Ōito Line

The Ōito Line (大糸線) is a railway line in Japan which connects Matsumoto Station in Nagano Prefecture with Itoigawa Station in Niigata Prefecture. There are two operators on the line: East Japan Railway Company (JR East) and West Japan Railway Company (JR West). Minami-Otari is the boundary for the two companies. The section of the line operated by JR East, between Minami-Otari and Matsumoto, is electrified and trains are fairly regular along this section. The JR West section from Minami-Otari to Itoigawa, however, is not electrified and sees less use. Trains operate less frequently along this section.

Route data
Minami-Otari &mdash; Itoigawa (None)
 * Operators, services:
 * East Japan Railway Company (Services and tracks)
 * Matsumoto &mdash; Minami-Otari: 70.1 km
 * West Japan Railway Company (Services and tracks)
 * Minami-Otari &mdash; Itoigawa: 35.3 km
 * Stations:
 * JR East: 34
 * JR West: 8 including Itoigawa, excluding Minami-Otari
 * Double-tracked section: None
 * Electrification: Matsumoto &mdash; Minami-Otari (1,500 V DC)
 * Railway signalling:
 * Matsumoto &mdash; Itoigawa: Automatic Train Stop, S-type

JR East section
, the following services are operated.
 * Limited express, Rapid


 * Local
 * Matsumoto – Shinano-Ōmachi: every 30-60 minutes
 * Shinano-Ōmachi – Minami-Otari: every 60-180 minutes

JR West section

 * Local
 * Minami-Otari - Itoigawa: every 120-180 minutes

No limited-stop services such as rapids operate on the JR West section. All trains are local services, which stop at every station.

JR East section

 * E127-100 series EMU
 * 211 series EMU
 * E353 series EMU - Azusa

JR West section

 * KiHa 120 series DMU

JR East section
All stations are within Nagano Prefecture.


 * A: Limited Express Azusa
 * R: Rapid
 * Trains stop at stations marked "O", skip at stations marked " | ".

Closed Stations Yanabaskijōmae Station closed on 16 March 2019

History
The section between Matsumoto and Shinano-Ōmachi was built between 1915 and 1916 by the Shinano Railway (信濃鉄道), which electrified the line in 1926. The company was nationalised in 1937 and was not the same entity as the present Shinano Railway.

The rest of the line was built by the Japanese Government Railways (JGR) and the Japanese National Railways (JNR) between 1929 and 1957. The Shinano-Ōmachi to Minami Otari section was electrified between 1959 and 1967. CTC signalling was commissioned in 1983, and freight services ceased in 1987.

Following privatization of JNR on 1 April 1987, the line was divided and assigned to JR East and JR West.

Station numbering was introduced on the line by JR East from 12 December 2016, with stations numbered in sequence from 9 (Minami-Otari) to 42 (Matsumoto).