The is a railway line in Japan which connects

Matsumoto Station is a train station in the city of Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture, Japan, operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East), and the private railway operator Alpico Kōtsū. Lines Matsumoto Station is served by the Shinonoi Line and is 13.3 kilo ...

Nagano Prefecture is a Landlocked country, landlocked Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Nagano Prefecture has a population of 2,007,682 () and has a geographic area of . Nagano Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture ...

with Itoigawa Station in

Niigata Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture in the Chūbu region of Honshu of Japan. Niigata Prefecture has a population of 2,131,009 (1 July 2023) and is the List of Japanese prefectures by area, fifth-largest prefecture of Japan by geographic area ...

. There are two operators on the line:

East Japan Railway Company The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and 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 are in ...

(JR East) and

West Japan Railway Company , also referred to as , is one of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) companies and operates in western Honshu. It has its headquarters in Kita-ku, Osaka. It is listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange, is a constituent of the TOPIX Large70 index, ...

(JR West). Minami-Otari is the boundary for the two companies. The section of the line operated by JR East, between Minami-Otari and Matsumoto, is electrified and trains are fairly regular along this section. The JR West section from Minami-Otari to Itoigawa, however, is not electrified and sees less use. Trains operate less frequently along this section.

Route data

*Operators, services: **

(Services and tracks) ***Matsumoto — Minami-Otari: 70.1 km **

(Services and tracks) ***Minami-Otari — Itoigawa: 35.3 km *Stations: **JR East: 33 **JR West: 8 including Itoigawa, excluding Minami-Otari *Double-tracked section: None *Electrification: Matsumoto — Minami-Otari (1,500 V DC)
Minami-Otari — Itoigawa (None) *

Railway signalling Railway signalling (), or 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 enormous weight ...

: **Matsumoto — Itoigawa: Automatic Train Stop, S-type

Services

JR East section

;Limited express, Rapid , the following services are operated. ;Local :Matsumoto – Shinano-Ōmachi: every 30-60 minutes :Shinano-Ōmachi – Minami-Otari: every 60-180 minutes

JR West section

;Local :Minami-Otari - Itoigawa: every 120-180 minutes No limited-stop services such as rapids operate on the JR West section. All trains are local services, which stop at every station.

Rolling stock

JR East section

* E127-100 series EMU *

211 series The is a suburban electric multiple unit (EMU) train type introduced in 1985 by the Japanese National Railways (JNR). The trains are still being used by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). They were formerly used by the West Japan Railwa ...

EMU * E353 series EMU - ''Azusa''

JR West section

KiHa 120 The is a single-car diesel multiple unit (DMU) train type operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR-West) on its rural lines in Japan. Based on Niigata Tekkō's "NDC" lightweight diesel car design intended for third sector operators (such as ...

series DMU

Stations

JR East section

All stations are within

. :A: Limited Express ''Azusa'' :R: Rapid :Trains stop at stations marked "O", skip at stations marked ", ". Closed Stations Yanabaskijōmae Station closed on 16 March 2019

JR West section

History

The section between Matsumoto and was built between 1915 and 1916 by the , which electrified the line in 1926. The company was nationalised in 1937 and was not the same entity as the present Shinano Railway. The rest of the line was built by the

Japanese Government Railways The Japanese Government Railways (JGR) was the national rail transport, railway system directly operated by the until 1949. It was a predecessor of Japanese National Railways and the later Japan Railways Group. Name The English name "Japanese ...

(JGR) and the

Japanese National Railways 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 ...

(JNR) between 1929 and 1957. The Shinano-Ōmachi to Minami Otari section was electrified between 1959 and 1967. CTC signalling was commissioned in 1983, and freight services ceased in 1987. Following privatization of JNR on 1 April 1987, the line was divided and assigned to JR East and JR West. Station numbering was introduced on the line by JR East from 12 December 2016, with stations numbered in sequence from 9 (Minami-Otari) to 42 (Matsumoto).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oito Line Lines of East Japan Railway Company Lines of West Japan Railway Company Railway lines in Nagano Prefecture Rail transport in Niigata Prefecture Railway lines opened in 1915 1067 mm gauge railways in Japan

Route data

Services

JR East section

JR West section

Rolling stock

JR East section

JR West section

Stations

JR East section

JR West section

History

See also

References