Wataze Station

Wataze Station (渡瀬駅, Wataze-eki) is a railway station on the Kagoshima Main Line, operated by JR Kyushu in Miyama, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan.[1][2]

JB  24  Wataze Station 渡瀬駅
Wataze Station in 2018
Location	Japan
Coordinates	33°5′59.6″N 130°27′35.2″E
Operated by	JR Kyushu
Line(s)	■ Kagoshima Main Line,
Distance	139.1 km from Mojikō
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	2
Construction
Structure type	At grade
Parking	Available
Disabled access	No - platforms linked by footbridge
Other information
Status	Kan'i itaku ticket window
Website	Official website
History
Opened	7 June 1891 (1891-06-07)
Location
JB  24  Wataze Station Location within Japan

Lines

The station is served by the Kagoshima Main Line and is located 139.1 km from the starting point of the line at Mojiko.[3] Only local services on the line stop at the station.

Layout

The station consists of two side platforms serving two tracks. The platforms are not opposed. Platform 2 was formerly an island platform but the centre track between it and platform 1 has been removed. The station building is a modern concrete building but has been built in traditional Japanese style with a double tiled roof. It houses a waiting room, a ticket window, an automatic ticket vending machine, a Sugoca charge machine and card reader. There is an accessibility ramp to the station building, but a footbridge is needed to access platform 2.[2][3][4]

The ticket window is staffed by a kan'i itaku agent and is equipped with a POS machine but does not have a Midori no Madoguchi facility.[5]

• 
  A view of the platforms and tracks. Note the platform to the right was once an island but one of its tracks has been removed.
• 
  The old station building. This picture was taken in 2004.

Adjacent stations

←		Service		→
Kagoshima Main Line
JB  23  Minami-Setaka		Local	JB  25  Yoshino
Rapid: Does not stop at this station

History

The privately run Kyushu Railway had opened a stretch of track between Hakata and the (now closed) Chitosegawa temporary stop on 11 December 1889. After several phases of expansion northwards and southwards, by February 1891, the line stretched from Kurosaki south to Kurume. In the next phase of expansion, the track was extended south with Takase (now Tamana opening as the new southern terminus on 1 April 1891. Wataze was opened a few months later, on 7 June 1891, as an additional station between Kurume and Takase. When the Kyushu Railway was nationalized on 1 July 1907, Japanese Government Railways (JGR) took over control of the station. On 12 October 1909, the station became part of the Hitoyoshi Main Line and then on 21 November 1909, part of the Kagoshima Main Line. With the privatization of Japanese National Railways (JNR), the successor of JGR, on 1 April 1987, JR Kyushu took over control of the station.[6][7]

References

1. "JR Kyushu Route Map" (PDF). JR Kyushu. Retrieved 23 February 2018.
2. "渡瀬" [Wataze]. hacchi-no-he.net. Retrieved 3 April 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. 13, 67. ISBN 9784062951654.
4. "渡瀬駅に訪問" [Visit to Wataze Station]. Dridorichi's railroad blog. 24 July 2014. Retrieved 4 April 2018. See especially for photographic coverage of station facilities.
5. "渡瀬駅" [Wataze Station]. jr-mars.dyndns.org. Retrieved 3 April 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). I. Tokyo: JTB Corporation. p. 218. ISBN 4533029809.
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). II. Tokyo: JTB Corporation. p. 682. ISBN 4533029809.

External links

• Wataze Station (JR Kyushu)(in Japanese)