Yamada Line (JR East) explained

Yamada Line
Native Name:山田線
Native Name Lang:ja
Color:A52A2A
Type:Heavy rail
Status:In operation
Locale:Iwate Prefecture
Stations:15
Open:10 October 1923
Owner: JR East
Operator:JR East
Character:Rural
Stock:KiHa 110 series DMU
Linelength:102.1km (63.4miles)
Tracks:Entire line single tracked
Electrification:None
Speed:85 km/h (53 mph)
Map State:Yamada Line in red

The is a regional railway line in Japan operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East).[1] [2] The railway line connects Morioka Station in Morioka City to Miyako Station in Miyako City, and is named after the town of Yamada in Iwate Prefecture, which the line used to serve. The railway line traverses through the Kitakami Mountains,[1] running parallel to National Route 106 for most of its length.

History

19th to 20th century

The Yamada Line was planned to connect Morioka with the Sanriku region, and was originally planned to run from Morioka to Rikuchu-Yamada, as stipulated in the Railway Construction Law of 1892.[1] An environmental survey was carried out, but because the proposed route of the Yamada Line was to cross through the Kitakami Mountains between Morioka and Miyako at an altitude of over 1,000m (751m above sea level), construction of the line initially failed to materialise.[1] It was not until 1920, when Hara Takashi, who had become the Prime Minister of Japan two years prior and had been a native of Iwate Prefecture, made the decision to build the line. The Yamada Line later opened in stages; the section from Morioka to Kami-Yonai opened on 10 October 1923, and the rest of the line to Rikuchu-Yamada opened by 1935.[1]

An extension of the Yamada Line south of Rikuchu-Yamada was planned to be constructed as part of the "Railway from Yamada to Kamaishi to Ofunato in Iwate Prefecture", as defined in Appendix No. 7 of the Revised Railway Construction Act.[2] The extension of the Yamada Line from Rikuchu-Yamada up to Kamaishi was opened by 1939,[2] prior to the outbreak of World War II.

After the opening of the Yamada Line, passenger trains travelling between Morioka and Miyako became so congested that it was often impossible to sit down and people had to stand up on the trains. Prior to the final extension of the Kamaishi Line in 1950 to Kamaishi, the Yamada Line was the only direct line between the coast and the inland areas of northern Iwate,[1] and upon the extension of the Yamada Line to Kamaishi by 1939,[2] freight traffic began using the Yamada Line throughout the day and night, as it formed the sole rail connection between Kamaishi and the Tohoku Main Line.

In November 1946, after the Pacific War, the Yamada Line was closed for a long time between Hiratsuto and Toyomane Stations due to wind and flood damage. As a replacement for the closed section of the Yamada Line, the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers ordered the Kamaishi Line to be rebuilt and extended to Kamaishi.[2] Following the opening of the Kamaishi Line extension to Kamaishi, the principal route for inland freight transport from Kamaishi was shifted away from the Yamada Line to the Kamaishi Line, and the relative importance of the Yamada Line declined. Freight services on the Yamada Line would later cease altogether on 1 November 1986,[1] and ownership of the Yamada Line was transferred over to JR East following the privatisation of Japanese National Railways (JNR) on 1 April 1987, which integrated the line into the JR East network.[1]

21st century

The 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami on 11 March 2011 flooded 21.7 km of the railway line between Miyako and Kamaishi (55.4 km), destroying four of the 13 stations, 10% of the tracks, six railway bridges and ten embankments, forcing the closure of the entire Yamada Line. While the section of the Yamada Line between Morioka and Miyako reopened on 26 March 2011, the railway line between Miyako and Kamaishi, which parallels the Sanriku-Kaigan area of the Pacific coast, was extensively damaged or washed away altogether. Rail service on this section would not resume for eight years.

Ōshida and Asagishi Stations were temporarily closed from January until 15 March 2013 due to low passenger numbers during the winter months.[3] The two stations would later be closed permanently, following the last day of services on 25 March 2016.[4]

Hiratsuto Station was closed permanently on 17 March 2023, owing to declining passenger numbers.

Failed temporary BRT proposals

In February 2012, JR East submitted a proposal to formally close the Yamada Line permanently between Miyako and Kamaishi, and the line's right-of-way converted into a bus rapid transit (BRT) route instead.[5] On 25 June 2012, a Public Transport Security Council, which consisted of the representatives of four cities and towns along the Yamada Line, Iwate Prefecture, and other organisations, was convened in a meeting held behind closed doors to discuss the restoration of the remaining section of the Yamada Line between Miyako and Kamaishi.[6] The meeting discussed measures to ensure the continuity of alternative forms of public transport until the restoration of the Yamada Line, which was damaged in the earthquake, and concluded that the restoration of the line would take a considerable amount of time, as there were many issues to be addressed in each area, such as ensuring safety and consistency with urban development. JR East proposed to convert the damaged section of the Yamada Line into a right-of-way for a bus rapid transit route as a "temporary" measure; the conversion would be similar to how the Kesennuma Line and Ofunato Line had their heavily damaged sections converted into BRT routes. The cost of paving the railway line's right-of-way into a deliciated road for BRT buses would be borne by JR East, but as the Yamada Line has many damaged railway bridges, the proposed BRT route would use the parallel National Route 45 in areas where the railway line was too damaged to be repaired, with the dedicated road being approximately 10 km long.[6] However, the representatives of the four cities and towns criticised JR East's BRT proposal, citing how the BRT would have to compete with existing private buses that have been running since before the earthquake, and that their "town planning is based on the premise that the railway line will be restored". As a result, the four local municipalities rejected JR East's BRT proposal.

