Hokkaido Colliery and Railway Company


Hokkaido Colliery and Railway Company was a company engaged in coal mining, railway operation and shipping in Hokkaidō, Japan.
The company was established in 1889 when the state-owned Horonai Coal Mine and Horonai Railway were sold to the company. The company developed coal mines and transported coal to consumers by its own railways and a fleet of steamships.
The railway of the company was nationalized on October 1, 1906 under the Railway Nationalization Act. At this time the company was renamed Hokkaido Colliery & Steamship Co., Ltd., which continued mining until 1995 and is in business of coal importing from Russia as of 2014.

Railway

List of lines and stations

As of September 30, 1906

Muroran – Temiya

The Muroran–Iwamizawa section and the Iwamizawa–Otaru section are part of the Muroran Main Line and the Hakodate Main Line respectively today. The remaining Otaru–Temiya section became the Temiya Line, which was closed in 1985.

Iwamizawa – Utashinai

The Iwamizawa–Sunagawa section is the part of the Hakodate Main Line today. The remaining part became the Utashinai Line, which was closed in 1988.

Iwamizawa – Ikushunbetsu

This section later became a part of the Horonai Line, which was closed in 1987.

Horonaibuto – Horonai

This section later became a part of the Horonai Line, which was closed in 1987.

Oiwake – Yūbari

The section from Oiwake to Shin-Yubari is a part of the Sekishō Line today while the remainder became the Yubari Branch Line which closed in 2019.

Sunagawa – Sorachigawa

The company leased this section to Japanese Government Railways. This section is a part of the Hakodate Main Line today.

Nationalization

As the Railway Nationalization Act was promulgated, on October 1, 1906, the company's railway, rolling stock, steamship, personnel and other goods and contracts were transferred to the government of Japan, in exchange of 30,997,100 yen worth of government bond.