Iwate Galaxy Railway Line

Iwate Galaxy Railway Line
Iwate Galaxy Railway Line
	IGR 7000 series EMU at Morioka Station, June 2023
Overview
Owner	Iwate Galaxy Railway Company
Locale	Iwate Prefecture
Termini	Morioka; Metoki;
Stations	16
Service
Rolling stock	IGR 7000 series (701 series) EMUs
History
Opened	1 December 2002
Technical
Line length	82.0 km (51.0 mi)
Track gauge	1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Electrification	20,000 V AC, 50 Hzへるつ overhead catenary
Operating speed	100 km/h (60 mph)
Route map
	Legend

The Iwate Galaxy Railway Line (いわて銀河ぎんが鉄道てつどう線せん, Iwate Ginga Tetsudō-sen) is a railway line in Japan operated by the "third sector" publicly and privately owned operator Iwate Galaxy Railway Company. It connects Morioka Station in Morioka, Iwate to Metoki Station in Sannohe, Aomori.

Formerly part of the East Japan Railway Company (JR East) Tohoku Main Line, it was separated from 1 December 2002 with the opening of the Tohoku Shinkansen which parallels the route. JR Freight services continue to travel over the line.^[1]

Station list[edit]

Station	Japanese	Distance (km)		Transfers	Location
Station	Japanese	Between stations	Total	Transfers	Location
Morioka	盛岡もりおか	-	0.0	Tōhoku Shinkansen ■ Tōhoku Main Line ■ Tazawako Line (■ Akita Shinkansen) ■ Yamada Line	Morioka	Iwate
Aoyama	青山あおやま	3.2	3.2
Kuriyagawa	厨川くりやがわ	2.4	5.6
Sugo	巣す子こ	4.6	10.2		Takizawa
Takizawa	滝沢たきざわ	2.0	12.2		Takizawa
Shibutami	渋民しぶたみ	4.4	16.6		Morioka
Kōma	好摩こうま	4.7	21.3	■ Hanawa Line (some through services)	Morioka
Iwate-Kawaguchi	岩手いわて川口かわぐち	5.6	26.9		Iwate
Iwate-Numakunai	いわて沼宮内ぬまみやうち	5.1	32.0	Tōhoku Shinkansen
Midō	御堂みどう	5.3	37.3
Okunakayama-Kōgen	奥中おくなか山高原やまたかはら	7.1	44.4		Ichinohe
Kotsunagi	小繋こつなぎ	7.8	52.2
Kozuya	小鳥谷こずや	7.6	59.8
Ichinohe	一いち戸こ	4.7	64.5
Ninohe	二に戸こ	6.3	70.8	Tōhoku Shinkansen	Ninohe
Tomai	斗米とまい	2.9	73.7
Kintaichi-Onsen	金田一温泉きんたいちおんせん	4.7	78.4
Metoki	目時めとき	3.6	82.0	■ Aoimori Railway Line (through service)	Sannohe	Aomori
Through to Hachinohe Station on the Aoimori Railway Line

Rolling stock[edit]

The Iwate Galaxy Railway Company owns a fleet of IGR 7000 series 2-car electric multiple unit (EMU) trains. The fleet consists of four 7000-0 series sets, which were originally JR East 701-1000 series sets transferred from Morioka in December 2002, and three newly built 7000-100 series sets.^[1]

History[edit]

The section of the line between Morioka and Metoki first opened on 1 September 1891, and was nationalized on 1 November 1906.^[1] The line was double-tracked by 12 July 1968, and it was electrified on 22 August 1968.^[1] With the privatization of Japanese National Railways (JNR) on 1 April 1987, the line came under the control of East Japan Railway Company (JR East).^[1] From 1 December 2002, with the opening of the parallel Tohoku Shinkansen extension to Hachinohe, ownership of the line was transferred to the third-sector Iwate Galaxy Railway Company.^[1]

References[edit]

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Terada, Hirokazu (19 January 2013). データブック日本にっぽんの私鉄してつ [Databook: Japan's Private Railways]. Japan: Neko Publishing. p. 15. ISBN 978-4-7770-1336-4.

External links[edit]

Official website (in Japanese)

[terada2013-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Terada, Hirokazu (19 January 2013). データブック日本にっぽんの私鉄してつ [Databook: Japan's Private Railways]. Japan: Neko Publishing. p. 15. ISBN 978-4-7770-1336-4.

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