Nagasaki Main Line

Nagasaki Main Line
JR Kyushu 885 series Kamome limited express at Nagasaki Station
Overview
Type	Heavy rail
Locale	Saga, Nagasaki prefectures
Termini	Tosu Nagasaki
Stations	41
Operation
Opened	1891
Owner	JR Kyushu
Operator(s)	JR Kyushu, JR Freight
Technical
Line length	148.8 km (92.5 mi)
Track gauge	1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Electrification	20 kV AC, 60 Hz (Tosu — Isahaya, Kikitsu — Ichinuno, Urakami — Nagasaki sections)
Route map

Route map

Legend ↑ Kagoshima Main Line for Hakata 0.0 Tosu 17 m → Kagoshima Main Line for Kurume Route 34 2.0 Shin-Tosu 2.4 Asahi River52 m 4.2 Hizen-Fumoto 28 m 8.2 Kansui River59 m 8.5 Nakabaru 30 m old Metabaru Stationuntil 1943 10.0 Kiridōshi River30 m 13.1 Yoshinogari-kōen 11 m 14.3 Tade River66 m 15.7 Kanzaki 9 m 16.4 Jōbaru River117 m 17.4 Ane River No. 151 m 19.3 Ane River No. 238 m 20.2 Igaya 5 m 21.0 22.0 Route 34 → old Saga Line 25.0 Saga→ old Saga Station until 1976 26.3 27.7 Uekari River119 m 28.0 Nabeshima 5 m 28.3 Shin River61 m 29.0 Higashi-Ō River147 m 29.8 Balloon Sagatemporary 30.0 Kase River503 m 30.3 Moat123 m 30.4 Moat61 m 31.4 Kubota 5 m ← Karatsu Line for Karatsu 32.5 33.8 Moat35 m 35.0 Ushizu River159 m Route 34 39.6 Hizen-Yamaguchi 5 m Route 34 ← Sasebo Line for Sasebo 42.5 Rokkaku River152 m 44.7 Hizen-Shiroishi 4 m 48.8 49.9 Hizen-Ryūō 4 m Route 207 52.2 Shiota River241 m 54.6 Hizen-Kashima 7 m 55.4 57.6 Hizen-Hama 6 m 58.0 61.0 Nishiura Tunnel180 m 61.5 Hizen-Nanaura 6 m 61.9 Tunnel90 m 63.6 Hizen-Iida 8 m 63.8 65.6 67.7 Tara 7 m 69.7 Kamezaki Tunnel175 m 70.7 Tunnel175 m 71.7 Sato Tunnel173 m 72.7 Sato Signal Station 9 m Route 207 75.6 Hizen-Ōura 17 m 76.9 Route 207 254 m Saga ↔ Nagasaki 78.9 Doizaki Signal Station 11 m 81.6 Tunnel215 m Route 207 82.3 Konagai 7 m 82.7 Route 207 219 m 84.4 Tunnel140 m 84.7 Nagasato 6 m 84.9 Nagasato River81 m 87.3 Sakai River65 m 87.6 Yue 14 m 90.9 Oe 10 m 91.6 Shinkai Tunnel210 m 92.0 Shinkai River91 m 95.6 Hizen-Nagata 5 m 95.9 Nishinagata River51 m 97.5 old Higashi-Isahaya Stationuntil 1990 97.8 Higashi-Isahaya 8 m 98.8 Honmyō Tunnel390 m 99.5 Honmyō River66 m ← Ōmura Line for Haiki 100.4 Isahaya 16 m 100.6 Route 207 93 m → Shimabara Railway Line for Kazusa 100.8 Tunnel ↓52 m 100.9 Route 207 ↑ 183 m / ↓ 337 m 101.4 Isahaya Tunnel No.2 ↓138 m Route 34 103.2 Nishi-Isahaya 6 m 103.4 Higashi-Ō River128 m 105.2 105.8 Hisa Mountain Tunnel56 m 106.9 Kikitsu 3 m 107.2 ← Old Line via Nagayo 107.5 Tunnel765 m 108.7 Kajiki Tunnel374 m 109.4 Ichinuno 28 m 110.0 Tunnel1249 m 3.5 ← Higashi-Sono 7 m 111.4 Koga Tunnel558 m 112.1 112.3 Hizen-Koga 45 m 112.6 112.8 Enoki Tunnel1515 m 7.2 ← Ōkusa 7 m 114.8 Utsutsugawa 67 m 115.1 Nagasaki Tunnel6173 m 10.5 118.5 Hizenmigawa Signal Station 30 m 12.3 ← Honkawachi 69 m 15.4 ← Nagayo 15 m 16.4 ← Kōda 21 m 18.9 ← Michinō 52 m 20.6 ← Nishi-Urakami : Sumijoshi → 23 m ↔ Nagasaki Tramway 122.2 Ō River79 m 123.7 Urakami 3 m → Urakami-eki-mae 125.3 Nagasaki 3 m 131.3 → Nagasaki-eki-mae

The Nagasaki Main Line (長崎本線 Nagasaki-honsen), or simply Nagasaki Line, is a railway line owned by the Kyushu Railway Company (JR Kyushu) connecting Tosu Station in Saga Prefecture to Nagasaki Station in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. There is a separate branch of this line from Kikitsu Station to Urakami Station by way of Nagayo Station.

