Aoimori Railway Line

Aoimori Railway Line
300px Aoimori Railway 701 series EMU, September 2010
Overview
Type	Regional rail
Locale	Aomori Prefecture, Japan
Termini	Metoki Aomori
Stations	26
Operation
Opened	1891
Owner	Aomori Prefecture
Operator(s)	Aoimori Railway Company
Rolling stock	701 series EMUs
Technical
Line length	121.9 km (75.7 mi)
Track gauge	1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Electrification	20 kV AC, 50 Hz overhead catenary
Route map 300px

Route diagram

Legend ↑Iwate Galaxy Railway Line 0.0 Metoki 5.5 Sannohe 9.5 Suwanotaira 14.8 Kenyoshi 18.2 Tomabechi ←Tōhoku Shinkansen 21.0 Kitatakaiwa 25.9 Hachinohe Nambu Railway Tōhoku Shinkansen JR-East: Hachinohe Line 27.6 Hachinohe Freight Terminal Hachinohe Rinkai Railway Line 32.8 Mutsu-Ichikawa 37.0 Shimoda 42.2 Mukaiyama Towada Kankō Electric Railway Line 46.9 Misawa Misawa Air Base 53.5 Kogawara Anenuma Signal-1968 57.4 Kamikitachō 64.3 Ottomo 68.6 Ishibumi Signal-1968 former line -1968 Nambu Jūkan Railway 70.9 Chibiki 77.3 Noheji J-East: Ōminato Line 83.8 Karibasawa 88.5 Shimizugawa 94.5 Kominato 98.3 Nishi-Hiranai 101.0 Tsuchiya Signal-1966 104.7 Asamushi-Onsen 109.6 0.0* Nonai former line -1968 112.7 Yadamae 114.7 Koyanagi 5.1* 0.0# Namiuchi Station 5.6* Army Reserves Station-1905 2.2# 堤川駅-1946 7.6* Uramachi Station(1) -1926 Uramachi Station(2) 1926-1968 116.1 Higashi-Aomori 120.0 Aomori Signal Ōu Branch Line 121.9 Aomori Seikan Ferry Takiuchi Signal Tsugaru Line （Tsugaru-Kaikyō Line） Ōu Main Line

The Aoimori Railway Line (青い森鉄道線, Aoimori Tetsudō-sen) is a rail line in Japan. It connects Metoki Station in the town of Sannohe to Aomori Station in Aomori Prefecture.

Organization

The Aoimori Railway Line is operated by the Aoimori Railway Company, a "third sector" publicly and privately owned company. The railway facilities and tracks are owned by the local prefectural government as a "Category 3 Railway Business" under the Railway Business Act of Japan. The Aoimori Railway Company leases these facilities from the government and is responsible for operation of passenger trains on the tracks. This scheme is intended to mitigate the company's burden as an owner of fixed assets and is known as "track/service separation" (上下分離方式, jōge bunri hōshiki).

JR East overnight sleeping car limited express services continue to use the line on services between Tokyo and Hokkaido. Japan Freight Railway Company (JR Freight), the nationwide freight train operator, also uses the line for freight services.

For maintenance work, the line relies on the services of the Hachinohe Rinkai Railway Line.

Station list

Station	Japanese	Distance (km)		Transfers	Location
		Between stations	Total
Metoki	目時	-	0.0	Iwate Galaxy Railway Line	Sannohe	Aomori
Sannohe	三戸	5.5	5.5		Nanbu
Suwanotaira	諏訪ノ平	4.0	9.5
Kenyoshi	剣吉	5.3	14.8
Tomabechi	苫米地	3.4	18.2
Kitatakaiwa	北高岩	2.8	21.0		Hachinohe
Hachinohe	八戸	4.9	25.9	Tōhoku Shinkansen, Hachinohe Line
Mutsu-Ichikawa	陸奥市川	6.9	32.8
Shimoda	下田	4.2	37.0		Oirase
Mukaiyama	向山	5.2	42.2
Misawa	三沢	4.7	46.9		Misawa
Kogawara	小川原	6.6	53.5		Tōhoku
Kamikitachō	上北町	3.9	57.4
Ottomo	乙供	6.9	64.3
Chibiki	千曳	6.6	70.9
Noheji	野辺地	6.4	77.3	Ōminato Line	Noheji
Karibasawa	狩場沢	6.5	83.8		Hiranai
Shimizugawa	清水川	4.7	88.5
Kominato	小湊	6.0	94.5
Nishi-Hiranai	西平内	3.8	98.3
Asamushi-Onsen	浅虫温泉	6.4	104.7		Aomori
Nonai	野内	6.5	111.2
Yadamae	矢田前	1.5	112.7
Koyanagi	小柳	2.0	114.7
Higashi-Aomori	東青森	1.4	116.1
Tsutsui	筒井	1.4	117.5
Aomori	青森	4.4	121.9	Ōu Main Line, Tsugaru-Kaikyō Line

Rolling stock

• Aoimori 701 series 2-car EMUs x9
• Aoimori 703 series 2-car EMUs x2

The Aoimori Railway operates a fleet of 701 series 2-car electric multiple units (EMUs). One set was built from new in September 2002, while eight more were transferred from JR East.

Two new two-car Aoimori 703 series EMUs were delivered in November 2013 and introduced from the start of the 15 March 2014 timetable revision.

History

The Aoimori Railway Line was completed as the Metoki – Shiriuchi portion of the Nippon Railway on September 1, 1891. When the Nippon Railway was nationalized on November 1, 1906, it became part of the Japanese National Railways (JNR) system and was designated part of the Tōhoku Main Line on October 12, 1909. With the privatization and dissolution of JNR on April 1, 1987, the line came under the control of the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). On December 1, 2002, with the opening of the Tohoku Shinkansen, the portion of the Tōhoku Main Line located in Iwate Prefecture became the Iwate Ginga Line, and the portion in Aomori Prefecture from the Iwate border to Hachinohe Station became the Aoimori Railway Line.

With the opening of the Tōhoku Shinkansen extension to Shin-Aomori on 4 December 2010, the Tōhoku Main Line tracks between Hachinohe and Aomori were transferred to Aoimori Railway ownership.

References

• Harris, Ken and Clarke, Jackie. Jane's World Railways 2008-2009. Jane's Information Group (2008). ISBN 0-7106-2861-7