Ōito Line


The Ōito Line is a railway line in Japan which connects Matsumoto Station in Nagano Prefecture with Itoigawa Station in Niigata Prefecture. There are two operators on the line: East Japan Railway Company operates the section south of Minami-Otari Station in Otari, Nagano Prefecture, and West Japan Railway Company operates the remaining section.

Route data

JR East section

;Limited express, Rapid
, the following services are operated.
NameThrough from/toStartEndService frequency
Limited Express Azusa/MatsumotoMinami-Otari1 return trip
Limited Express AzusaShinjukuMatsumotoHakubaseasonal
Limited Express ShinanoMatsumotoHakubaseasonal
Rapid Moonlight ShinshuShinjukuMatsumotoHakubaseasonal
Rapid MatsumotoMinami-Otariseasonal
RapidMatsumoto1 up trip
Rapid-Shinano-ŌmachiMinami-Otari1 up trip

;Local

JR West section

;Local

Rolling stock

JR East section

JR East section

All stations are within Nagano Prefecture.

JR West section

History

The section between Matsumoto and was built between 1915 and 1916 by the Shinano Railway, which electrified the line in 1926. The company was nationalised in 1937 and was not the same entity as the present Shinano Railway.
The rest of the line was built by the Japanese Government Railways and the Japanese National Railways between 1929 and 1957. The Shinano-Ōmachi to Minami Otari section was electrified between 1959 and 1967. CTC signalling was commissioned in 1983, and freight services ceased in 1987.
Following privatization of JNR on 1 April 1987, the line was divided and assigned to JR East and JR West.
Station numbering was introduced on the line by JR East from 12 December 2016, with stations numbered in sequence from 9 to 42.