- Yamagata Railway Flower Nagai Line
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Flower Nagai Line 
A Flower Nagai Line train at Akayu terminalOverview Locale Yamagata Prefecture Termini Akayu
AratoStations 17 Operation Opened 1913 Operator(s) Yamagata Railway Technical Line length 30.5 km (19.0 mi) Track gauge 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) Electrification None The Flower Nagai Line (フラワー長井線 Furawā-Nagai-sen) is a Japanese railway line in Yamagata Prefecture, Japan. It runs from Akayu Station in Nanyō to Arato Station in Shirataka.
The Flower Nagai Line is the only line operated by the third sector Yamagata Railway Company (山形鉄道 Yamagata Tetsudō), 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 volume, 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 and attract more tourists to the scenic views. 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]
Contents
Operation
Seven single-car diesel multiple units serve the line, running from Akayu to Arato once every one to two hours.
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
- 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 References
- ^ Judit Kawaguchi (September 9, 2008). "Words to Live By - Tatsuo Asakura". The Japan Times Online. http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20080909jk.html.
External links
- Flower Nagai Line (Japanese)
Categories:- Flower Nagai Line
- Railway lines opened in 1913
- 3ft 6in gauge railways
- Japanese rail company stubs
- Japanese rail line stubs
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