Flower Nagai Line

The Flower Nagai Line (フラワー長井線, Furawā-Nagai-sen) is a Japanese railway line in Yamagata Prefecture, Japan. It connects Akayu Station in Nanyō to Arato Station in Shirataka.

Flower Nagai Line
A Flower Nagai Line train at Akayu station in December 2006
Overview
Native name	フラワー長井線
Status	In operation
Owner	Yamagata Railway
Locale	Yamagata Prefecture
Termini	Akayu Arato
Stations	17
Service
Type	Regional rail
Operator(s)	Yamagata Railway
Rolling stock	YR-880 series DMU
History
Opened	1913
Technical
Line length	30.5 km (19.0 mi)
Number of tracks	Entire line single tracked
Character	Rural
Track gauge	1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Electrification	None
Operating speed	85 km/h (53 mph)
Route map Legend JR East：Yamagata Shinkansen JR East Ōu Main Line（Yamagata Line） 0.0 Akayu 0.9 Nanyō-Shiyakusho 3.0 Miyauchi 4.4 Orihata 6.8 Ringō Mogami River 10.3 Nishi-Ōtsuka JR East：Yonesaka Line 12.2 Imaizumi Shirakawa River Shirakawa Signal Stop -1984 JR East：Yonesaka Line 14.9 Tokiniwa 17.3 Minami-Nagai 18.3 Nagai 19.1 Ayame-Kōen 21.0 Uzen-Narita 23.2 Shirousagi 24.6 Koguwa 27.9 Ayukai 28.6 Shikinosato Mogami River 30.5 Arato

The Flower Nagai Line is the only line operated by Yamagata Railway Company (山形鉄道, Yamagata Tetsudō), a third-sector railway company which took over the former JR East line in 1988.

In 2005, Yamagata Railway was in danger of having to shut down due to low patronage, leaving many residents, especially the young and old, without a mode of transportation from their farms. The only option available to the company was to try to attract more tourists to the scenic views. A lone train operator, Tatsuo Asakura, working without the knowledge of his superiors, increased out-of-town passengers from 350 in 2005 to 7,000 in 2006, and in September 2008 had entertained more than 20,000 tourists with his uplifting guided tours, spoken in local dialect.^[1]

Operation

Six single-car diesel multiple units (YR-880 Series) serve the line, running from Akayu to Arato once every one to two hours.

Rolling Stock

YR-880 Series

Eight single-car diesel multiple units were built by Niigata Transys in 1988 and 1990 for the Flower Nagai Line, using the Niigata Transys NDC model. Six units exist as of 2018. One unit, YR-881 has been scrapped in 2003, and YR-885 had been scrapped in 2015.^{[citation needed]}

MCR4A Series

A snow blower car manufactured by Niigata Transys, one unit has been manufactured.^{[citation needed]}

History

• October 26, 1913: Akayu - Ringō section opens
• November 15, 1914: Ringō - Nagai section opens
• December 11, 1922: Nagai - Ayukai section opens
• April 22, 1923: Ayukai - Arato segment opens, completing the line
• November 15, 1954: Diesel multiple units replace steam engines on the line
• June 1, 1959: Miyauchi Station opens
• May 20, 1960: Minami-Nagai Station opens
• October 28, 1986: Government designates line for closure
• April 1, 1987: Line inherited by JR East following privatization of JNR
• October 10, 1988: Line transferred from JR East to Yamagata Railway Company
• December 15, 1989: Shirousagi Station opens
• October 23, 1997: Centralized traffic control (CTC) introduced
• June 9, 2002: Ayame-Kōen Station opens
• October 13, 2007: Shikinosato Station opens

Station list

All stations are located in Yamagata Prefecture.

Station	Japanese	Distance (km)	Transfers	Location
Akayu	赤湯	0.0	Yamagata Shinkansen, Ōu Main Line	Nan'yō
Nan'yō-Shiyakusho	南陽市役所	0.9
Miyauchi	宮内	3.0
Orihata	おりはた	4.4
Ringō	梨郷	6.8
Nishi-Ōtsuka	西大塚	10.3		Kawanishi, Higashiokitama District
Imaizumi	今泉	12.2	Yonesaka Line	Nagai
Tokiniwa	時庭	14.9
Minami-Nagai	南長井	17.3
Nagai	長井	18.3
Ayame-Kōen	あやめ公園	19.1
Uzen-Narita	羽前成田	21.0
Shirousagi	白兎	23.2
Koguwa	蚕桑	24.6		Shirataka, Nishiokitama District
Ayukai	鮎貝	27.9
Shikinosato	四季の郷	28.6
Arato	荒砥	30.5