Iwate Galaxy Railway Line

The Iwate Galaxy Railway Line (いわて銀河鉄道線, Iwate Ginga Tetsudō-sen) is a railway line in Japan operated by the "third sector" publicly and privately owned operator Iwate Galaxy Railway Company. It connects Morioka Station in Morioka, Iwate to Metoki Station in Sannohe, Aomori.

Iwate Galaxy Railway Line
IGR 7000 series EMU at Morioka Station, June 2023
Overview
Owner	Iwate Galaxy Railway Company
Locale	Iwate Prefecture
Termini	Morioka Metoki
Stations	16
Service
Rolling stock	IGR 7000 series (701 series) EMUs
History
Opened	1 December 2002
Technical
Line length	82.0 km (51.0 mi)
Track gauge	1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Electrification	20,000 V AC, 50 Hz overhead catenary
Operating speed	100 km/h (60 mph)
Route map Legend JR East: Tōhoku Shinkansen JR East: Tōhoku Main Line 0.0 Morioka JR East: Yamada Line JR East: Tazawako Line（Akita Shinkansen） Iwate Galaxy Railway Control Center 3.2 Aoyama Tokusa River 5.6 Kuriyagawa 9.0 Nagano Signal to 1968 10.2 Sugo 12.2 Takizawa 16.6 Shibutami 21.3 Kōma JR East: Hanawa Line 26.9 Iwate-Kawaguchi 32.0 Iwate-Numakunai 37.3 Midō 41.6 Yachi Signal to 1949 44.4 Okunakayama-Kōgen 48.4 Nishioka Signal to 1966 52.2 Kotsunagi 55.3 Takimi Signal to 1967 59.8 Kozuya 64.5 Ichinohe 67.6 Torigoe Signal to 1968 70.8 Ninohe 73.7 Tomai 78.4 Kintaichi-Onsen 82.0 Metoki JR East: Tōhoku Shinkansen Aoimori Railway Line

Formerly part of the East Japan Railway Company (JR East) Tohoku Main Line, it was separated from 1 December 2002 with the opening of the Tohoku Shinkansen which parallels the route. JR Freight services continue to travel over the line.^[1]

Station list

Station	Japanese	Distance (km)		Transfers	Location
		Between stations	Total
Morioka	盛岡	-	0.0	Tōhoku Shinkansen ■ Tōhoku Main Line ■ Tazawako Line (■ Akita Shinkansen) ■ Yamada Line	Morioka	Iwate
Aoyama	青山	3.2	3.2
Kuriyagawa	厨川	2.4	5.6
Sugo	巣子	4.6	10.2		Takizawa
Takizawa	滝沢	2.0	12.2
Shibutami	渋民	4.4	16.6		Morioka
Kōma	好摩	4.7	21.3	■ Hanawa Line (some through services)
Iwate-Kawaguchi	岩手川口	5.6	26.9		Iwate
Iwate-Numakunai	いわて沼宮内	5.1	32.0	Tōhoku Shinkansen
Midō	御堂	5.3	37.3
Okunakayama-Kōgen	奥中山高原	7.1	44.4		Ichinohe
Kotsunagi	小繋	7.8	52.2
Kozuya	小鳥谷	7.6	59.8
Ichinohe	一戸	4.7	64.5
Ninohe	二戸	6.3	70.8	Tōhoku Shinkansen	Ninohe
Tomai	斗米	2.9	73.7
Kintaichi-Onsen	金田一温泉	4.7	78.4
Metoki	目時	3.6	82.0	■ Aoimori Railway Line (through service)	Sannohe	Aomori
Through to Hachinohe Station on the Aoimori Railway Line

Rolling stock

The Iwate Galaxy Railway Company owns a fleet of IGR 7000 series 2-car electric multiple unit (EMU) trains. The fleet consists of four 7000-0 series sets, which were originally JR East 701-1000 series sets transferred from Morioka in December 2002, and three newly built 7000-100 series sets.^[1]

History

The section of the line between Morioka and Metoki first opened on 1 September 1891, and was nationalized on 1 November 1906.^[1] The line was double-tracked by 12 July 1968, and it was electrified on 22 August 1968.^[1] With the privatization of Japanese National Railways (JNR) on 1 April 1987, the line came under the control of East Japan Railway Company (JR East).^[1] From 1 December 2002, with the opening of the parallel Tohoku Shinkansen extension to Hachinohe, ownership of the line was transferred to the third-sector Iwate Galaxy Railway Company.^[1]

References

1. Terada, Hirokazu (19 January 2013). データブック日本の私鉄 [Databook: Japan's Private Railways]. Japan: Neko Publishing. p. 15. ISBN 978-4-7770-1336-4.

External links

• Official website (in Japanese)