Route data

• Operators and route length:
  • JR Kyushu (services and tracks)
    • Tosu - Nagasaki: 125.3 km (77.86 mi)
    • Kikitsu - Nagayo - Urakami: 23.5 km (14.60 mi)
  • JR Freight (services)
    • Tosu - Nagasaki: 125.3 km (77.86 mi)
• Stations: 41 (including seasonal stations)
• Double-tracking:
  • Tosu - Hizen-Yamaguchi
  • Isahaya - Kikitsu
  • Urakami - Nagasaki
• Electrification: Tosu - Nagasaki (20kV AC 60 Hz)
• Railway signalling: Automatic
• CTC center: Hakata Integrated Operations Center

Route description

The line is single-tracked between Hizen-Yamaguchi and Isahaya stations due to the coastal geography of the area making double-tracking prohibitively expensive. The "old route" (旧線) is the branch of the Nagasaki Main Line between Kikitsu and Urakami via Nagayo that existed before the opening of the new route. Prior to the opening of the new route, express and limited express trains ran on this section. Vestiges of this can be seen at Michinoo and other stations along the route. The "new line" (新線) is the branch of the Nagasaki Main Line between Isahaya and Urakami via Ichinuno through the Nagasaki Tunnel. It is electrified.

Services

Limited express

The Kamome limited express operates on the Nagasaki Main Line. The merged Midori/Huis Ten Bosch limited express operates east of Hizen-Yamaguchi Station. Limited express trains travel over the new route between Isahaya and Urakami stations.

Overnight sleeper trains, such as the Sakura (between Tokyo and Nagasaki) and Akatsuki (between Kyoto and Nagasaki), were discontinued in 2008.

Regional trains

Other than trains that are operated on the entire Nagasaki Line, there are trains which operate in specific sections, such as from Tosu to Hizen-Kashima, and trains which continue on to other lines.

• In the morning, from Hizen-Nanaura Station, there is a direct train to Mojikō Station (on the Kagoshima Main Line).
• The new line from Isahaya to Nagasaki uses EMUs, but the old line, including direct trains to the Omura Line, uses DMUs. However, the rapid service train Seaside Liner, despite being a DMU, uses the new line.
• Between Hizen-Nanaura Station and Yue Station, because it is a relatively inactive part of the line, local trains only run for about five hours into the daytime after the morning rush.
• Wanman Driver-only operation trains are operated on the entire Nagasaki Line. On the new line, the 817 series EMU is used, and on the old line, the KiHa 66, 67, and 200 DMUs are used.

Freight

Freight trains are operated between Tosu and Nabeshima. High-speed freight trains make three round trips a day from Tosu Freight Terminal to Nabeshima. The electric locomotive used is the Class ED76. Freight trains only arrive and depart from Nabeshima station.

Stations

Legend

• All trains stop at stations marked "●", some stop at stations marked "▲". All trains pass stations marked "｜".
• Double-tracked sections are marked "∥", single-tracked sections where trains may pass are marked "◇", and single-tracked sections where trains cannot pass are marked "｜".

New route (via Ichinuno)

• "Rapid" refers to the Seaside Liner rapid service.
• Local trains make all stops. For information on the Kamome and Midori limited express services consult their respective articles.

