Aizu Line

The Aizu Railway Aizu Line (会津鉄道会津線, Aizu Tetsudō Aizu-sen) is a 57.4 km railway line from Nishi-Wakamatsu Station in Aizuwakamatsu to Aizukōgen-Ozeguchi Station in Minamiaizu, Fukushima, Japan. It is owned and operated by Aizu Railway.

Aizu Line
Aizu Railway AT-150 series DMU at Ashinomaki-Onsen Station, April 2001
Overview
Type	Heavy rail
Locale	Fukushima Prefecture
Termini	Nishi-Wakamatsu Aizukōgen-Ozeguchi
Stations	21
Operation
Owner	Aizu Railway
Technical
Line length	57.4 km (35.7 mi)
Track gauge	1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Electrification	1,500 V DC (Aizu-Tajima — Aizukōgen-Ozeguchi)

Services

The train operation is divided at Aizu-Tajima Station. The electrified southern part has through service beyond the Aizukōgen-Ozeguchi terminus onto the Yagan Railway Aizu Kinugawa Line, Tobu Railway and JR East all the way to Tokyo. The non-electrified northern part runs diesel service beyond Nishi-Wakamatsu Station to Aizu-Wakamatsu Station on the JR East Tadami Line.

Stations

• All stations located in Fukushima Prefecture.
• All trains stop at stations marked "●"; some stop at those marked "▲". Open-car "torokko" trains pass Yōson-Kōen Station in the winter.
• Rapid, section rapid, and section express trains to/from Asakusa Station stop at all stations on the Aizu Line.

Station	Japanese	Distance (km)		Aizu Mount Express	Trains to/from Asakusa	Open-car "torokko"	Transfers	Location
		Between stations	Total
through operation to/from Aizu-Wakamatsu on the Tadami Line
Nishi-Wakamatsu	西若松	-	0.0	●		●	Tadami Line (for Koide)	Aizuwakamatsu
Minami-Wakamatsu	南若松	3.0	3.0	▲		↓
Monden	門田	1.9	4.9	▲		↓
Amaya	あまや	2.8	7.7	▲		↓
Ashinomaki-Onsen	芦ノ牧温泉	2.8	10.5	●		●
Ōkawadamukōen	大川ダム公園	5.7	16.2	▲		↓
Ashinomaki-Onsen-Minami	芦ノ牧温泉南	1.5	17.7	▲		↓
Yunokami-Onsen	湯野上温泉	5.0	22.7	●		●		Shimogō, Minamiaizu District
Tō-no-Hetsuri	塔のへつり	3.8	26.5	▲		●
Yagoshima	弥五島	1.5	28.0	▲		↓
Aizu-Shimogō	会津下郷	3.1	31.1	●		●
Furusato-Kōen	ふるさと公園	1.4	32.5	▲		↓
Yōson-Kōen	養鱒公園	2.6	35.1	▲		*
Aizu-Nagano	会津長野	2.2	37.3	▲		↓		Minamiaizu, Minamiaizu District
Tajimakōkōmae	田島高校前	2.2	39.5	▲		↓
Aizu-Tajima	会津田島	2.5	42.0	●	●	●
Nakaarai	中荒井	3.8	45.8	▲	●
Aizu-Arakai	会津荒海	3.4	49.2	▲	●
Aizu-Sanson-Dōjō	会津山村道場	0.9	50.1	▲	●
Nanatsugatake-Tozanguchi	七ヶ岳登山口	3.0	53.1	▲	●
Aizukōgen-Ozeguchi	会津高原尾瀬口	4.3	57.4	●	●		Yagan Railway Aizu Kinugawa Line (through operation)
through operation to/from Yagan Railway Aizu Kinugawa Line

History

The Aizu Line was constructed between 1927 and 1953 by the Japanese National Railways (JNR) as part of a plan to build a direct line from Aizu-Wakamatsu to Tokyo. The Aizu line was the northern section, whilst the Yagan Railway Aizu Kinugawa Line was to be the southern section. Despite the Kinugawa line connecting to the Aizu line in 1986, the Aizu Line was deemed an unprofitable secondary line and transferred to a company established by local governments in 1987.

The Aizukōgen-Ozeguchi - Aizu-Tajima section was electrified at 1500 VDC in 1990 to facilitate through-running onto the Kinugawa line.

Timeline

• November 1, 1927: Nishi-Wakamatsu - Ashimomaki-Onsen section (10.5 km) opens
• December 22, 1932: Ashimomaki-Onsen - Yunokami-Onsen section opens
• December 27, 1934: Yunokami-Onsen - Aizu-Tajima section opens
• December 12, 1947: Aizu-Tajima - Nanatsugatake-Tozanguchi section opens
• November 8, 1953: Nanatsugatake-Tozanguchi - Aizukōgen-Ozeguchi
• December 1, 1980: The 12.2 km deviation between Ashimomaki-Onsen and Yunokami-Onsen opens as part of the construction of the Okawa Dam
• April 1, 1987: Line transferred to East Japan Railway Company (JR East) upon privatization of JNR
• July 16, 1987: Line transferred to Aizu Railway
• October 12, 1990: Aizu-Tajima — Aizukōgen-Ozeguchi section electrified (1500 V DC), direct service to the Yagan Railway Aizu Kinugawa Line begins
• April 1, 1999: Japan Freight Railway Company (JR Freight) ends operations

References

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

External links

• Aizu Railway Aizu Line Station Guide (in Japanese)