is a junction passenger

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

located in the city of Nōgata,

Fukuoka Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Fukuoka Prefecture has a population of 5,109,323 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,986 Square kilometre, km2 (1,925 sq mi). Fukuoka Prefecture borders ...

, Japan. It is operated jointly by

JR Kyushu The , also referred to as , is one of the seven constituent companies of Japan Railways Group (JR Group). It operates intercity rail services within Kyushu, Japan. It formerly operated the Beetle hydrofoil service across the Tsushima Strait be ...

and by the third-sector railway operator

Heisei Chikuhō Railway The is a third-sector operator of four railway lines in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The railway's nickname is ''Heichiku.'' Principal investors Fukuoka Prefecture holds 27.5% of the stock in the railway. The cities of Tagawa, Nōgata, and Yu ...

. Regarding the Heisei Chikuho Railway portion of the station, on April 1, 2009, Fujimoto Kogyo, a railway vehicle parts sales and graphics company headquartered in

Kitakyushu is a Cities of Japan, city located in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. As of June 1, 2019, Kitakyushu has an estimated population of 940,978, making it the second-largest city in both Fukuoka Prefecture and the island of Kyushu after the city of Fuk ...

, acquired the naming rights, and the station was called . As of September 2022, the contract has ended and it has returned to Nogata Station.

Lines

The station is served by the

Fukuhoku Yutaka Line The is the collective name for four sections of railway lines operated by Kyushu Railway Company (JR Kyushu) in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. It runs between Kurosaki Station and Hakata station (66.6 km). The sections called Fukuhoku Yutaka L ...

portion of the

Chikuhō Main Line The is a railway line in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan, operated by Kyushu Railway Company (JR Kyushu). It connects Wakamatsu Station in Kitakyushu with Haruda Station in Chikushino, Fukuoka, Chikushino. Between Orio Station and Haruda Station, as ...

and is located 24.8 km from the starting point of the line at . In addition, the station is the northern terminus and starting point of the Heisei Chikuho Railway

Ita Line The is a 16.1 km railway line owned by the Public-Private Partnerships In Japan, third-sector company Heisei Chikuhō Railway. The line runs north from Tagawa, Fukuoka, Tagawa to Nōgata, Fukuoka, Nōgata, all within Fukuoka Prefecture. H ...

Station layout

The JR part of the station consists of two

island platform An island platform (also center platform (American English) or centre platform (British English)) is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway inte ...

s serving four tracks.

Passing loop A passing loop (UK usage) or passing siding (North America) (also called a crossing loop, crossing place, refuge loop or, colloquially, a hole) is a place on a single line railway or tramway, often located at or near a station, where trains o ...

s run between the platform tracks. In addition, numerous sidings branch off the main tracks. To the west of the station, there are more sidings that belong to the JR Kyushu Nōgata train depot. The station has a ''

Midori no Madoguchi , short for ''Magnetic-electronic Automatic'' ''Reservation System,'' is a train ticket reservation system used by the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) companies and travel agencies in Japan. It was developed jointly by Hitachi and the former Ja ...

'' staffed ticket office. The Heisei Chikuho Railway part of the station comprises two

bay platform In the United Kingdom and in Australia, a bay platform is a dead-end railway platform at a railway station that has through lines. It is normal for bay platforms to be shorter than their associated through platforms. They must have a buffer stop ...

s serving two tracks.

Platforms

File:20080331 Nogata Station.JPG, The former station building, since demolished. File:Nogata Station (Heisei Chikuho Railway) 20160429.JPG, The entrance to the Heisei Chikuho Railway platforms in Nōgata Station.

History

The station was opened on 30 August 1891 by the privately run Chikuho Kogyo Railway as the southern terminus of a stretch of track which it had laid from . It became a through-station on 28 October 1892 when the track was further extended south to . On 11 February 1893, a new stretch of track was laid from the station to Kanada. On 1 October 1897, the Chikuho Kogyo Railway, now renamed the Chikuho Railway, merged with the

Kyushu Railway was a company that built and operated railways in Kyushu, one of four main islands of Japan. Most of its lines came under the control of Japanese Government Railways following nationalization in 1907, and many are now operated by Kyushu Railway ...

. After the Kyushu Railway was nationalized on 1 July 1907,

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) took over control of the station. On 12 October 1909, the track from Wakamatsu became the Chikuho Main Line while the track to Kanada became the Ita Line. With the privatization of

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), the successor of JGR, on 1 April 1987, control of the station passed to JR Kyushu. On 1 October 1989, Heisei Chikuho Railway assumed control of the Ita Line.

Passenger statistics

In fiscal 2020, the JR station was used by a daily average of 2487 boarding passengers, making it the 59th busiest station on the JR Kyushu network. During the same period, the Heisei Chikuho Railway portion of the station was used by 587 passengers.

Surrounding area

*Nogata City Hall Fukuoka Prefecture Nogata General Government Building/Civil Engineering Office *Nogata City Coal Memorial Hall (about 15 minutes walk to the south) *Nogata Tanio Art Museum *Fukuoka Prefectural Kurate High School *Fukuoka Prefectural Nogata High School

References

External links

Nōgata Station (JR Kyushu)
Railway stations in Japan opened in 1891 Railway stations in Fukuoka Prefecture Nōgata, Fukuoka {{Fukuoka-railstation-stub