Ōfunato Line
KiHa 100 DMU at Kesennuma Station, October 2006
Overview
Native name	大船渡線
Status	In operation (Ichinoseki – Kesennuma as a railway) (Kesennuma – Sakari as a BRT route)
Owner	JR East
Locale	Iwate Prefecture
Termini	Ichinoseki Station Sakari Station
Stations	25 (14 are railway stations following the 2011 disaster)
Service
Type	Heavy rail
Operator(s)	JR East
Rolling stock	KiHa 100 series DMU, Hino Blue Ribbon City Bus, Isuzu Erga Bus
History
Opened	26 July 1925
Closed	1 April 2020 (Section between Kesennuma – Sakari was replaced by bus rapid transit in 2013 but was only formally closed in 2020)
Technical
Line length	105.7 km (65.7 mi) (Until 2011) 62.0 km (38.5 mi) (After 2011)
Number of tracks	Entire line single tracked
Character	Rural
Track gauge	1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Electrification	Not electrified
Operating speed	85 km/h (53 mph)
Route map

Ōfunato Line
km 0.0 Ichinoseki Tōhoku Main Line Tōhoku Shinkansen 5.7 Mataki 13.7 Rikuchū-Kanzaki 17.5 Iwanoshita 21.3 Rikuchū-Matsukawa 23.3 Geibikei 26.1 Shibajuku 30.6 Surisawa 39.8 Senmaya 43.4 Konashi 47.6 Yagoshi 49.7 Orikabe 55.3 Niitsuki Kesennuma Line 62.0 Kesennuma 64.2 Shishiori-Karakuwa 65.3 Hachiman-Ōhashi 69.5 Kami-Shishiori 77.8 Osabe 79.5 Rikuzen-Yahagi 82.4 Kiseki-no-Ippon-Matsu 82.5 Takekoma 85.4 Rikuzen-Takata Machinaka-Rikuzen-Takata 86.2 Takatakōkōmae 87.6 Takata Hospital 88.3 Wakinosawa 92.8 Otomo 95.4 Goishikaiganguchi 97.1 Hosoura 100.2 Shimofunato 101.7 Ōfunato Fish Market 103.1 Ōfunato Iwate Development Railway Hikoroichi Line Sanriku Railway Minami-Riasu Line 105.7 Sakari Iwate Development Railway Hikoroichi Line
Key
BRT service area services suspended indefinitely

The Ōfunato Line (大船渡線, Ōfunato-sen) is a local railway line in Iwate Prefecture, Japan, operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It originally connected Ichinoseki Station in Ichinoseki to Sakari Station in Ōfunato, on the Tohoku coast.

The eastern section of the line was significantly damaged by the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami on 11 March 2011. In January 2012, services resumed on the western 62.0 km (38.5 mi) portion of the route between Ichinoseki and Kesennuma. The eastern section between Kesennuma and Sakari remains closed, and in February 2012, JR East officially proposed that this section of the line be scrapped and the right-of-way used as a bus rapid transit (BRT) route.^[1] The section was routinely replaced by BRT, and this section of the line was formally closed as a railway on 1 April 2020.

The line connects with the Kesennuma Line at Kesennuma Station and formerly connected with the privately owned Sanriku Railway's Minami-Riasu Line at Sakari Station in Ōfunato.

History

The Ichinoseki – Kesennuma section opened in stages between 1925 and 1929, with the Kesennuma – Sakari section opening between 1932 and 1935.

Freight services ceased in 1983/4.

Following the 2011 disaster, services resumed on the Ichinoseki – Kesennuma section on 1 April, but were suspended again between 7–18 April due to aftershocks.

The first section of the busway replacing the Kesennuma – Sakari section opened in March 2013.

Operations

In April 2005, there were 27 services daily using this line (14 eastbound, 13 westbound).

Following the 2011 disaster, operations were reduced to ten eastbound local trains and one Super Dragon rapid service, with westbound services consisting of nine local trains and one rapid. In March 2013 the rapid services were withdrawn.

On 22 December 2012, a special Pokémon With You train began running on the line.^[2] The train operates on selected days, departing eastbound at 11:01am and returning westbound at 2:37pm. The train stops at most stations on the way for between six and thirteen minutes. All seats are reserved and a seat fee is payable in addition to the basic fare.^[3]

• 
  KiHa 100 series diesel multiple unit
• 
  Pokémon With You Train
• 
  Hino Blue Ribbon City bus used on BRT services
• 
  Isuzu Erga bus used on BRT services

Station list

Stations in greyed out cells have been closed since the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.

References

This article incorporates material from the corresponding article in the Japanese Wikipedia

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ōfunato Line.

• Article on Tohoku railways Link is broken