Ban'etsu West Line

Banetsu West Line
719 series EMU at Kōriyama Station, March 2008
Overview
Native name	磐越西線
Type	Regional rail
Locale	Fukushima, Niigata prefectures
Termini	Kōriyama Niitsu
Stations	44
Operation
Opened	1898
Operator(s)	JR East
Technical
Line length	175.6 km (109.1 mi)
Track gauge	1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Electrification	20 kV AC, 50 Hz overhead catenary (Kōriyama – Kitakata)
Operating speed	100 km/h (60 mph)
Route map

The Banetsu West Line (磐越西線, Ban'etsu-sai-sen) is a railway line in Japan operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It connects Kōriyama Station in Kōriyama, Fukushima and Niitsu Station in Niigata, Niigata. The name "Banetsu" is taken from the first characters of the names of the ancient provinces of Iwaki (磐城) and Echigo (越後), which the Banetsu East and Banetsu West lines connect. "Sai" (西) means "west" in Japanese.

The line's nickname is the Mori to Mizu to Roman no Tetsudō (森と水とロマンの鉄道, lit. "the water, forest, and nostalgia railway").

Station list

• Local trains generally stop at all stations, but some trains skip stations marked "▽".
• The column marked "* refers to the unnamed rapid service between Kōriyama and Aizu-Wakamatsu/Kitakata using 719 series EMUs.
• Trains can pass one another at stations marked "◇", "∨", or "∧"; stations marked "◆" are switchback stations. Trains cannot pass at stations marked "｜".

Station	Japanese	Distance (km)		Rapid			Transfers/Other Notes		Location
		Between stations	Total	*	Aizu Liner	Agano
Kōriyama	郡山	-	0.0	●	●		Tohoku Shinkansen Yamagata Shinkansen Tohoku Main Line Banetsu East Line Suigun Line	∨	Kōriyama	Fukushima
Kōriyama-Tomita	郡山富田	3.4	3.4					｜
Kikuta	喜久田	4.5	7.9	●	▲			◇
Akogashima	安子ケ島	3.9	11.8	｜	｜			◇
Bandai-Atami	磐梯熱海	3.6	15.4	●	●			◇
Nakayamajuku	中山宿	5.4	20.8	｜	｜			｜
Jōko	上戸	6.5	27.3	｜	｜			｜	Inawashiro, Yama District
Inawashirokohan (closed)	猪苗代湖畔	2.0	29.3	｜	｜			｜
Sekito	関都	1.7	31.0	｜	｜			◇
Kawageta	川桁	2.4	33.4	▲	｜			◇
Inawashiro	猪苗代	3.3	36.7	●	●			◇
Okinashima	翁島	4.4	41.1	▲	｜			◇
Bandaimachi	磐梯町	10.1	51.2	●	●			◇	Bandai, Yama District
Higashi-Nagahara	東長原	6.0	57.2	▲	｜			◇	Aizuwakamatsu
Hirota	広田	2.8	60.0	▲	｜			◇
Aizu-Wakamatsu	会津若松	4.6	64.6	●	●	●	Tadami Line Aizu Line	◆
Dōjima▽	堂島	5.5	70.1	｜		｜		｜
Oikawa▽	笈川	3.1	73.2	｜		｜		｜	Yugawa, Kawanuma District
Shiokawa	塩川	1.9	75.1	●		●		◇	Kitakata
Ubadō▽	姥堂	2.4	77.5	｜		｜		｜
Aizu-Toyokawa▽	会津豊川	2.0	79.5	｜		｜		｜
Kitakata	喜多方	1.7	81.2	●		●	Terminus of electrification	◇
Yamato	山都	9.9	91.1			●		◇	Kitakata	Fukushima
Ogino	荻野	6.1	97.2			●		｜
Onobori	尾登	3.8	101.0			｜		｜	Nishiaizu, Yama District
Nozawa	野沢	5.2	106.2			●		◇
Kami-Nojiri	上野尻	5.1	111.3			｜		｜
Tokusawa	徳沢	6.7	118.0			｜		◇
Toyomi	豊実	3.3	121.3			｜		｜	Aga, Higashikanbara District	Niigata
Hideya	日出谷	7.1	128.4			｜		｜
Kanose	鹿瀬	5.2	133.6			●		｜
Tsugawa	津川	3.4	137.0			●		◇
Mikawa	三川	7.4	144.4			●		｜
Igashima	五十島	4.2	148.6			｜		◇
Higashi-Gejō	東下条	3.9	152.5			｜		｜
Sakihana	咲花	3.1	155.6			●		｜	Gosen
Maoroshi	馬下	2.8	158.4			▲		◇
Saruwada	猿和田	3.5	161.9			｜		｜
Gosen	五泉	3.8	165.7			●		◇
Kita-Gosen	北五泉	1.8	167.5			｜		｜
Shinseki	新関	2.5	170.0			｜		◇	Akiha-ku, Niigata
Higashi-Niitsu	東新津	2.8	172.8			｜		｜
Niitsu	新津	2.8	175.6			●	Uetsu Main Line Shinetsu Main Line	∧