On 25 September 2013, JR East re-proposed the introduction of BRT on the Yamada Line. In response to criticism of JR East's previous BRT proposal, the new proposal by JR East would have restored four bridges that were washed out by the tsunami, and increased the total length of the dedicated road by approximately 16 km compared to the previous proposal, for a total length of 25.3 km (which is 46% of the distance between Miyako and Kamaishi). However, the four local municipalities again rejected the new proposal.

Transfer to Sanriku Railway

On 31 January 2014, JR East stated that it would bear ¥14 billion of the estimated ¥21 billion cost of restoring the line and facilities to their original state; the remaining ¥7 billion cost would be borne by local authorities and public funds. The restoration of the damaged railway tracks and station buildings, and the cost of ¥500 million to make up for the deficit over 10 years, would be borne by JR East, and the damaged section of the Yamada Line would be transferred to Sanriku Railway.[7] [8] [9] As a result, the two former lines of Sanriku Railway (Kita-Rias in the north and Minami-Rias in the south), were connected and began operation as a single line (the Rias Line), allowing for a "compact, community-based management and a highly sustainable management structure".[10]

Consequently, JR East abandoned its BRT proposals in 2015 and the closed section of the line began to be rebuilt, with the aim of transferring the closed section to Sanriku Railway.[11]

On 23 March 2019, the section of the Yamada Line between Miyako and Kamaishi reopened, and was transferred to the Sanriku Railway, which integrated the section to become part of the Rias Line.[12]

Operation

Service

JR East offers two different services on the Yamada Line:

Station list

Rapid Rias trains stop at stations marked "●" and skip stations marked "|".

StationJapaneseDistance (km)Rapid RiasTransfersLocation
Morioka盛岡0.0MoriokaIwate Prefecture
Kami-Morioka上盛岡2.8
Yamagishi山岸4.9
Kami-Yonai上米内9.9
Ōshida[13] 大志田19.2
Asagishi浅岸27.6
Kuzakai区界35.6Miyako
Matsukusa松草43.6
Hiratsuto[14] 平津戸52.2
Kawauchi川内61.5
Hakoishi箱石65.7
Rikuchū-Kawai陸中川井73.5
Haratai腹帯82.6
Moichi茂市87.0Iwaizumi Line (Closed on 1 April 2014)
Hikime蟇目91.5
Kebaraichi花原市94.2
Sentoku千徳98.8
Miyako宮古102.1Sanriku Railway Rias Line

Footnotes

See also

Notes and References

  1. Book: Takayuki Haraguchi . 歴史でめぐる鉄道全路線 国鉄・JR 21号 . 24 November 2009 . . 18 . 27 February 2021 . ja.
  2. RJNET-JP 鉄道ジャーナル . Railway Journal . January 1987 . 21 . 1 . 111–112 . 27 February 2021 . ja.
  3. ja: 奥羽・山田線駅を冬季休止へ. Ou & Yamada Line stations to be closed during winter season. Japan Railfan Magazine. 53. 622. 163. Koyusha Co., Ltd.. Japan. February 2013.
  4. Web site: http://response.jp/article/2016/04/01/272660.html. ja: 災害による鉄道運休、震災前の被災区間が全て解消…3月末 . Suspended rail lines - All lines closed before earthquake to be reopened by end of March. 1 April 2016. Response. IID Inc. . Japan. ja. 5 May 2016.
  5. Web site: http://www.asahi.com/travel/rail/news/TKY201202070709.html. ja:被災2路線、廃止しバス専用道提案へ JR東、岩手県に. JR East proposes to scrap two lines and convert to bus routes. 8 February 2012. The Asahi Shimbun Digital. The Asahi Shimbun Company. Japan. ja. 11 March 2012.
  6. News: Company . The Asahi Shimbun . 山田線「BRTで」 仮復旧、JRが提案 岩手 . 16 October 2022 . 朝日新聞デジタル . . 26 June 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220914083001/http://www.asahi.com/travel/aviation/TKY201206250516.html . 14 September 2022 . ja.
  7. Web site: 山田線の無償譲渡検討 JR東日本、あす地元提案 . 16 October 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20141217070634/http://www.kahoku.co.jp/special/spe1062/20140130_07.html . 17 December 2014 . ja . 30 January 2014 . dead.
  8. News: 山田線の被災不通区間、三陸鉄道への運行移管を提案 JR東が岩手県などに . MSN産経ニュース . 31 January 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20141017161058/http://sankei.jp.msn.com/affairs/news/140131/dst14013120230009-n1.htm . 17 October 2014 . dead.
  9. News: Naoki Osaka . 被災路線を突然移管、JR東が変心した理由 . 16 October 2022 . 東洋経済オンライン . . 2 March 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221016091334/https://toyokeizai.net/articles/-/31272 . 16 October 2022 . . ja . live.
  10. Web site: 移管前の山田線復旧明言 JR東社長「140億円負担」 . 16 October 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140205055658/https://www.iwate-np.co.jp/cgi-bin/topnews.cgi?20140205_6 . 5 February 2014 . ja . 5 February 2014 . dead.
  11. News: Sanriku Railway approaches major turning point on railroad to recovery. The Japan Times Online. 6 April 2018.
  12. Web site: https://mainichi.jp/articles/20190323/dde/001/040/043000c. ja:東日本大震災 復興鉄路つながった 8年ぶり宮古-釜石、三陸鉄道に. Great East Japan Earthquake Railway have been rebuilt and connected after 8 years reconstruction between Miyako-Kamaishi, Sanriku Railway. 23 March 2019. mainichi.jp. The Mainichi Newspapers Co., Ltd.. Japan. ja. 24 March 2019.
  13. Closed on 25 March 2016.
  14. Closed on 17 March 2023.