Okutsugaru-Imabetsu Station

Okutsugaru-Imabetsu Station (奥津軽いまべつ駅, Okutsugaru-Imabetsu-eki) is a railway station on the Hokkaido Shinkansen in the town of Imabetsu, Aomori Prefecture, on the island of Honshu, Japan. It is operated by Hokkaido Railway Company (JR Hokkaido), and is the last stop in Honshu before the Seikan Tunnel to Hokkaido.

Okutsugaru-Imabetsu Station 奥津軽いまべつ駅
Okutsugaru-Imabetsu Station in June 2016
Location	Ōkawadai, Imabetsu, Higashitsugaru, Aomori Prefecture Japan
Operated by	JR Hokkaido
Line(s)	Hokkaido Shinkansen
Platforms	2 side platforms
Connections	JR East: Tsugaru-Futamata
History
Opened	13 March 1988
Rebuilt	2016
Previous names	Tsugaru-Imabetsu (until 2016)
Services
Preceding station JR Hokkaido Following station Shin-Aomori Terminus Hokkaido Shinkansen Kikonai toward Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto
Former services Preceding station JR Hokkaido Following station Tappi-Kaitei toward Hakodate Tsugaru-Kaikyo Line Naka-Oguni Terminus Tappi-Kaitei toward Kikonai Kaikyo Line
Location
Okutsugaru-Imabetsu Station Location within Japan

Lines

Okusugaru-Imabetsu Station is served by the Hokkaido Shinkansen between Tokyo or Shin-Aomori and Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto. It used to be served by the Kaikyō Line between Aomori and Hakodate prior to the opening of the Hokkaido Shinkansen. After the opening of the shinkansen line, the Kaikyō Line is normally used by freight trains only.

Station layout

Before the Hokkaido Shinkansen stations were made, Tsugaru-Imabetsu Station had two opposed side platforms serving two tracks. There was no station building, but only a small weather shelter on the platform. The station was unattended.

Although the station is in the middle of the 82-kilometer section shared by the standard-gauge Hokkaido Shinkansen and the-narrow gauge Kaikyō Line, narrow gauge trains use separate tracks (two each) on the both sides of the shinkansen station so that only shinkansen trains pass through the passenger platforms.[1]

It is physically connected to Tsugaru-Futamata Station on the JR East Tsugaru Line by an underground passage.

Platforms

11	■ Hokkaido Shinkansen	for Shin-Aomori, Sendai, and Tokyo
12	■ Hokkaido Shinkansen	for Kikonai and Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto

History

Tsugaru-imabetsu Station in September 2008

Tsugaru-Imabetsu Station (津軽今別駅, Tsugaru-Imabetsu-eki) on the Kaikyō Line opened on March 13, 1988. From 2002, only the limited express Hakuchō services stopped at this station. According to the 2015 timetable, there were two trains per day in each direction.[2]

From March 26, 2016, the station became a stop on the Hokkaido Shinkansen, renamed Okutsugaru-Imabetsu.[3] As the work to convert the Tsugaru-Imabetsu Station into the Shinkansen station was in progress, passenger services at the station were suspended from August 10, 2015.[2] From August 2015, there were no train services at this station due to the work to convert the station to a stop on the high-speed line.[2]

Surrounding area

• Tsugaru-Futamata Station on the Tsugaru Line
• Road Station Imabetsu "Asukuru"

Tsugaru-Futamata and Tsugaru-Imabetsu

See also

• List of railway stations in Japan

References

1. Hashimoto, Kōichi (May 2016). "北海道新幹線（新青森―新函館北斗間）の設備概要" [Outlines of facilities of the Hokkaido Shinkansen (between Shin-Aomori and Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto)]. The Railway Pictorial. No. 917. p. 66.
2. 海峡線、全列車きょうから津軽今別駅通過　北海道新幹線工事で [All Kaikyo Line trains to pass Tsugaru Imabetsu Station from today for Hokkaido Shinkansen construction]. The Hokkaido Shimbun Press (in Japanese). August 10, 2015. Archived from the original on August 10, 2015. Retrieved August 22, 2015.
3. 新幹線駅名「奥津軽いまべつ」 [Shinkansen station to be named Okutsugaru-Imabetsu]. To-o Nippo (in Japanese). Japan: The To-o Nippo Press Co.,Ltd. 11 June 2014. Archived from the original on 14 June 2014. Retrieved 24 July 2015.

External links

• Location map (in Japanese)
• JR Hokkaido Station Map (in Japanese)