Rolling stock

485 series Aizu Liner rapid service at Koriyama Station, March 2012

As of February 2009, the following rolling stock is used on the Banetsu West Line.

• 719 series EMUs (since June 2007)
• 485 series EMUs (Aizu Liner rapid services)
• KiHa 47 DMUs
• KiHa 52 DMUs
• KiHa 58 DMUs
• KiHa 110 series DMUs
• KiHa E120 DMUs (since November 2008)

• 

  A Banetsu West Line 719 series EMU, January 2008

• 

  The 719-700 series FruiTea trainset, April 2015

From 25 April 2015, a two-car 719 series set entered service on FruiTea (フルーティア) services on the line between Koriyama and Aizu-Wakamatsu. The train accommodates 36 passengers.

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.

Past

• 455 series EMUs (from 1967 until March 2008)

• 455 Koriyama Banetsu West Line livery 20061223.jpg

  A Banetsu West Line 455 series EMU, December 2006

History

The Banetsu West Line was planned under the Railway Construction Act in 1892, and the private Ganetsu Railway opened the initial section from Kōriyama to Nakayamajuku on July 26, 1898, and extended the line to Aizu-Wakamatsu the following year. In 1906, when the line was extended to Kitakata, the Japanese Government Railways (JGR) nationalized the Ganetsu Railway and renamed the line the Ganetsu Line.

In 1910 the JGR opened the Niitsu - Maoroshi section and extended the eastern section to Yamato. The remaining sections were opened in 1913 and 1914, providing the first rail link from Niigata to the east coast of Japan (and Tokyo). The line was renamed the Banetsu West Line in 1917, the year that the Matsuno tunnel (situated west of Kitakata) collapsed, blocking the line for 15 months, during which time a cableway operated to transfer freight and passengers walked around the blocked section. The reopened section permanently bypassed the tunnel.

Japanese National Railways (JNR) started to modernize the line in the 1960s, introducing the line's first limited express service (as a part of the Yamagata-bound Yamabata) in 1965 between Ueno Station in Tokyo and Aizu-Wakamatsu via the Tōhoku Main Line. In 1968 the train was renamed Aizu Yamabata, but from 1993 onward it was renamed Viva Aizu and ran only between Koriyama and Aizu-Wakamatsu. The train was finally discontinued as a limited express service in 2003.

In 1967, JNR electrified the section between Kōriyama and Kitakata at 20 kV AC.

In 2011 the line was closed for 15 days in March following the Tohoku earthquake, two days in April as a result of aftershocks, and for 10 weeks following torrential rain at the end of July.

Future developments

A new station, called Kōriyama-Tomita, is scheduled to be built between and Kōriyama and Kikuta stations. The new station will be unstaffed, and is scheduled to open in spring 2017.

References

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