Shimabara Railway Line

The Shimabara Railway Line (島原鉄道線, Shimabara Tetsudō-sen) is a Japanese railway line in Nagasaki Prefecture connecting Isahaya Station in Isahaya and Shimabarakō Station in Shimabara. The line parallels the coast of the Shimabara Peninsula. The third-sector railway company Shimabara Railway owns the line and also operates buses and ferries.^[1]

Shimabara Railway Line
Train on the Shimabara Railway Line at Shirahama Beach, 2008
Overview
Locale	Shimabara Peninsula, Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan
Termini	Isahaya Shimabarakō Kazusa (until 31 March 2008)
Stations	24
Service
Rolling stock	Kiha 2500 type
History
Opened	20 June 1911; 114 years ago (1911-06-20)
Technical
Line length	43.2 km (26.8 mi)
Number of tracks	single
Track gauge	1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Route map Legend km elev in m Ōmura Line to Haiki 0.0 Isahaya Nagasaki Main Line 16 0.7 tunnel 42 1.5 Honisahaya 8 2.9 Saiwai 4 3.6 44 m 4.8 Onohonmachi 5 5.5 Kantakunosato 4 7.5 Moriyama 4 9.6 Kamanohana 3 11.4 Isahaya-higashi-kōkōmae 3 11.7 42 m Unzentetsu Line ( closed 1938 ) 12.4 Aino 4 14.4 Abozaki 6 16.6 Azuma 6 19.6 Kobe 5 20.8 Taishō 5 21.7 29 m 23.0 Saigō 8 National Route 57 25.5 Kōjiromachi 5 29.0 41 m 29.4 Tairamachi Ariake Ferry to Nagasu 5 31.6 26 m 31.8 Shimatetsu-yue 8 National Route 57 34.1 Ōmisaki 5 35.2 Matsuomachi 7 37.5 Mie 6 40.5 Shimabara 4 41.5 Shimatetsu-honshamae 5 42.3 Minami-shimabara 4 National Route 57 Kyūshū and Kumamoto Ferry to Kumamoto 43.2 Shimabara-gaikō Shimatetsu Ferry to Miike 8 National Route 57 44.3 Chichibu-ga-ura 12 45.4 Antoku 31 45.4 225 46.3 68 m 47.5 Seno-fukae 33 49.6 Fukae 25 50.0 23 m National Route 251 52.0 Futsu-shinden 3 53.9 Futsu 6 National Route 251 56.9 Dōzaki 6 58.4 Kamaga 8 59.9 Arie 20 60.2 30 m National Route 251 61.2 Nishi-arie 9 63.4 Tatsuishi 5 63.5 20 m National Route 251 65.3 Kita-arie 5 65.5 61 m 66.1 Jōkōjimae 10 67.1 Uratakannon 6 68.2 Harajō 5 70.6 Arimayoshikawa 8 73.5 272 m 74.6 Higashi-ōya 7 75.8 Kuchinotsu Shimatetsu Ferry to Oniike 3 National Route 251 76.8 Shirahama-kaisui-yokujōmae 11 78.5 Kazusa 7 km elev in m This diagram: view talk edit

The first section of the line opened in 1911. This is the only railway on Kyushu outside the Fukuoka area that has remained private throughout its history.^{[citation needed]}

