| Tsugaru Line | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Tsugaru Line along Mutsu Bay | |||
| Overview | |||
| Owner | JR East | ||
| Termini | |||
| Stations | 18 | ||
| Service | |||
| Type | Heavy rail Passenger | ||
| Rolling stock | KiHa 40,701 series (electrified section only),HB-E300 series (resort trains only) | ||
| History | |||
| Opened | 1951 | ||
| Technical | |||
| Line length | 55.8 km (34.7 mi) | ||
| Track gauge | 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) | ||
| Electrification | 20 kV AC, 50 Hz (Aomori to Shin Naka-Oguni Signal) | ||
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TheTsugaru Line (津軽線,Tsugaru-sen) is a railway line operated byEast Japan Railway Company (JR East). It connectedAomori andMinmaya stations on theTsugaru Peninsula in westernAomori Prefecture; the section betweenKanita and Minmaya suffered significant flood damage in 2022 and has been out of service since then. JR East has since announced that the section will be permanently closed on 1 April 2027.
The section of the line between Aomori Station andNaka-Oguni Station is a part of theTsugaru-Kaikyō Line connectingHonshu andHokkaido.
Plans existed to link the prefectural capital ofAomori with the northern tip of the Tsugaru Peninsula from the time of theMeiji periodRailway Construction Act. In 1930, the privately heldTsugaru Railway began operations on the western side of Tsugaru Peninsula, and surveying work was completed by theJapanese Government Railways (JGR) to build a government-operated line on the eastern side of Tsugaru Peninsula. These plans were postponed by the outbreak ofWorld War II, and were only resumed in the 1950s under theJapanese National Railways (JNR).
On December 5, 1951, the first segment of the Tsugaru Line was completed from Aomori to Kanita. This was extended by October 21, 1958 to the present northern terminus atMinmaya. Additional intermediate stations were added in 1959 and 1960.
All scheduled freight operations were suspended on December 10, 1984. With theprivatization of the JNR on April 1, 1987, the line came under the operational control of JR East. From March 13, 1988, the tracks between Aomori Station and the Shin Naka-Oguni Signal Base are jointly used by JR East,JR Hokkaido'sTsugaru-Kaikyō Line, andJapan Freight Railway Company (JR Freight).
In 1988 the Aomori–Shin Naka-Oguni Signal Base section was electrified in conjunction with the opening of theSeikan Tunnel and associated Tsugaru-Kaikyō Line.
After the section between Kanita and Minmaya was significantly damaged in heavy rainfall in 2022, JR East and the town ofSotogahama suspended services on the section indefinitely. The affected town ofImabetsu agreed to transition access to bus service in May 2024.[1]
| Station | Japanese | Distance (km) | Transfers | Location | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Between stations | Total | |||||
| Aomori | 青森 | - | 0.0 | Ōu Main Line Aoimori Railway Line | Aomori | Aomori Prefecture |
| Aburakawa | 油川 | 6.0 | 6.0 | |||
| Tsugaru-Miyata | 津軽宮田 | 3.7 | 9.7 | |||
| Okunai | 奥内 | 1.8 | 11.5 | |||
| Hidariseki | 左堰 | 1.6 | 13.1 | |||
| Ushirogata | 後潟 | 1.6 | 14.7 | |||
| Nakasawa | 中沢 | 2.1 | 16.8 | |||
| Yomogita | 蓬田 | 2.3 | 19.1 | Yomogita | ||
| Gōsawa | 郷沢 | 2.0 | 21.1 | |||
| Seheji | 瀬辺地 | 2.3 | 23.4 | |||
| Kanita | 蟹田 | 3.6 | 27.0 | Sotogahama | ||
| Station | Japanese | Distance (km) | Transfers | Location | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Between stations | Total | |||||
| Naka-Oguni | 中小国 | 3.4 | 31.4 | (Kaikyō Line) | Sotogahama | |
| Ōdai | 大平 | 3.6 | 35.0 | |||
| Tsugaru-Futamata | 津軽二股 | 11.6 | 46.6 | Kaikyō Line/Hokkaido Shinkansen (Okutsugaru-Imabetsu Station) | Imabetsu | |
| Ōkawadai | 大川平 | 2.0 | 48.6 | |||
| Imabetsu | 今別 | 2.4 | 51.0 | |||
| Tsugaru-Hamana | 津軽浜名 | 1.7 | 52.7 | |||
| Minmaya | 三厩 | 3.1 | 55.8 | |||
The portion from Aomori to Shin Naka-Oguni junction is electrified.
This article incorporates material from the corresponding article in the Japanese Wikipedia.
Media related toTsugaru Line at Wikimedia Commons
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