Iwate Line
This page consists of the history for both the Iwate Line and Daigaku Line.
| Status | Operational |
|---|---|
| Owner | Ome Railway Company |
| Locale | Iwate Prefecture |
| Termini | Iwate Kawabe |
| Stations | 3 |
| Initials | IWT |
| Type | Rural feeder |
|---|---|
| Operator(s) | Ome Railway Company |
| Depot(s) | Kawabe Depot |
| Rolling stock | E44 Mini |
| Opened | 1972 |
|---|---|
| Closed | 2007 (Daigaku Line) |
| Line Length | 2.4km |
|---|---|
| Track gauge | 1435mm |
| Electrification | None |
| Operating speed | 60km/h |
The Iwate Line is a railway line that runs from Iwate to Kawabe in Iwate, Sorano. The line was originally a railway line that stretched from Reihoku to Miyama, known as the Daigaku Line (大学線), as it connected the 2 major universities of Lamtsu. (Yokohama University and Reihoku University). The line was constructed by the Lamtsu Development Bank and handed over to the Ome Railway Company.
History
The Daigaku Line was constructed in 1972 to facilitate travel between Miyama University and Reihoku University. To prevent either MCR or HRT from gaining a foothold in the northern areas, the Daigaku Line was handed to the Ome Railway Company at no extra cost.
The line bled serious amounts of money from 2018 onwards, and the line from Yokohama to Izumozaki was closed in 2007 and renamed the Iwate Line, with the Yokohama suburban portion handed to Harmony Rail Transit (Lamtsu), which later became the link between the Shima Line and Yokohama. Before the opening of the Seiyo Shinkansen, the Third-Sector Haebaru Railway Haebaru Main Line was the only connection from the Fung Yuen Main Line to Lamtsu, which has been closed from Fung Yuen to Ojika with the opening of the Seiyo Shinkansen; and involved a transfer to the Iwate Line at Reihoku. However, parts of the line ran over the permafrost in the snowy glaciers of Kawabe, and the section was declared unsafe in 2007, to be replaced by a ferry service. The ferry is operated by the Haebaru Railway Company, which was privatised in 2016.
There have been negotiations by the Haebaru Railway Company to link the Iwate Line to the Haebaru Main Line, via a new bridge over the old permafrost linking to the Chiba Branch Line, which runs from Ojika to Higashi-Chiba. The new line would remove the need for a ferry to transport valuable raw materials produced by the Haebaru Region, and allow freight trains to travel directly to Lamtsu. The link is also pushed by for the Mishato City, which has a tight economic relationship with Haebaru dating back to the 15th century.
The Chiba Line was extended to Nagaremaya in 2017, and Limited Express services resumed that year from Ojika to Misato. The old alignment of the Ome Line via Izumozaki was handed to the Iwate Line, and Shin-Iwate was renamed to Iwate, with the old Iwate station becoming Iwate-Chuo. The semi-loop service of the Iwate Line can be seen in the diagram below.
In 2022, the report by the Reshaping of Joban Railways recommended that the Iwate Line be shut down to save money, and after almost a year of negotiations with local governments, the Iwate Line was truncated to Kawabe. The entire line shut down in February 2023, with the remainder being leased to Nantetsu for use of the Chiba Line.
There have been campaigns by certain groups of people to re-open the section, at least up to Kawabe, and this has some support from Aotetsu board members. However, it is unlikely that the line will be rehabilitated in the near future as the rest of Lamtsu is undergoing significant repair works.