Railway line in Japan
The
Joetsu Line
(
上越線
,
J?etsu-sen
)
is a major railway line in Japan, owned by the
East Japan Railway Company
(JR East). It connects
Takasaki Station
in
Gunma Prefecture
with
Miyauchi Station
in
Niigata Prefecture
, linking the northwestern
Kanto region
and the
Sea of Japan
coast of the
Ch?bu region
. The name refers to the old
provinces
of
K?zuke
(
上
野) and
Echigo
(
越
後), which the line connects.
Services
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Before the opening of the
J?etsu Shinkansen
in 1982, the Joetsu Line had frequent service by express trains connecting
Tokyo
and
Niigata
. With the opening of the
J?etsu Shinkansen
, however, the line became dominated by local and
freight
trains.
The branch of the J?etsu Shinkansen between
Echigo-Yuzawa Station
and
Gala-Yuzawa Station
(the
Gala-Yuzawa Line
) technically belongs to the Joetsu Line.
Stations
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Rolling stock
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Present
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Local
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Takasaki to Minakami
Minakami to Nagaoka
Takasaki to Shin-Maebashi (Takasaki Line, Ryomo Line through services)
Limited Express
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Takasaki to Shibukawa (Takasaki Line, Agatsuma Line through services)
SL Gunma Minakami
and
SL YOGISHA Minakami
- JNR 12 series 6-car Vehicles and C61-20
Yuzawa to Joetsu-Myoko
Former
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Local
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Takasaki to Minakami
Minakami to Nagaoka
Limited Express
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Takasaki to Shibukawa (Takasaki Line, Agatsuma Line through services)
- 185 series
7-car EMUs (
Kusatsu
limited express services until March 2014)
Four-car
211-3000 series
EMUs entered service on the section between Takasaki and Minakami from 23 August 2016.
[1]
History
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]
The Nippon Railway opened the Takasaki to Maebashi (now Shinmaebashi) section in 1884. The company was nationalised in 1906.
The first railway between Niigata and the east coast of Honshu was the
Ban'etsu West Line
, completed in 1914. In 1920, it was decided to build the J?etsu Line as a more direct route between Tokyo and Niigata. The Miyauchi to Echigo-Yuzawa section opened in stages between 1920 and 1925, and the Shinmaebashi to Minakami section of the line opened in stages between 1921 and 1928.
In 1931, with the completion of the 9,702 m (31,830 ft 9 in) Shimizu tunnel, the Echigo-Yuzawa - Minakami section of the line opened, including electrification at 1,500 V DC between Echigo-Yuzawa and Ishiuchi. When completed, the line shortened the Ueno to Niigata route by 98 km (61 mi), and included two spiral sections in the tunnels.
In 1947, the Takasaki to Minakami and Ishiuchi to Miyauchi sections were electrified, making this one of the first non-urban
JNR
lines to be completely electrified.
The Takasaki to Shinmaebashi section was double-tracked in 1957, and the rest of the line was double-tracked between 1961 and 1967, the final section involving the construction of the 13,500 m (44,291 ft 4 in) Arashimizu tunnel. Passengers catching Miyauchi-bound trains at
Yubiso
and
Doai
stations do so from platforms situated within the Arashimizu tunnel.
Service disruptions
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The
2004 Ch?etsu earthquake
seriously damaged the J?etsu Line, closing the Minakami to Miyauchi section for about two months. Single-line operation at speeds limited to 30?45 km/h then resumed, being raised to 45?65 km/h four months after the earthquake, and the second track reopened, also with speed restrictions, 5 months after the quake. Full service was restored 9 months after the line had first closed.
In late July 2011, torrential rainfall damage resulted in the closure of the Echigo-Yuzawa - Muikamachi section for two weeks.
References
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- ^
上越線?吾妻線で211系の?業運?開始
[211 series enter service on Joetsu Line and Agatsuma Line].
Japan Railfan Magazine Online
(in Japanese). Japan: Koyusha Co., Ltd. 24 August 2016
. Retrieved
27 August
2016
.
External links
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Shinkansen
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Main
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Local
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Others
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Past
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