The was a railway line in northern Japan that linked

Aomori Station is a railway station in the city of Aomori in Aomori Prefecture, Japan. The station has been operating since September 1891, though the most recent station building, which consists of three island platforms connected to the station building by a ...

Aomori Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan in the Tōhoku region. The prefecture's capital, largest city, and namesake is the city of Aomori (city), Aomori. Aomori is the northernmost prefecture on Japan's main island, Honshu, and is border ...

and Hakodate Station in

Hokkaido is the list of islands of Japan by area, second-largest island of Japan 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 fr ...

. The Tsugaru-Kaikyō Line was actually made up of portions of four separate lines: the Tsugaru Line, operated by

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 ...

, and the Kaikyō, Esashi, and Hakodate Main lines, operated by

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

. The name was created following the opening of the Kaikyō Line and Seikan Tunnel on 13 March 1988. The line name has been out of use since 26 March 2016 when the

Hokkaido Shinkansen The is a Japanese high-speed Shinkansen rail line that links up with the Tōhoku Shinkansen in northern Aomori Prefecture in Honshu and continues on into the interior of Hokkaido through the undersea Seikan Tunnel. Construction started in May ...

opened and replaced the regular passenger services connecting Aomori and Hakodate on the Tsugaru-Kaikyō Line with high-speed services along the shinkansen line. The railway lines that formed the Tsugaru-Kaikyō Line continue to operate freight and passenger trains except for passenger trains on the Kaikyō Line section. The section of line between Naka-Oguni and Kikonai Station ceased operation for conventional line passenger trains like Hakuchō and Super Hakuchō and sleeper trains like Hokutosei, Cassiopeia, Twilight Express and Hamanasu by the 21 March 2015. Today this section is only operated by the

, conventional line freight trains and the tourist train Shikishima.

Station and line divisions

through Naka-Oguni Station comprised part of the Tsugaru Line * Between Naka-Oguni Station and Kikonai Station was the

Kaikyō Line The is an railway line operated mainly by the Hokkaido Railway Company (JR Hokkaido). The line connected Naka-Oguni Station in Sotogahama, Aomori, through the Seikan Tunnel between Honshu and Hokkaido, to Kikonai Station in Kikonai, Hokkai ...

with former stations * Kikonai Station through Goryōkaku Station comprised part of the Esashi Line (present-day South Hokkaido Railway) * Goryōkaku Station through Hakodate Station comprised part of the Hakodate Main Line

References

External links

Lines of East Japan Railway Company Rail transport in Aomori Prefecture 1067 mm gauge railways in Japan {{Japan-rail-line-stub