Usuki Station (Ōita)

Usuki Station (臼杵駅, Usuki-eki) is a passenger railway station located in the city of Usuki, Ōita, Japan. It is operated by JR Kyushu.^[1][2]

Usuki Station 臼杵駅
Usuki Station in 2011
General information
Location	2573-2 Kaizoe, Usuki-shi, Ōita-ken 875-0042 Japan
Coordinates	33°07′07″N 131°48′28″E
Operated by	JR Kyushu
Line(s)	■ Nippō Main Line
Distance	169.2 km from Kokura
Platforms	1 side + 1 island platform
Tracks	3 + 2 sidings
Construction
Structure type	At grade
Accessible	No - platforms linked by footbridge
Other information
Status	Staffed ticket window (Midori no Madoguchi) (outsourced)
Website	Official website
History
Opened	15 August 1915 (1915-08-15)
Passengers
FY2016	700 daily
Rank	206th (among JR Kyushu stations)
Services
Preceding station JR Kyushu Following station Kami-Usuki towards Kagoshima Nippō Main Line Tsukumi towards Kokura
Location Usuki Station Location within Oita Prefecture Show map of Oita Prefecture Usuki Station Usuki Station (Japan) Show map of Japan

Lines

The station is served by the Nippō Main Line and is located 169.2 km from the starting point of the line at Kokura.^[3]

Layout

The station has a side platform and an island platform serving three tracks at grade. Two sidings run to the south of platform 3. The station building is a modern concrete structure which houses an enclosed waiting room, shop and a staffed ticket window. Access to the island platform is by means of a footbridge.^[3][2]

Management of the passenger facilities at the station has been outsourced to the JR Kyushu Tetsudou Eigyou Co., a wholly owned subsidiary of JR Kyushu specialising in station services. It staffs the ticket booth which is equipped with a Midori no Madoguchi facility.^[4][5]

Platforms

1	■ ■ Nippō Main Line	for Saiki, Nobeoka and Miyazaki
2, 3	■ ■ Nippō Main Line	for Ōita, Kokura and Hakata

History

The private Kyushu Railway had, by 1909, through acquisition and its own expansion, established a track from Kokura to Yanagigaura. The Kyushu Railway was nationalised on 1 July 1907. Japanese Government Railways (JGR), designated the track as the Hōshū Main Line on 12 October 1909 and expanded it southwards in phases, with Usuki opening as the new southern terminus on 15 August 1915. It became a through-station on 25 October 1916 when the track was extended further south to Saiki. On 15 December 1923, the Hōshū Main Line was renamed the Nippō Main Line. With the privatization of Japanese National Railways (JNR), the successor of JGR, on 1 April 1987, the station came under the control of JR Kyushu.^[6][7]

On 17 September 2017, Typhoon Talim (Typhoon 18) damaged the Nippō Main Line at several locations. Services between Usuki and Saiki were suspended. Rail services were restored on 18 December 2017. However JR Kyushu reported that recovery work was difficult at the site of the Tokūra Signal Box between Usuki and Tsukumi which had been covered by a landslide. Of the two tracks there, only one would be restored. According to JR Kyushu, having only a single track there (effectively closing down the signal box) would not have a large impact on its timetables and believed that it amounted to a full restoration of service.^[8][9]

Passenger statistics

In fiscal 2016, the station was used by an average of 700 passengers daily (boarding passengers only), and it ranked 206th among the busiest stations of JR Kyushu.^[10]

Surrounding area

The station is near the center of the city, convenient to several sites. Among these are

• Usuki Ferry Terminal
• Administrative offices including the Usuki City Hall, police and fire stations, court, tax office
• Usuki Park, location of the former Usuki Castle
• Ōita Prefectural Usuki High School
• Usuki Shipyard
• The Nogami Yaeko Memorial Museum

See also

• Usuki Station (Kagoshima)
• List of railway stations in Japan

References

This article incorporates information translated from the article 臼杵駅 (Usuki-eki) in the Japanese Wikipedia, retrieved on October 25, 2008.

1. "JR Kyushu Route Map" (PDF). JR Kyushu. Retrieved 23 February 2018.
2. "臼杵" [Usuki]. hacchi-no-he.net. Retrieved 4 May 2018.
3. Kawashima, Ryōzō (2013). 図説: 日本の鉄道 四国・九州ライン 全線・全駅・全配線・第6巻 熊本 大分 エリア [Japan Railways Illustrated. Shikoku and Kyushu. All lines, all stations, all track layouts. Volume 6 Kumamoto Ōita Area] (in Japanese). Kodansha. pp. 45, 82. ISBN 9784062951654.
4. "大分支店内各駅" [Stations within the Ōita Branch]. JRTE website. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
5. "臼杵駅" [Usuki Station]. jr-mars.dyndns.org. Retrieved 4 May 2018. See images of tickets sold.
6. Ishino, Tetsu; et al., eds. (1998). 停車場変遷大事典 国鉄・JR編 [Station Transition Directory – JNR/JR] (in Japanese). Vol. I. Tokyo: JTB Corporation. pp. 228–9. ISBN 4-533-02980-9.
7. Ishino, Tetsu; et al., eds. (1998). 停車場変遷大事典 国鉄・JR編 [Station Transition Directory – JNR/JR] (in Japanese). Vol. II. Tokyo: JTB Corporation. p. 755. ISBN 4-533-02980-9.
8. "日豊線臼杵-佐伯間運転再開 ３カ月ぶり" [Nippō Line Usuki - Saiki traffic resumes after 3 months]. Miyanichi Press. 18 December 2017. Archived from the original on 19 December 2017. Retrieved 4 May 2018.
9. "日豊線 １２月下旬再開へ 不通の臼杵―佐伯" [Nippō Line Traffic to resume in late December between Usuki - Saiki]. Ōita Gōdō Shimbun. 26 October 2017. Archived from the original on 5 November 2017. Retrieved 4 May 2018.
10. "駅別乗車人員上位300駅（平成28年度）" [Passengers embarking by station - Top 300 stations (Fiscal 2016)] (PDF). JR Kyushu. 31 July 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 August 2017. Retrieved 3 March 2018.

External links

Media related to Usuki Station (Oita) at Wikimedia Commons

• Usuki (JR Kyushu)(in Japanese)