Nichinan Line

Nichinan Line
Nichinan Line trainsets, with the Umisachi Yamasachi limited express on the left
Overview
Owner	JR Kyushu
Locale	Kyushu
Termini	Minami-Miyazaki Shibushi
Stations	28
Service
Type	Heavy rail
Rolling stock	KiHa 40 series
Technical
Line length	88.9 km (55.2 mi)
Number of tracks	Single
Track gauge	1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Electrification	20 kV AC, overhead catenary (Minami Miyazaki - Tayoshi)

The Nichinan Line (日南線にちなんせん, Nichinan-sen) is a railway line in south-eastern Kyushu, Japan, operated by Kyushu Railway Company (JR Kyushu). It connects Minami-Miyazaki Station in Miyazaki, Miyazaki to Shibushi Station in Shibushi, Kagoshima.

History

The Miyazaki Prefectural Government opened the first section of the line from Obi - Aburatsu in 1913, the same year that the Miyazaki Light Railway was opened from the port of Miyazaki to Uchiumi. The lines were linked in 1932, and nationalised in 1935. The extension to Kitago opened in 1941, and to Shibushi (as a passenger only section) in 1963.

Steam locomotives were withdrawn from the line in 1973. Freight services to Kitago ceased in 1982, and in 1990 the Shibushi station was relocated 100m closer to Miyazaki. The Minami Miyazaki - Tayoshi section was electrified in 1996 in conjunction with the opening of the Miyazaki Airport line. Subsequently, the line has been electrified as far as Kodomonokuni.

Former connecting lines

Shibushi station -

• The 39 km line to Nishi-Miyakonojō (known as the Shibushi Line) opened between 1923 and 1925, connecting to the Nippo Main Line. Freight service ended in 1983 and the line closed in 1987.
• The 98 km line to Kokubu (known as the Osumi Line), also connecting to the Nippo Main Line, was not completed until 1972. The first section was opened by the Osumi Light Railway Co. as a 762mm gauge line from Funama to Kushira, via a reversing station at Kanoya, between 1915 and 1923. The line was nationalised in 1935, the same year the Shibushi - Higashikushira section was opened by JR. The 1 km connection to Kushira opened the following year, and in 1938 the Kushira - Funama section was regauged, with a new station at Kanoya removing the need to reverse direction there. The Funama - Kaigata section opened in 1961 as a passenger only line, and the Kaigata - Kokubu section also opened without freight service. The rest of the line lost freight service in 1982, and the entire line closed in 1987.

Stations

•: Stops

|: Non-stop

Stations		Distance (km)	Nichinan Marine rapid	Transfers	Location
Nippō Main Line
Miyazaki	宮崎みやざき	-2.6	•	Nippō Main Line (For Ōita and Kokura)	Miyazaki	Miyazaki Prefecture
Nichinan Line
Minami-Miyazaki	南宮崎みなみみやざき	0.0	•	Nippō Main Line (For Kagoshima)	Miyazaki	Miyazaki Prefecture
Tayoshi	田吉たよし	2.0	•	Miyazaki Kūkō Line
Minamikata	南方なんぽう	4.2	|
Kibana	木花きばな	7.5	•
Undōkōen	運動公園うんどうこうえん	9.0	•
Sosanji	曽山そやま寺てら	10.2	|
Kodomonokuni	子供こどもの国くに	11.4	•
Aoshima	青島ちんたお	12.7	•
Oryūzako	折生迫おりうざこ	13.8	|
Uchiumi	内海うつみ	17.5	|
Kouchiumi	小しょう内海うちうみ	19.9	|
Ibii	伊比井いびい	23.3	•		Nichinan
Kitagō	北郷きたごう	32.5	•
Uchinoda	内うち之の田た	37.1	|
Obi	飫肥おび	39.8	•
Nichinan	日南にちなん	43.8	•
Aburatsu	油津あぶらつ	46.0	•
Ōdōtsu	大堂津おおどうつ	50.3	•
Nangō	南郷なんごう	53.0	•
Taninokuchi	谷之口たにのくち	56.1	•
Yowara	榎えのき原げん	60.5	•
Hyūga-Ōtsuka	日向大束ひゅうがおおつか	68.6	•		Kushima
Hyūga-Kitakata	日向北方ひゅうがきたかた	71.8	•
Kushima	串間くしま	74.4	•
Fukushima-Imamachi	福島今町ふくしまいままち	77.2	•
Fukushima-Takamatsu	福島ふくしま高松たかまつ	79.6	•
Ōsumi-Natsui	大隅夏井おおすみなつい	84.5	•		Shibushi	Kagoshima Prefecture
Shibushi	志布志しぶし	88.9	•

References

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