Station	Japanese	Distance (km)		Rapid	Transfers		Location
		Between Stations	Total
Tosu	鳥栖	-	0.0		Kagoshima Main Line	∥	Tosu	Saga
Shin-Tosu	新鳥栖	2.0	2.0		Kyushu Shinkansen	∥
Hizen-Fumoto	肥前麓	2.2	4.2			∥
Nakabaru	中原	4.3	8.5			∥	Miyaki, Miyaki District
Yoshinogari-Kōen	吉野ヶ里公園	4.6	13.1			∥	Yoshinogari, Kanzaki District
Kanzaki	神埼	2.6	15.7			∥	Kanzaki
Igaya	伊賀屋	4.5	20.2			∥	Saga
Saga	佐賀	4.8	25.0			∥
Nabeshima	鍋島	3.0	28.0			∥
Balloon Saga (seasonal)	バルーンさが	1.8	29.8			∥
Kubota	久保田	1.6	31.4		Karatsu Line[* 1]	∥
Ushizu	牛津	2.8	34.2			∥	Ogi
Hizen-Yamaguchi	肥前山口	5.4	39.6		Sasebo Line (some trains through to/from Tosu)	∨	Kōhoku, Kishima District
Hizen-Shiroishi	肥前白石	5.1	44.7			◇	Shiroishi, Kishima District
Hizen-Ryūō	肥前竜王	4.7	49.4			◇
Hizen-Kashima	肥前鹿島	5.2	54.6			◇	Kashima
Hizen-Hama	肥前浜	3.0	57.6			◇
Hizen-Nanaura	肥前七浦	3.9	61.5			◇
Hizen-Iida	肥前飯田	2.1	63.6			◇
Tara	多良	4.1	67.7			◇	Tara, Fujitsu District
Hizen-Ōura	肥前大浦	7.9	75.6			◇
Konagai	小長井	6.7	82.3			◇	Isahaya	Nagasaki
Nagasato	長里	2.4	84.7	To/from Ōmura Line		◇
Yue	湯江	2.9	87.6			◇
Oe	小江	3.3	90.9			◇
Hizen-Nagata	肥前長田	4.7	95.6			◇
Higashi-Isahaya	東諫早	2.2	97.8			◇
Isahaya	諫早	2.6	100.4	●	Ōmura Line (through to/from Nagasaki) Shimabara Railway Line	^
Nishi-Isahaya	西諫早	2.8	103.2	▲		∥
Kikitsu	喜々津	3.7	106.9	●	Nagasaki Main Line (old route) (through to/from Isahaya)	∨
Ichinuno	市布	2.5	109.4	▲		◇
Hizen-Koga	肥前古賀	2.9	112.3	▲		｜	Nagasaki
Utsutsugawa	現川	2.5	114.8	▲		◇
Urakami	浦上	8.9	123.7	●	Nagasaki Main Line (old route) (through to/from Nagasaki) Nagasaki Electric Tramway: Main Line (Urakami-Ekimae)	^
Nagasaki	長崎	1.6	125.3	●	Nagasaki Electric Tramway Main Line, Sakuramachi Branch (Nagasaki-Ekimae)	∥

1. Karatsu Line trains run through to Saga Station

Old route (via Nagayo)

• All stations located within Nagasaki Prefecture.
• All trains make all stops.

Station	Japanese	Distance (km)		Transfers		Location
		Between Stations	Total
Kikitsu	喜々津	-	0.0	Nagasaki Main Line (new route) (through to/from Isahaya)	◇	Isahaya
Higashisono	東園	3.5	3.5		｜
Ōkusa	大草	3.7	7.2		◇
Honkawachi	本川内	5.1	12.3		｜	Nagayo, Nishisonogi District
Nagayo	長与	3.1	15.4		◇
Kōda	高田	1.0	16.4		｜
Michinoo	道ノ尾	2.5	18.9		｜
Nishi-Urakami	西浦上	1.7	20.6		｜	Nagasaki
Urakami	浦上	2.9	23.5	Nagasaki Main Line (new route) (through to/from Nagasaki) Nagasaki Electric Tramway Main Line (Urakami-Ekimae)	◇

Rolling stock

• 783 series (Kamome, Midori, Huis ten Bosch)
• 885 series (Kamome)
• 811 series
• 813 series
• 817 series
• 415 series
• KiHa 66/67 DMUs (Seaside Liner)
• KiHa 200 DMUs (Seaside Liner)

History

The Kyushu Railway Co. opened the Tosu - Saga section in 1891, extending it to Nagasaki via Haiki in 1898.

In 1907, the Railway Nationalization Act was passed in Japan, nationalising all major railways. The Hizen-Yamaguchi - Isahaya direct line was opened in 1934, with the Hizen-Yamaguchi - Haiki section being renamed the Sasebo Line and the Haiki - Isahaya section the Omura Line.

The Saga - Nabeshima section was the first to be duplicated in 1966, and by 1969 the Tosu - Hizen-Yamaguchi and Isahaya - Kikitsu sections were duplicated. The Urakami-Nagasaki section was duplicated in 1990.

The 6173m Shin-Nagasaki tunnel and associated Kititsu - Urakami deviation opened in 1972, and the entire line was electrified in 1976. Freight services beyond Nabeshima ceased in 1999.

Former connecting lines

• Saga station - The 24km line to Setaka (on the Kagoshima Main Line) opened 1931-35, and closed in 1987. This line crossed three major watercourses by substantial bridges.

References

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

• Route diagram: Nippon Rettō - Tetsudō-kigen (にっぽん列島 - 鉄道紀元) p. 12-15, Vol. 27, May 10, 2007 - JTB Publishing Inc.