Hidaka Main Line


The Hidaka Main Line is a railway line in Hokkaido, Japan, operated by Hokkaido Railway Company, between Tomakomai Station in Tomakomai and Samani Station in Samani, running along the coast of Hidaka Subprefecture. Services on the 116 km section of the line beyond Mukawa Station have been suspended indefinitely since January 2015 due to storm damage.

Services

All regular trains stop at all stations

Stations

History

The first section was opened in October 1913 by the Tomakomai Light Railway, operating between and Sarufuto. The section between Sarufuto and was operated by the Hidaka Takushoku Railway. Both lines were light railways with a track gauge of.
The lines were nationalized on 1 August 1927, and merged into one, becoming the Hidaka Line. The track gauge was widened to between Tomakomai and Sarufuto on 26 November 1929, and between Sarafuto and Shizunai on 10 November 1931. The line was extended from Shizunai to on 15 December 1933, to on 24 October 1935, and to Samani on 10 August 1937.
With the privatization of JNR on 1 April 1987, the line came under the control of JR Hokkaido.

Service suspension

Following storm damage between Atsuga and Ōkaribe stations on 8 January 2015, rail services have been suspended on the 116 km section beyond Mukawa station, with buses providing a substitute service. Further damage was caused to the line by Typhoon 17 on 12 September 2015, and no date had been set for the resumption of rail services beyond Mukawa. In December 2016, JR Hokkaido announced that it had abandoned plans to reopen the suspended section of the line, and was in discussion with the local governments involved.