Yonesaka Line

Yonesaka Line
A JR East KiHa E120 DMU at Imaizumi Station in July 2009
Overview
Native name	米坂線
Type	Regional rail
Locale	Yamagata Prefecture, Japan
Termini	Yonezawa Sakamachi
Stations	20
Operation
Opened	1936
Owner	JR East
Technical
Line length	90.7 km (56.4 mi)
Track gauge	1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Electrification	None
Route map

The Yonesaka Line (米坂線 Yonesaka-sen) is a railway line in Japan, operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It connects Yonezawa Station in Yamagata Prefecture to Sakamachi Station in Niigata Prefecture. At Yonezawa, connections to the Yamagata Shinkansen and Ōu Main Line can be made; while the Uetsu Main Line connects at Sakamachi Station. The line takes its name from the first kanji of Yonezawa (米沢) and Sakamachi (坂町).

Trains can only pass each other at Uzen-Komatsu, Imaizumi, Uzen-Tsubaki, Oguni, Echigo-Kanamaru, and Echigo-Shimoseki stations.

Stations

Station	Japanese	Distance (km)		Transfers		Location
		Between stations	Total
Yonezawa	米沢	-	0.0	Yamagata Shinkansen ■Ōu Main Line	∨	Yonezawa	Yamagata Prefecture
Minami-Yonezawa	南米沢	3.1	3.1		｜
Nishi-Yonezawa	西米沢	3.4	6.5		｜
Narushima	成島	3.1	9.6		｜
Chūgun	中郡	2.9	12.5		｜	Kawanishi
Uzen-Komatsu	羽前小松	4.4	16.9		◇
Inukawa	犬川	2.5	19.4		｜
Imaizumi	今泉	3.6	23.0	■Flower Nagai Line	◇	Nagai
Hagyū	萩生	4.3	27.3		｜	Iide
Uzen-Tsubaki	羽前椿	2.8	30.1		◇
Tenoko	手ノ子	4.6	34.7		｜
Uzen-Numazawa	羽前沼沢	9.2	43.9		｜	Oguni
Isaryō	伊佐領	6.1	50.0		｜
Uzen-Matsuoka	羽前松岡	4.7	54.7		｜
Oguni	小国	3.6	58.3		◇
Echigo-Kanamaru	越後金丸	9.5	67.8		◇	Sekikawa	Niigata Prefecture
Echigo-Katakai	越後片貝	5.3	73.1		｜
Echigo-Shimoseki	越後下関	6.6	79.7		◇
Echigo-Ōshima	越後大島	3.8	83.5		｜
Sakamachi	坂町	7.2	90.7	■Uetsu Main Line	^	Murakami

Symbols:

• | - Single-track
• ◇ - Single-track; station where trains can pass
• ^ - Double-track section starts from this point
• ∨ - Single-track section starts from this point

Rolling stock

As of October 2016, the following rolling stock is used on the Yonesaka Line. All are based at Niitsu Depot.

• KiHa 110 series DMUs
• KiHa E120 DMUs (since November 2008)

On May 15, 2015, JR East announced that it was placing an order for new diesel multiple unit (DMU) trains to be introduced from fiscal 2017.^[1]

Past

Until 2009, the following rolling stock was used on the Yonesaka Line. All were based at Niitsu Depot.

• KiHa 40/47/48 DMUs
• KiHa 52 DMUs
• KiHa 58 DMUs

History

The Yonezawa to Oguni section was opened in stages between 1926 and 1935. The Sakamachi to Echigo-Kanamaru section was opened between 1931 and 1933. The line was completed with the opening of the Oguni to Echigo-Kanamaru section in 1936.

References

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

1. 《草町義和》. "JR東日本、新潟・秋田地区に電気式の新型気動車を導入へ | レスポンス". Response.jp. Retrieved 2015-05-19.

External links

• Yonesaka Line Supporters' Association website (Japanese)