New KiHa E130-500 series diesel multiple unit trains were introduced on the Hachinohe Line from 2 December 2017, displacing the ageing KiHa 40 series DMUs.[1] All services on the line will be operated by KiHa E130-500 series DMUs from the start of the revised timetable on 17 March 2018.[1]
The fleet consists of six two-car units and six single-car units.[2]
History
In 1894, a spur line connecting Shiriuchi (now Hachinohe) on the Tohoku Main Line with Hachinohe (now Hon-Hachinohe was completed. This line was soon extended south to the now-defunct Minato Station. After the nationalization of the Nippon Railway in 1907, the spur line was renamed the Hachinohe Line in 1909. From 1924, the line's name was written with its current characters, and the southern terminus of the line was extended to Taneichi in Iwate Prefecture. The following year it reached Rikuchū-Yagi, and in 1930 it reached its present southern terminus of Kuji where it connected to the Sanriku RailwayKita-Rias Line, which links Kuji with Miyako in southern Iwate. Freight operations were phased out at most stations between 1982 and 1986.[citation needed]
The line was damaged by the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011, and services were suspended on the section between Taneichi and Kuji, with a number of vehicles trapped at Kuji Station. Services over the entire line resumed on March 17, 2012.[3]
^ ab八戸線，3月17日から全列車をキハE130系500番台で運転 [All Hachinohe Line services to be operated by KiHa E130-500 series from 17 March]. Japan Railfan Magazine Online (in Japanese). Japan: Koyusha Co., Ltd. 15 December 2017. Archived from the original on 15 December 2017. Retrieved 15 December 2017.
^八戸線および新潟・秋田地区への車両新造計画 [New train manufacture plans for Hachinohe Line and Niigata/Akita regions]. Tetsudo Hobidas (in Japanese). Japan: Neko Publishing Co., Ltd. 4 July 2017. Archived from the original on 4 July 2017. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
^八戸線で試運転とキハ40系の回送 [KiHa 40s test run on Hachinohe Line]. Japan Railfan Magazine Online (in Japanese). Japan: Koyusha Co., Ltd. 2012-03-11. Retrieved 2012-03-11.
Harris, Ken; Clarke, Jackie (2008). Jane's World Railways 2008-2009. Jane's Information Group. ISBN978-0-7106-2861-9.
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