Aotetsu

Aotetsu (青鉄道, aotetsu), formally known as the Ome Railway Company, is one of the 12 major private railways of Lamtsu. It runs services in the northern area of Lamtsu, and runs the famous Aoden and Moonlight trains. The railway's main terminal is Ome.

Lines

• Ome Line (Nanae-Ome)
• Iwate Line

Trains

• Aoden
• Moonlight
• Ome Liner

History

Aotetsu was founded in 1964, to construct and operate a railway service in the northern regions of Lamtsu. The Aotetsu Main Line, now known as the Ome Line, opened in 1967, from Mihara to Hayakawa.In 1972 the Iwate Line was constructed, from Fujinomiya to Reihoku, at the time known as the Daigaku Line, connecting Miyama University and Reihoku University.

However, due to the extremely curvy alignment of the line, the travel times began to become so inflated that the line stopped at Nanae by 1985.

In 1972 the Iwate Line was constructed, from Fujinomiya to Reihoku, at the time known as the Daigaku Line, connecting Miyama University and Reihoku University.The line then languished for 40 years, and due to a great amount of migration to the inner parts of the Lamtsu Capital City, the passenger numbers slowly dwindled until the line started to lose money in 2017. Misato City Railway was soon to be aquired by Harmony Rail Transit (Lamtsu) and the Ome Railway Company did not want the same to happen to them.

The Ome Line Upgrading and Extension project began in 2004, with the remaining dregs of money over the last 20 years and a very generous loan from the Misato Central Bank. The first stage of the project involved upgrading the line speed limits from 40-60 on the initial section, and purchasing specialised rolling stock to take tighter turns at higher speeds. This was completed in 2006. The second stage extended the line all the way to Ome, and ensuring that the line was as straight as possible. This was successfully achieved, and the Ome Railway Company was listed on the SSE 150 for 11 years from 2008 to 2019 with this sudden increase in profits.

The Ome Railway Company partnered with Harmony Rail Transit (Joban) to extend the Ome Line from Ome to Central South, raising the line's potential to become the sole freight railway link between Lamtsu and Joban. The line was extended all the way in 2014, with the border switch occuring at Fukuchiyama Station. A cross-platform transfer with customs in-between allowed for services to be carried from Ome to Central South without too much issue. Ome Railway Company succesfully escaped Harmony Rail Transit (Lamtsu)'s attempts to purchase it for a significant amount of time this way, even extending the line from Mihara to Misato.

However, with the Joban Border Control Act of 2018, no train service became possible to cross the border except west of the Seiyo River. As the Ome Line ran quite clearly east of the Seiyo River, all service from Ome to Central South had to stop. However, as Fukuchiyama was still within the Sorano Border, the agreement of Harmony Rail Transit (Joban) to run the service still applied, and the service runs from Ome to Fukuchiyama (1 station) up till today. Ome Railway Company attempted to solve this issue with bridging buses and freight trucks, but a significant portion of the traffic was lost. In less than a month the profits plunged to $53,002 from 5,234,134 the month before. To minimise losses, the company shhut down the Daigaku Line from Yokohama to Iwate.

The final blow to the Ome Railway Company was the Seiyo Shinkansen. Completed in 2020, the Seiyo Shinkansen linked Lamtsu and Central South, and by extension Joban, in almost 2/3 of the time that the Ome Line takes. The Ome Railway Company saw their profits plunge to negative, and they had to hand over some of the bridging services, further accelerating their decline.

In 2022, the company has regained a foothold in the region, with Moonlight and Aoden services which are a faster way from Lamtsu to Ome than the Shinkansen.