Stations

●：Always stops   ▲：Sometimes stops  ｜：Does not stop

Station	Japanese	Distance (km)	Express Stops	Connecting lines	Location
Isahaya	諫早	0.0	●	JR Kyushu: Nagasaki Main Line, Ōmura Line	Isahaya	Nagasaki Prefecture
Hon-Isahaya	本諫早	1.5	●
Saiwai	幸	2.9	▲
Ono	小野	4.8	▲
Kantakunosato	干拓の里	5.5	▲
Moriyama	森山	7.5	▲
Kamanohana	釜ノ鼻	9.6	▲
Isahaya-higashi-kōkō	諫早東高校	11.4	▲
Aino	愛野	12.4	●		Unzen
Abozaki	阿母崎	14.4	｜
Azuma	吾妻	16.6	●
Kobe	古部	19.6	｜
Taishō	大正	20.8	｜
Saigō	西郷	23.0	●
Kōjiro	神代	25.5	●
Taira	多比良	29.4	●
Ariake-Yue	有明湯江	31.8	｜		Shimabara
Ōmisaki	大三東	34.1	●
Matsuo	松尾	35.2	｜
Mie	三会	37.5	｜
Shimabara	島原	40.5	●
Reikyūkōen-Taiikukan	霊丘公園体育館	41.5	●
Shimabara-Funatsu	島原船津	42.3	●
Shimabarakō	島原港	43.2	●
Shimabara-gaikō (now Shimabarakō) – Kazusa: Discontinued on April 1, 2008
Chichibu-ga-ura	秩父が浦	44.3			Shimabara	Nagasaki Prefecture
Antoku	安徳	45.4
Seno-fukae	瀬野深江	47.5			Minamishimabara
Fukae	深江	49.6
Futsu-shinden	布津新田	52.0
Futsu	布津	53.9
Dōzaki	堂崎	56.9
Kamaga	蒲河	58.4
Arie	有家	59.9
Nishi-arie	西有家	61.2
Tatsuishi	龍石	63.4
Kitaarima	北有家	65.3
Jōkōjimae	常光寺前	66.1
Uradakannon	浦田観音	67.1
Harajō	原城	68.2
Arimayoshikawa	有馬吉川	70.6
Higashi-ōya	東大屋	74.6
Kuchinotsu	口之津	75.8
Shirahama-kaisuiyokujōmae	白浜海水浴場前	76.8
Kazusa	加津佐	78.5

Rolling stock

Current rolling stock

• Shimabara Railway KiHa 2500 series diesel railcar[ja] - 15 railcars manufactured by Niigata Iron Works[ja] between 1994 and 2011

Former rolling stock

• Until 2008: KiHa 20 series diesel railcar[ja] - some were ordered new while others were acquired from Japanese National Railways

• 
  KiHa 2500 series 2507 at Kazusa Station in 2008
• 
  KiHa 2500 series 2503 (date unknown)
• 
  KiHa 20 series 2006 at Minami-Shimabara Station in 2008

History

The Shimabara Railway Co. opened the Isahaya – Aino section in 1911, extending the line to Kojiromachi in 1912 and Minami-Shimabara the following year.

The Kuchinotsu Railway Co. opened the Minami-Shimabara – Dozaki section in 1922, extending the line to Harajo in 1926 and Kazusa two years later.

Diesel power was introduced by the Kuchinotsu Railway Co. in 1930, and by the Shimabara Railway Co. in 1934. In 1943 the two companies merged under the name Shimabara Railway Co.

In 1958 direct services to/from Nagasaki were introduced, operating until 1980.

The portion of the line between Shimabarakō and Kazusa had few passengers and closed on 1 April 2008.

Until 2008 the line used the older diesel-powered KiHa 20 series[ja] diesel railcars which were developed in the mid-1950s. Because of the line's vintage trains which maintained the old Japanese National Railways colors of red and beige, it remained popular among train enthusiasts.

Former connecting lines

• The Hizen Obama Railway Co. opened a 17 km line from Aino station to Unzen Obama between 1923 and 1927. Direct services from the Shimabara line operated from 1927 until 1932. The line closed in 1938.

Volcanic disruptions

Services were disrupted for six months in 1991 owing to lava flows from Mount Unzen, which also caused a one-month service disruption the following year.

In 1993 a major lava flow forced the closure of the line between Shimabarakō and Fukae, and services did not resume on that section until 1997.

The Shimabarakō – Kazusa section was closed on 1 April 2008 owing to declining patronage.

See also

• List of railway companies in Japan
• List of railway lines in Japan