, runs from

Sapporo ( ain, サッ・ポロ・ペッ, Satporopet, lit=Dry, Great River) is a city in Japan. It is the largest city north of Tokyo and the largest city on Hokkaido, the northernmost main island of the country. It ranks as the fifth most populous city ...

with two daily return workings. The ''

Taisetsu The is a limited express service operated by Hokkaido Railway Company (JR Hokkaido) between and in Hokkaido via the Sekihoku Main Line since 4 March 2017. The ''Taisetsu'' train service name was also formerly used for express services operate ...

'' limited express train runs from Asahikawa to Abashiri with two return workings daily. The limited rapid train ''

Kitami is a city in Okhotsk Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. It is the most populous city and the commercial center in the subprefecture, although the subprefecture capital is Abashiri. Kitami is physically in the middle of Okhotsk Subprefecture. Th ...

'' operates between

and

, with one return service daily. Local services along the line are roughly divided into three segments. In the segment between Asahikawa and Kamikawa, the line functions as a

commuter rail Commuter rail, or suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting commuters to a central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter towns. Generally commuter rail systems are con ...

of Asahikawa City. There is one local train service per one to two hours. The segment between Kamikawa and Engaru is a sparsely populated area. Between Kamikawa and Shirataki, a local train runs one lap per day. For the segment between Engaru and Abashiri, there is one local train service per one to two hours.

Stations

:LE: Limited Express ''Okhotsk''/''Taisetsu'' :LR: Limited Rapid ''Kitami'' :All non-local trains stop at stations marked +, Some stop at those marked *, No such trains (other than local) stop at those marked -. Local trains may skip stations marked ◌.

Closed Stations

*Nakakoshi, Oku-Shirataki and Temmaku: Since 1 July 2001, of which Nakakoshi and Oku-Shirataki downgraded to signal bases *Shin-sakaeno: Since 18 March 2006 *A44 , A54 , A46 and A47 : Since 26 March 2016, of which Kanehana and Shimo-Shirataki downgraded to signal bases *A52 , A33 , A36 and A42 : Since 13 March 2021

History

The principal route between Sapporo and

Okhotsk Subprefecture is a subprefecture of Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan. It was renamed from the earlier Abashiri Subprefecture on April 1, 2010. Abashiri Subprefecture was established in 1897. Etymology Abashiri Prefecture was named after the subprefectural offic ...

has changed several times. Originally, the route was the

Hakodate Main Line The is a railway line connecting the cities of Hakodate and Asahikawa via Sapporo in Hokkaido, Japan. It is one of the trunk lines operated by the Hokkaido Railway Company (JR Hokkaido). The Sawara Line, a 35 km loop line from Ōnuma to Mo ...

to Asahikawa, then the southbound

Nemuro Main Line is a railway line in Hokkaido operated by Hokkaido Railway Company (JR Hokkaido), connecting Takikawa Station in Takikawa and Nemuro Station in Nemuro, including Obihiro and Kushiro. Higashi-Nemuro is the most easterly situated station on ...

and then the northbound line from Ikeda, via the to Kitami. The route shortened by when the section between Takikawa and Furano on the Nemuro Main Line opened in 1913. Another route, northbound from Asahikawa to Nayoro, then southeast to Kitami was completed as the and in 1921. A third route was a shortcut between Asahikawa and Engaru, straight through the Kitami Pass. The , completed in 1932, finally completed the main route still used today. The current Sekihoku Main Line consists of the remnants of these three lines. The section between Shin-Asahikawa and Engaru is from the Sekihoku Line, the section between Engaru and Kitami from the Yūbetsu Line, and the section between Kitami and Abashiri from the Abashiri Main Line. The first of the abovementioned sections to open was from Abashiri to Kitami in 1912. The Kitami to Engaru line was opened between 1912 and 1915 as a gauge line, but was converted to gauge in 1916. The Asahikawa to Kamikawa section opened between 1922 and 1923, and the Engaru to Shiritaki section between 1927 and 1929. The final section, including the Ishikita tunnel, opened in 1932. In July 2015, JR Hokkaido announced that it would be closing four stations line ( Shimo-Shirataki Station, Kyu-Shirataki Station, Kami-Shirataki Station, and Kanehana Station) in March 2016, due to low passenger usage.

References

External links

JR Hokkaido official website

JR Hokkaido official website
{{Sekihoku Main Line Rail transport in Hokkaido Lines of Hokkaido Railway Company 1067 mm gauge railways in Japan Railway lines opened in 1932