Honkawachi Station

Honkawachi Station (本川内駅, Honkawachi-eki) is the railway station in Nagayo, Nishisonogi District, Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. It is operated by JR Kyushu and is on the Nagasaki Main Line.[1][2]

Honkawachi Station 本川内駅
Honkawachi Station in 2006
Location	Japan
Coordinates	32°49′58″N 129°53′59″E
Operated by	JR Kyushu
Line(s)	■ Nagasaki Main Line
Distance	12.3 km from Kikitsu (starting point of branch)
Platforms	1 side platform
Tracks	1
Construction
Structure type	At grade
Disabled access	Yes - ramps lead to platform
Other information
Status	Unstaffed
Website	Official website
History
Opened	1 October 1943 (1943-10-01)
Previous names	Hongawachi Signal Box (until 1 June 1952)
Traffic
Passengers (FY2014)	81 daily
Location
Honkawachi Station Location within Japan

Lines

The station is served by the old line or the Nagayo branch of the Nagasaki Main Line and is located 12.3 km from the branch point at Kikitsu.[3] Only local trains run on this branch.[4]

Station layout

The station consists of a side platform serving a single track. The station building is a timber structure and is unstaffed, housing only a waiting area, an automatic ticket vending machine and a SUGOCA card reader. A ramp leads from the station building to the platform. In the past, the platform track was on a siding and trains stopping at the station used to have to perform a switchback manoeuvre to enter and leave. This has been discontinued with the new platform built on the main track but the remnants of the switches and tracks used in the switchback can still be seen.[3][2]

• 
  Side view of station showing the system of accessibility ramps leading to the platform.
• 
  A view of the platform. To the right can be seen the remnants of the siding and old platform which was entered with a switchback.

Adjacent stations

←		Service		→
Nagasaki Main Line (old line)
Ōkusa		Local	Nagayo

History

Japanese National Railways (JNR) opened the station as Hongawachi Signal Box (本川内信号場, Hongawachi-shingōba) on 1 October 1943 on the existing track of the Nagasaki Main Line. On 1 June 1952, the facility was upgraded to a full passenger station. At the same time, the reading of the station name was changed from Hongawachi to Honkawachi, with no change to the corresponding kanji. On 2 October 1972, a shorter inland bypass route was opened between Kikitsu through Ichinuno to Urakami was opened, which became known as the new line or Ichinuno branch of the Nagasaki Main Line. The section serving Honkawachi which ran from Kikitsu through Nagayo to Urakami became known as the old line or the Nagayo branch. With the privatization of JNR on 1 April 1987, control of the station passed to JR Kyushu.[5][6]

Passenger statistics

In fiscal 2014, there were a total of 29,561 boarding passengers, giving a daily average of 81 passengers.[7]

Environs

• Nagayo Dam
• Nagayo Town Araikiri Elementary School

See also

• List of railway stations in Japan

References

1. "JR Kyushu Route Map" (PDF). JR Kyushu. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
2. "本川内" [Honkawachi]. hacchi-no-he.net. Retrieved 16 March 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5巻 長崎 佐賀 エリア [Japan Railways Illustrated. Shikoku and Kyushu. All lines, all stations, all track layouts. Volume 5 Nagasaki Saga area] (in Japanese). Kodansha. pp. 42, 69. ISBN 9784062951647.
4. "本川内" [Honkawachi]. JR Kyushu official station website. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
5. 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). I. Tokyo: JTB Corporation. pp. 222–3. ISBN 4533029809.
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). II. Tokyo: JTB Corporation. p. 717. ISBN 4533029809.
7. "第63版（平成28年）長崎県統計年鑑" [Nagasaki Prefecture Statistics Yearbook 63rd Edition 2016]. Nagasaki Prefectural Government website. Retrieved 16 March 2018. See table at section under Transportation and Communications.

External links

• Honkawachi Station (JR Kyushu)(in Japanese)